Saturday 31 May 2014

Win £500 of bathroom accessories

What a pity I've just ordered a new bathroom! It means I won't be entering this lovely competition, with a prize of £500 worth of bathroom times, appliances or accessories. But YOU can enter- thanks to Bohen. Just pop over to the competition page and leave your details by the closing date of July 31st.

Win an Upbeat goody bag

The latest competition from Yet Another Blogging Mummy! is for an Upbeat goody bag, including vouchers for some Upbeat drinks. To enter, visit the competition page and follow the link to the Rafflecopter form. The closing date is June 9th.

Small business owners - win £1,500 of SEO

4X Currency Corporation is a foreign exchange and international money transfer agency based in Leeds  and they are running a competition aimed at small business owners. They're asking that to enter people fill out a survey on the kind of money transfers they use, and the company is offering them the chance of winning one of three international SEO packages worth £1500 as an incentive.

The survey and additional details (terms & conditions etc.) can be found at http://www.4xcurrency.com/forex-survey/

The closing date is 30/06/2014.

Saturday 24 May 2014

Win Little G.E.M.s vouchers and nore

To celebrate their new partnership with Hackney Picturehouse, Little G.E.M.s will is running a competition for the duration of their Studio Ghibli Season - May 24th - 28th June. There are 5 prizes of a £20 Little G.E.M.s voucher, a Studio Ghibli DVD and a family ticket to any Kids Club screening at Hackney Picturehouse.

To enter, visit the competition page and use the Rafflecopter entry form. The closing date is June 28th.

Win a goody bag of jewellery

The latest competition from The Diary of a Jewellery Lover is to win a goody bag of hand made jewellery from Kimberley Wilson. Entry is by commenting on the competition post, with an extra entry available for a Facebook comment. The closing date is June 6th.

Win a tent with Decathlon

By signing up to become one of Decathlon’s product testers there is a chance to win a 3 man tent. More information can be found on this page http://tester.competition.decathlon.co.uk/

If you are selected to test and review a product, you get to keep it - and all applicants go into the draw for the tent. You will need a Decathlon card to enter, and if you don't already have one you can register on the site.

One entry per household, closing June 1st.

Friday 23 May 2014

Win £100 to Spend with Eleconline

Win £100 to Spend with Eleconline
 
Enter the Eleconline June competition to win £100 to spend in our online store. The prize winner can spend the prize money on any product sold on www.eleconline.co.uk . Simply enter your email address to be in to win. Enter now!
 
Competition url: http://woobox.com/ittpng
 
Restriction: Competition open to UK residents only
 
Limit: One (1) entry per person during the promotion period
 
Closing date: 30th June, 2014
 
 
About Eleconline
 
Eleconline is the online electrical wholesaling website with great prices on 1000's of products.

Thursday 22 May 2014

Win a holiday on the Isle of Wight

I'm ashamed to say that despite having lived in Hampshire for over 30 years, I have never visited the Isle of Wight. Both my daughters went there on school trips, and I've seen it in the distance on hilltop walks, but the Solent has remained stubbornly between us.

But here's a competition that gives me - and all of you - the chance to put that right. Seaview Holidays is offering a prize of a week in a self catering cottage, including ferry crossing for a car and four passengers and a family meal at their very own pub.

To enter, visit the website and find the link to the competition in the left hand menu. The closing date is August 31st and the winner will have until September 15th 2015 to take their prize.

A little tip from me - the telephone number field can be left blank. As their friendly service means they like to occasionally call potential customers with special offers, you may prefer to do that. But of course if you opt out, you won't have the excitement of a phone call if you win  - they will email you instead.

Monday 19 May 2014

When you follow a link in a tweet, does the page look funny?

Over the last couple of weeks,  I've been noticing that when I followed links in tweets sent by other compers - for instance, when they had shared a Facebook or Rafflecopter competition,  the page looked odd. There was a band at the bottom with the original tweeter's name on it, the URL of the page looked odd and it was difficult or impossible to follow any links on the page. The extra clutter on the page slowed my computer down and when I tried the same links on my phone or iPad, brought them to a complete halt.

Have you noticed this too?

I thought it was something to do with the new Twitter design, and as every time it happened a box popped  up asking me to register, I did, thinking it would make things go back to normal. But far from going back to normal, somebody then tweeted me to say the same thing was happening with links I posted.

The culprit is a new service called Link-is that customises and "personalises" links that you share. Now that may well be great for businesses, but it's not much use for compers. We often share links in the hope that our friends will enter through our shares and give us bonus entries - but if they aren't able to actually enter the competition we've shared, then we don't get that extra credit. So I would advise any comper who had signed up to this service, either by choice or, like me, by accident, to get rid of it! You can tell if you have it because links you tweet will have ln.is as the start of the URL.

To remove it, first of all go to http://linkis.com/#twitter-automation and log in with your twitter account. Then go to the settings area at the top, choose the Twitter Automation tab and uncheck all the boxes.  Then to make doubly sure, go to your Twitter settings area and select Apps, then click "Revoke Access" next to Link-is

Win £100 to Spend with AGA Foodhall

Win £100 to Spend with AGA Foodhall
 
Enter the AGA Foodhall May competition to win £100 to spend in online store. The winner can spend the prize money on any product sold on www.agafoodhall.com . Simply enter your email address to be in to win.
 
 
Restrictions: Competition open for UK residents only
 
Closing date: 31 May, 2014
 
 
About AGA Foodhall
 
AGA Foodhall was born out of the team's passion for all things foodie and love for good, quality food.
They put together a selection of the very best food available and makes it easy for you, the customer to access it.

Win £50 worth of children's books

To promote the Scottish Book Tour, Scottish Friendly is offering a prize of £50 worth of children’s books.
 
Entrants need to watch the video here, then like the Faceook page and answer a question based on the video (where did the author get the idea for his recent book) by posting to Facebook using #WatchtheSavages (that’s the name of the book).
 
Make sure you give your  answer on the Facebook page, following the link on the competition page, and don't post it as a comment below the competition - and don't forget that hashtag.
 
You can enter once a day until the closing date of May 26th.

Sunday 18 May 2014

QUICK! Win tickets to a cheese and wine tasting

Belleau Kitchen is running another competition for a really special treat - tickets to a Cheese and Chardonnay tasting. But you'll have to be quick if you want to enter - the competition closes at 11.59pm on May 21st, the winner will be notified the next day and the tastings are on London on May 23rd and 24th from 4pm to 11pm.

So if you're likely to be in London and free next weekend, head over to the competition post and  answer the question in the post by leaving a comment in the comments box.

Finding your wins on Facebook

Recently I’ve been asked many times how you can tell if you’ve won a competition on Facebook. Well, I’m afraid there is no simple answer! Facebook is a huge resource and as a comper you will find yourself following hundreds, or even thousands, of pages. Possibly even right up to the maximum that Facebook allows, which is currently 5,000.

Until last year, Facebook had a rule that all competitions should  be run through an app, that collected your email address, and winners were to be notified by email. As we all know, many thousands of pages either ignored this rule or didn’t know it existed,  and it has now been removed, so now it is perfectly acceptable – to Facebook if not to compers – for  a page to simply announce the winner on their page. The average Facebook user likes just 80 pages, so it isn’t surprising that a page owner will assume that people who have entered will visit their page regularly or see all the posts in their news feed. Many pages still DO use apps, and if your email address has been collected when you entered the competition, either by filling it in on a form or accepting a pop up authorisation request to access your email address, the page SHOULD email you if you win. However a few pages still just announce it on their wall and leave the onus on the winner to get in touch.

However when you follow a large number of pages, it just isn’t viable to visit them every day, and Facebook doesn’t show  every post from every page in your news feed – if it did, you might find it scrolled so fast that you couldn’t real all the posts!

One way to see more posts from the pages you follow is to read your Pages Feed – you will find a link to this on the left hand side of your Facebook news feed, in the section headed “Pages” or just follow this link . You will see many more posts from pages here than you do in your main news feed, but you still won’t see every post from every page. You can increase your chance of Facebook showing you a page’s posts by interacting with them occasionally even when there is no competition running – give a post a Like or make a comment on it.

Many pages are telling us that you can guarantee seeing all their posts by going to their page and using the menu that drops down when you click on the Like button to select “Get Notifications” – however I found when I tried that, the notifications came to my notifications centre which is already overstretched with comments from friends and invitations to competitions, so that route wasn’t for me.

A better use of this same menu might be to use the “Add to interest lists” option. I’ve just started experimenting with making lists according to closing date. When I go to a page to enter a competition, I use the “Add to interest lists” function to add it to a private list named “May 31” “Jul 07” or whatever date the competition closes. Then I will check back after the closing date and remove it from the list when the winner has been announced. I only thought this idea up while I was writing this post, so I’ll report back in a few weeks and let you know how I get on. You can read more about interest lists here. There doesn’t seem to be a limit on the number you can make, so this could be a helpful tool.

But most of us are pressed for time, and even if we CAN see every post from every page, we may well miss an announcement. This is where it pays to have lots of comping friends on Facebook! If you happen to see a post announcing the name of a winner, and it’s one of your friends, you can “tag” them by typing their name in the comments box – as you type, a menu will appear with the names of your friends who fit the name. When you see the right name, click on it and it will appear in the box with a blue rectangle around (or near) it. Add a comment such as “Congratulations” or “Well done” so they know you’re not just inviting them to enter a new competition, and then they will get a notification that you have tagged them. The more compers you are friends with, the more likely it is that one of THEM will spot one of your wins and tag YOU! It’s the kind  of comping helpfulness that works both ways!

Whether you have lots of friends or not, there are lots of groups on Facebook that are dedicated to sharing lists of winners that people spot, and tagging each other, so it is well worth joining one. Most of them are private, so the best thing to do is to ask your friends if any of them belongs to one and can get you invited. You can search for open winners groups by using the search box in the blue bar at the top of your newsfeed and typing in  Groups:winners

If you are mentioned  by another comper or tagged in a winners group, you will be told about it  in your notifications area. Also if a page notifies you that you are a winner by replying to a comment you made on their wall or  competition post, this is where you will be notified. This is the little globe towards the right of the blue bar at the top of the page – when you have notifications, a red number appears in it to tell you how many there are.

Moving left from the notifications symbol, there are a pair of speech bubbles. This is where you will find your direct messages. If there are any in your inbox, you will see a red notification sign again. However, pages are not allowed to start a conversation with their likers – you will only get a message from a page in your main inbox if they are replying to a message you have sent to them. But they CAN use the personal account of one of their staff to send a message that will appear in your “Other” message box, where all messages from none-friends go. The trouble is, Facebook doesn’t tell you those are there - there's no little red number for them!  If you click on the two speech bubbles, the list of messages in your main inbox appears. At the top, next to the word “Inbox”, you will see the word “Other” in fainter type. If you have any messages waiting there, a number will appear in brackets beside it, so if you see “Other (1)” you know there’s a message waiting for you.

These are all ways of optimising your chance of finding out about  wins – but what about checking to see if you have already missed any? Well, that’s where Google’s Social Search comes in. Tick the Facebook box (you can also use this for searching other social networks) then type in a search term. I like to do two different searches

 congratulations “jane willis”

 and

 (winner OR winners) “jane willis”

You can sort the results by “most relevant” or by date – I find sorting by date most useful as the most relevant option can bring up results from years ago. There are some snags though – if you’ve commented to congratulate somebody else on winning, that will show up as a result, and if you have a common name you’ll see other winners as well as yourself. I’ve just run a search and can see that there are compers, not necessarily in the UK, called Emma Jane Willis and Samantha Jane Willis. (Honestly, the nerve of them, popping up on MY search results!).
 
One final tip to help you keep on top of things so you are less likely to miss wins, is to try to keep the number of pages you follow down to a manageable number. There are Facebook groups who share with each other when it is “safe” to unlike a page when the results have been announced. I don’t belong to one and I think it smacks a little of the kind of behaviour that makes some businesses “anti-comper” but if  you feel it could help you to declutter your news feed, then by all means see if you can find one.

 A really useful decluttering tool is Manage Your Likes which will help you to quickly unlike pages – but of course it can’t tell you which ones you are waiting to hear competition results from! I use it to have a major pruning session about once a month – but of course as soon as I’ve finished I start liking more pages!

Facebook is a vast sprawling realm where nobody can ever guarantee  being able to read every word they would like to, and I think it’s inevitable that all of us compers will occasionally miss out on wins, but if you follow these tips and use these tools, I hope that it will happen as rarely as possible for you.

And if it all sounds too much like hard work, you can always share a few photos of cats. After all, that’s what Facebook’s REALLY about, isn’t it?

 

Friday 16 May 2014

Win a set of Pedalites

Pedalites are  flashing pedals for your bicycle, which carry on flashing even when you stop pedalling, and Green Reviews has a set to give away. To read more about them and to enter, head over to their competition page and follow the instructions - entry is by email. The closing date is June 16th

Wednesday 14 May 2014

Win a set of spices

The latest competition from Chez Maximka is for a set of three tubs of useful spice blends - Panch Phoran, Res el Hanout and Garam Masala. If you'd like to  spice up your meals, head over to the competition page and enter using the Rafflecopter form. The closing date is June 16th

Tuesday 13 May 2014

Win £150 To Spend At Here For A Pound!

Win £150 To Spend At Here For A Pound!
 
Enter The 'HERE FOR A POUND' facebook competition for your chance to win £150 to spend at www.hereforapound.com
 
 
Restrictions: Competition open for UK residents only
 
Closing date: 31 May, 2014
 
 
About Here For A Pound
 
Hereforapound.com is the first online pound offering where shoppers can choose from a range of everyday household essentials from cleaning products, batteries, toiletries, kitchen items, snacks and treats and toys for £1.

Win a £50 One4All gift card

Ken Rand furniture are giving away a £50 One4All gift card. Enter using the Rafflecopter form on their competition page. Closing May 31st.

Win £250 to spend at Six Whiting Street

For a chance to win £250 to spend on men's designer fashion at Six Whiting Street, visit their competition page and enter using the Rafflecopter form. Closing May 17th.

Win a family ticket to Pensthorpe Natural Park

Conservation Grade- Fair to Nature  is giving five prizes of a family ticket to Pensthorpe Natural Park

Enter using the Rafflcopter form on their competition page - the closing date is May 31st.

Sunday 11 May 2014

Win an iPad mini

There's a new competition at 1st Choice Spares, and the prize is an iPad mini.

To enter, first you need to solve the crossword and then submit your answers to the clues via their Facebook page . They have included a clickable link in each clue to help you find the answers.

The closing date is July 31st.

The winner of the last competition was Graham Ashworth:
http://www.1stchoice.co.uk/articles/view/mystery-used-part-competition

Thursday 8 May 2014

Win a luxury travel pack

Love Sales have a launch giveaway of a  luxury travel pack,  including  Ray Ban RB 3025 62 Original Aviator Sunglasses, a his or hers Lacoste Travel Bag and an Amazon Kindle, There are 5 runners up prizes of Burberry's Brit Rhythm fragrance.

To enter, visit the site  and register (or log in if you have an existing Stuffster or LoveSales password) and then use your various social media accounts to enter. The competition closes on May 14th at 5pm.

Win a set of Klik Klak Blocks

The latest giveaway from Yet Amother Blogging Mummy is a set of natural wood Klik Klak baby age blocks. They look lovely! You can enter the competition by going to the competition page and following the link to the Rafflecopter form.

The competition is open worldwide and closes on May 29th

Win an OXO Good grips cookie press

I'm a big fan of OXO Good Grips kitchen gadgets, they are always well designed and comfortable to use, so I'm delighted to see that Camilla of Fab Food 4 All has two to give away.

To enter, head over to the competition page, where you will also be able to see some of the stunning results that can be achieved with it - and there's a great recipe to use when you win, too!

The competition closes on July 6th.

Wednesday 7 May 2014

Win £500 to Spend on Brook Taverner!

Win £500 to Spend on Brook Taverner!
 
Brook Taverner is offering you chance to win £500 to spend on Brook Taverner, simply by answering the question below.
 
Question: In which year did the Brook Taverner story start?
 
Answer:  B: 1912
 
 
Restrictions: Sweepstakes open only to UK residents who are eighteen (18) years of age or older.
 
Limit: One (1) entry per person during the Promotion Period.
 
Closing date: 31 May, 2014
 
 
About Brook Taverner
 
Since 1912, Brook Taverner has been a leading name in classic men's tailoring. Their beautifully tailored suits, jackets, mens trousers and overcoats are produced using premium cloths from sources around the world. They offer FREE returns, FREE hemming and FREE alterations with every purchase.

Win £200 Spending Spree with Brook Taverner

Win £200 Spending Spree with Brook Taverner
 
This month Brook Taverner is giving away a £200 spending spree. Simply enter your email to be in to win.
 
 
Restrictions: Sweepstakes open only to UK residents who are eighteen (18) years of age or older.
 
Limit: One (1) entry per person during the Promotion Period.
 
Closing date: 31 May, 2014
 
 
About Brook Taverner
 
Since 1912, Brook Taverner has been a leading name in classic men's tailoring. Their beautifully tailored suits, jackets, mens trousers and overcoats are produced using premium cloths from sources around the world. They offer FREE returns, FREE hemming and FREE alterations with every purchase.

Win £100 to Spend at GSF Car Parts

Win £100 to Spend at GSF Car Parts
 
GSF Car Parts is offering you a chance to win £100 to spend on their Car Parts website. Submit your name and email address and be in to win.
 
 
Restrictions: Sweepstakes open only to UK residents who are eighteen (18) years of age or older.
 
Limit: One (1) entry per person during the Promotion Period.
 
Closing date: 31 May, 2014
 
 
About GSF Car Parts
 
GSF Car Parts stock a range of parts for all makes of car and light commercial vehicles, whether you are looking for original quality or a budget version you can be sure of a great parts and discounts.

Tuesday 6 May 2014

Win $200 NZD To Spend At Blis (open to UK entrants)

Win $200 NZD To Spend At Blis
 
Enter the Blis competition to win $200 NZD to spend at blis.co.nz  The winner will have the choice of product on the site and with free delivery, have any product they select sent to them any where in the world. Simply enter your email to be in to win.
 
 
Limit: One (1) entry per person during the competition period.
 
Closing date: 31 May, 2014
 
 
About Blis Technologies Limited
BLIS Technologies Limited was formed to commercialise BLIS (Bacteriocin-Like Inhibitory Substances) producing probiotic bacteria.
The company has developed consumer products for throat health, halitosis (bad breath), probiotic support for the body.

COMPETITION - win a set of Polaroid photo prints

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to win a set of Polaroid style photo prints from Ps Print Studio in a competition they were running on Twitter. The square prints are perfect for your Instagram photos, and you can download an app to your phone to transfer your Instagram pics straight into it, or log in to their website with Instagram and upload your photos that way.

Now I had some "ordinary" photos that I wanted prints of, so I installed the app on my iPad and transferred  photos from my ordinary photo files. The app makes it very simple to crop standard sized photos to fit the square Polaroid format.

I was absolutely delighted with my set of prints, which arrived very quickly.


In fact I was so impressed, I asked Ps Print Studio if they would like to offer another competition prize, this time for one of YOU. So now you have a chance to win a set of  20 Polaroid style prints of your own. Just follow the steps in the Rafflecopter widget below.  The mandatory task is to follow them on Twitter, or already be a follower. Once you've done that, it will unlock further ways to enter - by liking their Facebook page, following them on Instagram and tweeting about the competition. Make sure you follow the steps in the widget, and give the right information if any is asked for, otherwise I can't track your entry!

The competition will close at midnight on Monday  May 5th.


NOTE - (3rd May) it has come to my attention that the link to their Twitter page isn't working. I've checked the link here and on their website and Facebook pages and it isn't working there either,  so it looks as if there is a problem with their Twitter account. And it's a bank holiday weekend so I won't be able to query it with them until after the competition closes.
Because you need to complete the "I followed on Twitter" task before the others will unlock, please just click that you did follow them - because I know you WOULD have done if you COULD have done, and then you'll be able to access that other options. I'll allow all entries for the follow on Twitter option, whether you managed to do it or not.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms and  conditions

1.  Closing date for entry will be Monday May 5th at midnight. After this date the no further entries to the competition will be permitted.

2. Entrants must be  UK residents and not related to or associated with The Competition  Grape Vine or Ps Print Studio

3. The  prize is a set of 20 Polaroid style photo prints and no alternative prize can be supplied.

4. Winners will be chosen at random using the Rafflecopter software and the winner’s name announced on this site.

5. The winner will be notified by email within 7 days of the closing date. If the winner cannot be contacted or do not claim the prize within 14 days of notification, we reserve the right to withdraw the prize from the winner and pick a replacement.  

6. The promoter’s decision in respect of all matters to do with the competition will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.

7. Entry into the competition will be deemed as acceptance of these terms and conditions.

8. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or any other Social Network. You are providing your information to The Comnpetition Grape Vine and not to any other party. The information provided will be used in conjunction with the following Privacy Policy found at http://www.compersgrapevine.co.uk/p/privacy-policy.html

listed on Prizefinder
Win competitions at ThePrizeFinder.com

UK Competitions and Prize Draws at UKwins

Friday 2 May 2014

Win a £50 John Lewis voucher

Red Peffer is giving away a £50 John Lewis voucher (they can be spent in Waitrose stores too) - enter on the competition page
The closing date is midnight on May 15th

Win a BRITA water filter jug

The delicious Dom of Belleau Kitchen is giving away a BRITA water filter jug. Visit the competition page and complete the Rafflecopter entry form - and while you're there , drool over the gorgeous bread recipe (and then you'll realise why I referred to him as delicious!). And you can read details of BRITA's recipe competition too!

Closing May 8th.

Thursday 1 May 2014

Two comps for you if you have (or know) a baby

Here's a couple of nice competitions if you have, or know someone who has very young children.

Cate on her Me add three blog is giving away:

A Skibz bandana dribble bib in a funky cow print design. You can enter here: http://meaddthree.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/skibz-vanilla-natural-organic-dribble.html, quick though - this one ends on 2nd May!

You can also win two tickets to The Baby Show at the NEC in Birmingham, from 16-18 May.  There are always loads of freebies and competitions at shows like this, so it's well worth going!  Here's the link: http://meaddthree.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/win-tickets-to-baby-show-in-birmingham.html.  This one ends on 7th May.