Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Peoples experience of winning competitions?

176 replies

DownUnderBound · 04/04/2016 08:41

Just curious if people actually win these things! I have been.entering competitions online & from magazines for years, just for fun, when dc are in bed at night. They always show 'last weeks competition winners' ...has anyone here ever won, cash prize or holidays in particular?

OP posts:
LizKeen · 04/04/2016 10:37

Where are all these competitions?

I won one thing on here, worth around £400. Was so chuffed.

Apart from that my luck stinks. Never win on scratch cards either.

Housemum · 04/04/2016 10:38

Never a big huge prize (not thousands), but some nice ones:

  • £250 Amazon voucher from MN
  • Hogwarts Express Lego set the year Harry Potter Lego was rare as hens' teeth (delighted DD1 on Christmas Day)
  • talking Flick toy (A Bug's Life)
  • puppy in my pocket house
  • £40 on a radio phone in quiz
cozietoesie · 04/04/2016 10:39

Years ago, a couple of friends won a trip to a luxury hotel in the West Indies. Unfortunately - at first - they didn't see that it wasn't all-inclusive so they arrived there, incredibly swanky hotel cottage but no food and only a very expensive room service/restaurant. (Bit of a difficulty because they had virtually no money.)

It worked out fine in the end, though. They made friends with some of the (local) hotel help who very quickly realised their situation and were feasted locally as compared to most of the other guests who were roundly despised by the hotel staff.

Oogle · 04/04/2016 10:39

The only thing I have ever won is a Davina workout DVD and book after her webchat on here (I've namechanged since)

The book arrived but the DVD never did. MN promised to chase it for me and get it to me, but over a year later and it still hasn't arrived!

ChubbyKitty · 04/04/2016 10:39

I won a horror film the other week, but the competition was run by my dads friend so there was probably a reason for that. He does them quite regularly but I'm not sure many people know about his site to enter tbh.

That's pretty much it, I'm not very lucky.

wynk · 04/04/2016 10:39

My sisters seem to have lots of luck, one regularly wins small amounts with premium bonds, talking monthly. My other sister has won a local radio lottery a few times, and I recall her winning a top of the range gas barbeque at the county show. My mum was a regular bingo fiend, winning big a few times. But me nothing.

rivierliedje · 04/04/2016 10:41

I've won some small things like a t-shirt, a book and some cycle maps and then I won an ipod by filling in some survey. I didn't think they would send it to me bacause I was in a different country, but they did. And then last year I won an Ipad which was amazing.

TheDuchessOfArbroathsHat · 04/04/2016 10:41

There's a very interesting comping section on the MSE website. Recently there was some kind of user survey that reckoned you win one prize per 1300 competitions entered! I have had some luck - £1000 Bluewater vouchers from Heart, £250 cash from Chat magazine, coffee machines a plenty and lots of little bits - and a holiday to Nice. I guess I probably do 500 a week as well but most of them are done pretty quickly over the course of the day. I love it as a hobby and that's all it is - if you ever start doing it with the hope of retiring you'd be out of luck!

Dowser · 04/04/2016 10:44

The car always eluded me!

Not all prizes brought joy. I won a trip to the millennium dome on millennium night. I could take 3 others so me and exh, daughter and my mum went.

It was crap. Herded around in the cold. Weren't allowed out to see the fireworks. Hotel was a dump.

The other one was a rrp on the Tyne to watch the tall ships. We had Tobe up at stupid o clock to get on the coach, then straight onto the ship when a look at the ships along the quayside would have been preferable.

We then sailed to the mouth of the river while every ship went past. Something like 6 hours worth on a cold, gret, miserable Newcastle day.

The ship kept drifting so you could feel the engine grinding away to keep us in the one spot. We weren't allowed back into port till all the ships had sailed.

Felt like we'd been held hostage!

cozietoesie · 04/04/2016 10:44

I've won two small raffle prizes. That's my lot. Grin

TheDuchessOfArbroathsHat · 04/04/2016 10:44

littlequestion re the spam calls - I use my regular mobile number for all comps that I enter and I get only a smattering of PPI and accident calls which is, I suppose, an occupational hazard Grin. Many compers have a cheap PAYG that they use only for competition entries - and most wins are notified by e mail anyway. There are some companies that are notoriously bad for troubling you with sales calls but there is a list of them on MSE and I tend to avoid entering those at all.

SeraOfeliaFalfurrias · 04/04/2016 10:46

I won a radio competition (text entry) for a trip to Cologne to see Muse at a tiny venue. It took me several days to stop squealing when I won. I still can't believe it was me!

And I won a free lucky dip ticket on the lottery last week.

Eustace2016 · 04/04/2016 10:46

Daughter won luxury cruise down the Nile for two when she was about 10. Went with her father. Had a wonderful time, as only child on the boat. She won because she's positive and optimstic and hard working and thinks things will go well I think. We were at an air port. She picked about 100 entry tickets off the ground and scratched each one off (no one else would have been bothered to do that) - she was so sure of winning and she got top prize. We put her father down as entrant when they claimed the prize just in case you had to be 18+ but it was fine. The other 2 smaller children got chicken pox so there was I at home and working (had just sent up own firm) dealing with all that and they had a lovely time - the cruise winners. She mentioned it on her UCAS form - as her university subject was ancient histoy as all the tours of ruins there sparked her interest so that might even have led to her very good university place and career.

If you don't enter, you don't win - that's for certain. Optimists rule... but I would say that as I'm the same.

I don't give the same advice though for people paying to gamble - a mug's game.

TooBusy4TV · 04/04/2016 10:46

I use to enter 100s and won a few decent tHings like a DVD player when they were newish.

Winning a sailing weekend for 1 wasn't too helpful at 8 months pregnant

Stanky · 04/04/2016 10:47

I won a family day out to a local attraction on a radio phone in competition. That was nice.

I won a massive teddy in Bingo on holiday. It was the top prize, but it was so ridiculously huge, that I opted for a smaller teddy.

I won the top prize in Bingo on another holiday, which was about €100. Dh was so happy, he jumped in the pool whilst fully clothed. It was raining as well, which was why we were indoors playing Bingo.

I won a lipstick and eye shadow from Clinique. It was a runner up prize, and I'd had to send in a photo. The colours they sent me were so perfect, I still wear them to this day.

I've "won" 2 competitions for a photo shoot, but they both turned out to be scams, where they tried to hard sell me the photos starting from £200. I've known people be done out of thousands to those scams.

nocabbageinmyeye · 04/04/2016 10:48

Does anyone know what the story with the mn competitions is if you don't love in the UK? I'm in Ireland, could I enter and still claim my prize (hopeful)?

I have been lucky in the past, a few large kitchen appliances, iPad, vouchers, bits for the kids

Dowser · 04/04/2016 10:49

Oh yes. I won a couple of subscriptions to sky at some point and a couple of gym. Memberships

Money was always nice. Especially the £3000,

JadziaSnax · 04/04/2016 10:49

I won the despicable me 2 goody bag on here. It was absolutely brilliant when it arrived. DS had a blast opening it all.

BigcatLittlecat · 04/04/2016 10:52

Hi. Can I ask if you do 500 entries a week, how do you do it? As had a quick look at some comps and the text/phone entry is all around £1. Do they still do postal entries?

McPie · 04/04/2016 10:53

I have won quite a bit in the last 18 months, biggest have been £500 primark vouchers, £500 and £100 cheque and a £500 Argos gift card which dropped through the door this morning. I have also won loads of books (donated quite a few to the kids school), toys and beauty stuff. I have to be at the £2500 mark by now Grin.
I tend to go through the posted competitions on the competition section of money saving expert every couple of days entering into things that I know can be used by family/friends.

cozietoesie · 04/04/2016 10:53

It's an international site, cabbage. I'd have thought that if there were any restrictions on winners, they'd blaze that loudly on the competition. (Or try to 'adjust' for you if they forgot. Wink)

LisaC7 · 04/04/2016 10:53

I went through a phase of entering competitions. I entered a LOT. Amongst little bits and bobs I won an iPad, food parcel, children's games , Sonos sound system which I had to go on the radio for - didn't realise that! I was in the pub when they called me to say I'd won 😕
It's exciting getting a parcel and you have no idea what I could be!!

cozietoesie · 04/04/2016 10:55
  • blazon

The spellchecker wins again. Blush

2016ismyyear · 04/04/2016 10:57

Mumsnet terms and conditions are UK only

CandyFlossBrain · 04/04/2016 10:57

I used to be a regular on the MSE competitions board, from about 2009 to 2013. It was like shorting fish in a barrel initially, a decent win almost every week. I won a guitar, games consoles, cheques, gift cards, all sorts.

Then comping started to get advertised heavily on the MSE website and newsletter, and of course there are the people who sell their stories "I make £30,000 a year comping!" when the reason they make that much is because they run their own website or sell books.

It's saturated now. You only need look on Facebook. A thousand likes and begging comments to win... a chocolate bar. Not a fancy one either!

If you are willing to put the hours in, you will win bits and pieces, but there's no consistency anymore, and you really need to enjoy the process more than winning these days. I only loved winning so I had to bow out!