Sweeties Inbox – Entering for Other People, and One Entry Per Household

Here is the latest batch of sweepstakes questions I am answering. While I am fairly knowledge many of my answers are usually my opinion so you can take them with a “grain of salt.” And, feel free to throw in your opinion. Maybe you have a better answer or another way of doing something that will be helpful.

Donna asked:

I was just wondering what your take is on the rule of *one per person per household? *I have been a sweeper for quite a while and I always took it to mean if that household had 3 people that qualified in every other way they could all enter once. However recently I saw where someone said it really meant just *one entry per household.* It is really confusing.

That rule means one entry per physical street address. It does not include a post office box address and many times a post office box address isn’t allowed to be used to enter sweepstakes because they don’t consider it a physical address where someone actually lives. So even though you have more people in the house you want to enter that qualify you cannot enter them. You can only enter one person from that physical address.

Jamie asked:

How do you handle entries by family and friends on the same computer (what if you are using a network or public library, what are the risks from disqualification to privacy & security concerns?)

If you are entering a sweepstakes that you know is tracking the IP address of the computer you are using (it usually will say in the rules) then it is likely you will not be allowed to enter for other people using this computer. You will need to switch computers to enter someone else. I haven’t had many problems entering other people from the same computer but I know some sweepstakes will disqualify you if you do. And, because there is no way to know if you have been disqualified you have to enter for other people cautiously if you are just using one computer.

At the library you should just pick a different computer each time you go to make it easier. Sometimes a sweepstakes will place a cookie on a computer and the next time you go to enter it recognizes what computer you are coming from. In the case of library computers they may have software that deletes cookies and Internet files automatically. However they also may not have a system in place like that.

There is a way to get a new IP address on the computer you are using even if it is connected all of the time but in my opinion it is not worth the trouble. There are so many sweepstakes out there to enter and so little time to enter them that trying to figure out how to clean up your tracks so to speak is just not worth the time it takes.

If you are using a library computer most likely you will have to fill out the entry form manually because you don’t have Roboform or other form filler programs installed and setup on their computer. However, if you bring your own thumb drive you can install Roboform on it using a program you install on your thumb drive called Portable Apps. It will allow you to install Roboform on the thumb drive and then use it through the thumb drive on any computer without installing the software or putting any files on that computer. You can even install Firefox and other programs on a thumb drive with this software so you can bring your sweepstakes list with you and other settings.

Tips for dealing with skeptical family and friends who just don’t understand (eg., they seem to equate going to the bank for a notarization with giving out bank information)!

For those family members and friends who just don’t get it, think you are being scammed, think you will never win because you never have before or “no one ever wins those things”, or say “why don’t you just get a job and buy what you want” (yes, this happened to me), or thinks you are just trying to be cheap and get something for nothing all of the time, I say, just stop talking to them about your sweepstakes hobby.

If this is something you want to do, you know you will win, you do win, and you want to enter sweepstakes and no one in your circle or friends or family understand then find friends who understand what you are doing. This is exactly why this site and others exist, to support each other in a hobby we all understand.

What if you were a knitter, liked to make quilts, collect stamps, or go bowling? You know there are clubs, conventions, and people who do those things but maybe you could care less and just don’t understand the need to participate. It’s the same thing only in our hobby there are a lot of questions and maybe people who don’t take the time to read rules get scammed, people who don’t feel lucky and don’t think they will win and lots more reasons why people don’t believe or enter. Don’t let their negativity hold you back from a rewarding hobby.

When it comes to taking official paperwork to get notarized, they can look at the official rules and the official paperwork and read it for themselves to know it is legitimate. If one bank gives you a problem find another. When I go to the bank they all ask me what I’ve won because I’ve been there so many times and I never go to the bank unless I usually have something to be notarized. After awhile you will get your own followers from the bank and they will want to learn how to win too.