avatarLacey Dearie

Summary

An individual shares their experiences after entering approximately 1,000 competitions, detailing the variety of prizes won, including both positive and negative outcomes.

Abstract

The author of the article embarked on a journey of "comping," the practice of entering numerous competitions with the hope of winning prizes. Despite the general expectation of winning one prize per 1,000 entries, the author's winnings included a canceled photoshoot, four bottles of perfume, a £50 gift card with a single-use condition, three missing board games, a scented candle valued at £40, and a £20 voucher for a local market. The experiences ranged from disappointments, such as the forfeited gift card balance and undelivered board games, to delightful surprises like the unexpected scented candle and the enjoyable market voucher. The author's reflections on their comping adventure highlight the unpredictable nature of competition prizes and the mixed emotions that come with them.

Opinions

  • The author was initially skeptical about the likelihood of winning competitions but was encouraged by their mother's past win of a car.
  • There was excitement over winning a family photoshoot, which was later canceled, leading to disappointment.
  • The author found the perfume they won to be distasteful, indicating a mismatch between the prize and their personal preference.
  • Frustration was expressed over the unexpected single-use condition of the £50 gift card, which resulted in the loss of the remaining balance after partial use.
  • The author felt let down by a former friend's blog giveaway, as the promised board games were never received.
  • A positive experience was had with a scented candle won at a school raffle, which was valued significantly higher than the cost of the raffle tickets.
  • The author greatly appreciated the £20 voucher for the local world market, enjoying the process of redeem

I Entered 1000 Competitions And Here’s What I Won

I won more often than I thought I would!

Photo by Joshua Golde on Unsplash

Have you ever heard of comping? It’s a hobby based around entering competitions relentlessly in the hope that you will win something cool. There are actually people who do this for the hell of it.

Usually, I just enter a competition if I really want to win a particular prize but each to their own.

I thought I would give it a try. Whenever I am sceptical about competitions I always remember that my mum once won a car by entering a contest at the local supermarket back in 1983. It’s actually one of my earliest memories. She loved that car and we sadly had to sell it because the money was more useful to a young family. I read somewhere that compers expect to win one prize for every thousand competitions they enter. 1/1000 seemed like decent odds to me so I started entering everything I could find, whether I wanted to win or not. Here’s what I actually won after entering just over 1,000 competitions.

A photoshoot that they canceled the day before

Yes, I kid you not. I entered in December. I got a call in February to say I had won a family photo shoot. I was excited. We have never had professional photos taken because it seemed like a big expense for something we could easily do ourselves. Then they called me the day before and canceled, blaming COVID, and said they would call me back to reschedule. They never did.

Four bottles of rank perfume

For this one, I entered a perfume shop’s Facebook competition. They showed four ice-creams sitting in the sun and asked us to guess which one would melt first. I was the only person in the comments section who guessed correctly (they filmed the ice-creams melting and posted the video later to prove I was right). Honestly, the perfumes were not to my taste. I thought they were gross.

£50 gift card that was single use only but I never found that out until I spent £20 on it and lost the remaining £30

This was a prize I won for completing a survey done by a Scottish university about menopause symptoms. I barely remember entering it, truth be told.

I was delighted to receive my £50 gift card and had plans for how I was going to spend it all. I was going to use it on Nandos meals. Sadly it was single use, so once I had used it the first time, it was done. There was still £30 left. I was fuming. They should have told me.

Three board games that never showed up

This was a giveaway on my former friend’s blog. All I can say is, they simply never showed up. I don’t know what he did with them, or if he ever had them in his possession but I still don’t have them and I’m doubtful I will enter any more blog giveaways again.

A beautiful scented candle

This was thanks to a raffle at the Christmas Fayre at my son’s school. I bought five tickets for £1 and forgot about it until the prize came home in his school bag. It smelled absolutely gorgeous. And it was worth about £40. I checked online.

A £20 voucher to spend at the local world market

One of my favorites! I entered on Facebook again and they got in touch a couple of days later to say that I had won and should go to a particular stall at the market to collect my prize on a specific day. I wondered if it was a scam but I turned up, they gave me the vouchers, and I spent them! I bought a scarf for my friend, some pretty notebooks and a springbok burger for my husband. I had a lovely time!

Have you ever won anything exciting?

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