Sweepstakes Scout Draft for
March 5, 2001
SPECIAL NOTE:
Sorry! I experienced a hacking attack last week, so a few of the sweepstakes links listed in last week's newsletter stopped working on Wednesday. You'll find working links for those sweeps in the "Last Week's Deadlines" section below. If you still experience trouble getting to the sweeps, drop me a note at cassie@fidget.com
HAVE FRIENDS, WILL TRAVEL
Eligibility for this sweepstakes for a trip to the Turks and Caicos Islands is restricted to people who have a minimum of three friends. Whew! I just made it! BlueSuitMom.com's is giving away three trips in the Caribbean Vacation Sweepstakes. One entry per person, household and email address.
Ends: March 26, 2001.
http://www.bluesuitmom.com/cgi-bin/contest/winavacation.pl
Open to U.S. residents 18 and older. Void in Florida, Puerto Rico and New Jersey.
CAPTURE YOUR CHEEZIEST MOMENTS ON FILM
Kraft Foods and Cheeze Whiz are giving away a $900 Panasonic Camcorder so you can record your cheeziest moment as often as you with. Five runners up will receive a Canon Elph Powershot S100 camera.
Ends: March, 31, 2001.
http://www.snowballinteractive.com/kraft/kraftregister.htm
Open to U.S. and Canadian residents 18 and older. Void in Florida, Puerto Rico, New York, Rhode Island and Quebec.
LIVE RENT OR MORTGAGE FREE FOR A MONTH
I wonder how it would feel to not pay rent or make a mortgage payment for a month? Hmmm. I don't know. Maybe I'll ask my good-for-nothing, live-in, no-job boyfriend. You can increase your chances of winning $1,500 in the GetSmart.com Living On Us Sweepstakes by entering once a day. The rules say the money is supposed to be used toward the winner's mortgage or rental payment. I'm guessing that once you get the check, though, they won't be looking over your shoulder.
Ends: March 31, 2001.
http://jsz7.webstakes.com/living/
Open to U.S. residents 18 and older. Void in Puerto Rico.
CAN I HAVE FRENCH FRIES WITH THAT?
Spend five days and six nights in the Four Seasons Hotel George V Paris as the winner of the Fodors.com Enter & Escape Sweepstakes. The prize includes four sumptuous dinners at the famous Pierre Gagnaire restaurant. I wonder if they have my favorite French food on the menu -- French fries? Enter no more than once a week.
Ends: April 1, 2001.
http://www.fireprize.net/sweep/gourmet?ref=10004#form
Open to U.S. residents 18 and older.
LONDON, PARIS, VENICE, ROME ...
If I win, I'll never want to return home. But after 12 days on the whirlwind tour being offered in Luxury Link's Grand Tour of Europe Sweepstakes, you'll probably need a vacation to recover from your vacation. Enter as often as you with to win a trip for two to London, Paris, Venice and Rome.
Ends: May 31, 2001
http://www.luxurylink.com/Contest/Contest.phtml
I don't see any eligibility restrictions, but the page says the prize includes "round-trip airfare for two from New York City."
THE MOTHER OF ALL WHINE BATTLES
If you can come up with a good, annoying whine, try your hand at winning a whine timer, a little device that will let you or anyone you know whine for 60 seconds, then cut you off. At then end of that minute, the thing will say, "There -- isn't that better?" Past entries on the page look pretty annoying, but I bet you one of us could do a lot better.
Monthly drawings.
http://www.whinetimer.com/hall_of_fame/hall_of_fame.htm
I don't see any eligibility restrictions.
LAST WEEK'S DEADLINES:
Chadwick's of Boston Cash Giveaway:
Ends: March 31, 2001.
http://www.chadwickssweeps.com/
Open to U.S. residents 18 and older.
Swoon "You Can Take It With You" Sweepstakes:
Ends: March 31, 2001.
http://www.swoon.com/cgi-bin/sweeps/sweeps.cgi?SN=palm_pilot_mps&ref=charioteer@charioteer.org
Open to U.S. residents 18 and older. Void in Puerto Rico.
HSX How Well Do You Know Oscar Contest:
Ends: March 31, 2001.
http://movies.hsx.com/special/awardoption/contest.htm
Open to U.S. and Canadian residents 18 and older.
Compaq Canada's Buy 5 Promotion:
Ends: Ends: March 31, 2001.
http://www.compaq.ca/buy5/contest.html
Open to adult Canadian residents.
Concierge "Cash 'n Carry" Sweepstakes:
Ends: March 31, 2001.
http://www.concierge.com/cgi-bin/sweeps/sweeps.cgi?SN=cash_mps_sweeps&REF=
Open to U.S. residents 18 and older. Void in Puerto Rico.
Ashford Wedding Treasures Sweepstakes:
Ends: June 30, 2001.
http://www.ashford.com/A2K/weddingsweeps/register.asp?type=&sid=
Open to U.S. residents 18 and older.
Uproar $20,000 Drawing:
Monthly drawings.
http://uproar.hardcoresweepers.org/
Open to U.S. and Canadian residents 18 and older. Void in Puerto Rico and Quebec. New York and Florida residents are not eligible for prizes worth over $5,000.
FROM THE SCOUT MAILBAG:
From Jeff:
``I see many, many sweepstakes offered online here. Are all products and services offered on Internet sweepstakes actually given out, including those multimillion dollar prizes?
And, if so, where does the money come from to pay the winners of these multimillion dollar sweepstakes?
Please don't leave me in the dark over these sweeps.''
Dear Jeff:
There are no doubt quite a few sweepstakes scams out there. But yes, people really do win those prizes. Sweepstakes are regulated by state and federal law, and advertising a sweepstakes and not following through on awarding the prizes could land a company in hot water.
The money to fund sweepstakes prizes typically will come from a company's advertising and promotion budget. Companies spend many hundreds of thousands of dollars an advertising to attract attention to their products.
When you really think about it, spending $50,000 on a Mercedes or $5,000 on a trip to Hawaii as a sweepstakes prize is really not such a big deal for a big company.
When you see a sponsor giving away a money prize of $1 million or more, read the fine print in the rules. Often they are not really giving away $1 million in a lump sum. They'll buy an annuity for a lesser amount that will grow in value over time.
The winner will get so much money a year for, let's say, 10 years. And those amounts will add up over time to $1 million.
I myself often wonder about sites that say they are giving away as much as $1 million every month or so. Especially when their Web site doesn't look all that great, lol!
I just happened to get a note from Don in Ohio, who reported a nice prize.
``Just wanted to drop a quick line to thank you for all the opportunities you send out for great sweeps. I was a lucky weekly winner in the past Mercury Cougar College Sweeps and received a check for $500.
It is comforting to know that real people do win these sweeps.
So, to everyone out there, keep on entering and good luck to all!!''
Have a question about sweeps? Got a great sweepstakes story you want to share? Let me know at cassie@fidget.com.