Win more prizes by knowing the odds - The Win.ly Blog

Top Six Myths about Online Sweepstakes

2011-11-17T12:50:00.000-08:00

1. You're just asking for an inbox full of spam

This may be true if you're clicking on any flashy popup ad that you come across. But if you rely on a reputable prize games directory like Win.ly, then you'll only be playing legitimate prize games.

These games are run by brands who care about their reputation and who follow national laws such as "CAN SPAM" that prevent them from emailing you unless you check the box giving them permission. Even if you do give them permission, you will have a chance to revoke that permission in every email you receive. (Look for the "unsubscribe" link, usually at the bottom of the email).

2. No one really wins

Legitimate prize games post official rules and in many cases file these rules with certain states and post bonds against the prizes, etc. And they all contain a section in the rules to find out who the real winners were after the game is over.

3. You'd have a better chance winning the lottery

For some that's true. For others, you'd be surprised how good your chances are of winning a prize. That's the whole foundation for Win.ly -- knowing one from the other makes all the difference.

4. Automated submission services are the way to go

It's possible you might snag a win or two but these services are not only expensive, they also break the rules of nearly every promotion. Don't waste your time, you could quite likely actually win, then be disqualified without ever knowing it. Don't waste those wins, register legitimately to make sure you don't get disqualified.

Besides, modern browsers like Chrome come with auto-complete functionality that makes it very quick to enter and still be be very safely within the rules.

5. You can't trust the companies running these games

Again, if you are using a reputable games directory like Win.ly, you are only playing legitimate prize games. The sponsors are spending a lot of money to try to provide you with a good experience with their brand. And the administrators live and die by running smooth promotions. They both have a lot on the line.

6. You have pretty much the same chance of winning on one as the other

You might be surprised at the difference in odds. There are games out there with such a small chance of winning that you are literally wasting your time by playing them. And there are often games out there that if you play every day for a month you are almost guaranteed a prize.

This is why Win.ly is so useful. Free members get sneak peaks into the odds every day. If you've opted for our email updates, you'll get the Number 2 and Number 3 best odds games delivered to your inbox each Monday morning.

And of course premium members get access to all the rankings all the time, including a nicely sortable list of the games with the best odds.

One thing never changes--you have to play to win. Go to Win.ly right now and get in the running for cool prizes. Good luck!

I Just Won a Prize! Now What?

2011-11-02T13:01:00.000-07:00

First of all--congratulations! It's always fun and exciting to win prizes online. If you're using Win.ly, get used to it as you should be winning a prize or two every month if you keep up with it.

If you've won something relatively small (under $600), things are pretty simple. You may receive an email or a phone call asking you to provide or confirm your home address. Or it may just arrive at your door if you've already provided your address during registration

Hint: Be sure to mark your wins on the Win.ly toolbar so you can track them and make sure they show up.

Considerations for Bigger Prizes - Do I Even Want the Prize?

If you've won something bigger you'll need to first think if you really want the prize enough to pay the taxes on it.

You'll be asked to sign an affidavit and the sweepstakes administrator will file paperwork with the IRS along with the value ("ARV") of the prize or prizes you've won. This means you'll owe taxes on this as if it were extra income you've earned. (When tax time rolls around you'll receive a 1099 form).

Only you know what tax bracket you're in, so consider taking that percentage of the ARV and knowing you'll need to pay that to get the prize. Is the prize still worth it?

And also take into consideration that big prizes, like cars or extravagant trips, can push you up into a higher tax bracket.

So the 21 day trip around the world seems cool, but is it worth paying $7,000 in taxes for? That's up to you.

Some Other Things to Consider

For cash prizes you should obviously always take the prize. You can pay the taxes out of it and keep the rest. No decision there.

For prizes with a good resale value you should also consider taking the prize. For instance, a car or truck. You might owe $10,000 taxes on a $40,000 car, but you could most likely (depending on the specifics of the vehicle) sell the car for more than $10,000 and keep the difference. Of course, as long as you're willing to put up with the hassle of the whole process.

What if my Prize Never Shows Up?

This does happen sometimes. Sweepstakes administrators make mistakes just like everyone else. This is why it's important to track your wins so you can follow up if they don't arrive.

If you're looking at your list of wins in Win.ly and see a prize that never showed up, you'll need to find a person to contact. The better sweepstakes administrators will still have a page up that says the game is over, along with a link for someone to contact for support.

If there is no support link, and the rules are still available, try looking towards the end of the rules. There generally should be three sections there.

Sweepstakes Administrator: This is the company hired to run the promotion. Google them to find their phone number and call to ask them about your prize. Since they are being paid to run a smooth promotion, they are usually very helpful. Most of the time the issue is something as simple as a delay in receiving the prizes in order to ship and they can get things straightened out quickly.
Sponsor: Every set of rules should list a sponsor and this is where you should go if you can't determine an administrator. The sponsor is the company who actually decided to run the promotion and is generally paying for it. Sometimes they can be a little more difficult to navigate than the Administrator, since they are often much larger corporations, but if you are persistent enough to get to the right people you can usually get helpful responses here.
Winner's List: Any well run sweepstakes will supply an address to write to for a winner's list after the sweepstakes is over. If it's a different address than what' you've tried and you are still not getting anywhere, it's at least worth a shot.

Winning is Still Fun...Right?

These are suggestions to help with rare situations. It's important to keep in mind that these circumstances are rare and the majority of the time your prizes arrive easily (although not always so quickly). Be patient for at least eight to twelve weeks after you've won before pursuing a follow-up call. If you're really antsy, check the rules -- they should specify the amount of time you need to wait for your prize to arrive.

Any Good Stories?

If you have a story about winning a prize, please post it to the comments. Your experience could be very helpful to other players.

You Still Have to Play to Win

All this talk of prizes should have you chomping at the bit to go out and try a few. Go to Win.ly now and start playing. The prizes will come as long as you keep playing.

Good luck!

Updated site design

2011-09-16T05:44:00.000-07:00

So we rolled out an updated design last night. We moved a bit away from the open and white look to have a little more structure and definition.

But it's not just a a visual improvement, we've also optimized many areas so you should see faster page loads and a generally quicker feeling experience.

These changes are hard, because there are always a group who've grown to like the old look, but we're confident they will grow to like the new one also.

Let us know what you think? As all those who have provided feedback in the past know well, we listen and respond. If you have a good suggestion you just might see it on the site a week or two later.

Welcome TLC's "High Stakes Sweepers" Viewers, Here's How You Can Win Prizes

2011-08-17T06:36:00.000-07:00

Welcome New Sweepers

Well, Win.ly has had a flood of new visitors and new registrants since the airing of TLC's new show, "High Stakes Sweepers". If you are one of these new Sweepers, read on. We want to tell you how to win prizes without spending the four to eight hours a day that the sweepers they profiled in the show are putting on.

But first we wanted to say, we think this influx is a really good thing. Because new Sweepers can bring a fresh new perspective and aren't stuck with old habits they developed before tools like Win.ly were available.

It still amazes us that people are spending so much time. If you consider the hours involved, it's somewhere between a part time and a full time job.

Winning prizes should be fun, not a monotonous job that uses up all your time.

How to win prizes without wasting your time

The philosophy behind Win.ly is for regular everyday people, who may not have an extra 20 to 40 hours a week to spend entering thousands of prize games, to be able to enter and win prizes and have fun doing it.

Here is how it works: Win.ly actually pulls in dozens of different statistics from various sources, regarding prizes, people playing, etc., and then calculates, very accurately, your estimated odds of winning each and every game.

So Win.ly really does know which games you'll probably win, and which games are a total waste of time (and there are a lot that are a total waste of time).

If you're a free user, you'll see all the games along with some sneak peeks into which games have the best odds. This is a great option if you're just getting used to Win.ly or sweeping in general and deciding on whether a Premium membership makes sense.

Premium users get a full list of the top 100 games, with the best odds at the top. All you need to do is start at the top and work your way down as far as you like.

Even if you only have ten or twenty minutes to play, by entering all the games with the best odds you'll have a better chance to win a prize than someone playing for hours and entering dozens or hundreds of games that they are so unlikely to win that they are a complete waste of time.

So for about the price of a cup of coffee each month, you can enjoy all the thrills of wining prizes without the cumbersome time commitment.

And to make it even easier to try out, we guarantee your monthly payment. If at any time you decide that you aren't getting your money's worth out of Win.ly, you can cancel and we will refund you your full months' payment.

So yes, you can play for a full month in Premium and if at the end you are unhappy for any reason, you won't have paid a cent.

So again, welcome aboard new sweepers. We're glad you found the smarter way to play. Click here to get started winning prizes and having fun doing it.

New Features for Free Members

2011-08-12T07:41:00.000-07:00

We've been working hard to roll out some new features over the last couple of weeks and wanted to give an update on what we've done.

Free members can now get a couple of "Sneak Peeks" into the Win.ly Rank (WR) that premium members enjoy.

The Win.ly Rank

As you probably know, one of the coolest features of Win.ly is the Rating Engine which compiles stats for all the prize games and estimates your odds of winning a prize. The Win.ly Rank (WR) is the number that shows the result of that rating.

Generally ranging from 0 to 10 (but sometimes over 10) the WR is a quick indicator of your odds to win a prize. (Click to read more on the Win.ly Rank).

Icons also help you to visualize the Ranking, with a "Green Ball on Fire" ...

being the best odds all the way down through yellow and then red balls ...

which are a waste of time.

Premium members have full access to all the Win.ly Rankings and can play games starting at the highest WR and work down. A powerful tool.

A Sneak Peek (or Two)

But for those still trying things out with the free version, you now have a couple of peeks into the WR.

Three free sneak peeks a day. When browsing, you'll see a big number at the top of each page letting you know how many Sneak Peeks you have left. Whenever you are interested in seeing the WR for a given prize game, just click on the gray ball with the question mark and it will temporarily update to reveal the Win.ly Ranking. Make sure you remember it or jot it down because it's just a peek and it won't be there the next time you look.
Weekly update email. If you're opted in for our email updates, you'll now get the Number 2 and Number 3 highest WR games delivered to your inbox each Monday morning. (Sorry, the Number 1 WR is reserved for premium members).

If you are not already signed up for email updates, click on the "My Account" button at the top of the screen and check the box for "I would like to receive emails..." then press the Update button. The weekly update also has reminders on your favorites and your wins so it's a great resource to help your game play.

We hope that this provides more value to your free membership and also helps you decide whether a premium membership is worth it for you.

Win More Prizes with Facebook Sweepstakes

2011-07-27T10:50:00.000-07:00

Facebook sweepstakes are becoming more and more popular as more people join the Facebook platform. With such a wide audience to promote to, and such a great means for sharing and spreading, prize games and Facebook seem to be a perfect marriage.

Why is this happening?

There are three main factors involved with the flourishing of sweepstakes on Facebook.

Audience. Any platform that has a lot of users is going to attract these games, because the whole reason they run them is to raise awareness for their product or brand. The bigger the audience, the better the result.
Social sharing. The holy grail of these promotions is to gain "viral lift", where people tell their friends and they tell their friends. Facebook is built around this kind of viral sharing and so is the perfect tool for viral lift.
Sweepstakes platforms. A number of companies have launched recently that allow companies to quickly and cheaply run sweepstakes on Facebook. Now companies that in the past could not have afforded a web site and a full sweepstakes can quickly and cheaply set up a Facebook page and put a sweepstakes on it.

What does it mean for me?

Well, more sweepstakes and instant win games means more prizes available, so this is a good thing. A very good thing. And a lot of these are very small, meaning not that many people know about them, meaning the odds of winning prizes are better.

Unfortunately for us, Facebook did a number of things that made it hard for Win.ly to work with it.

First of all, it wouldn't allow us to put the Win.ly toolbar at the top.
Secondly, since all these promotions happened on the same website (www.facebook.com) we weren't able to get an estimate on how many people were playing.

Problem solved

Luckily, we had a series of breakthroughs recently that now allow us to work with Facebook prize games. The biggest was an innovate way to estimate traffic to each game. We can't tell you how, as it's a trade secret, but it works and we now can closely estimate how many people are playing each of these games.

Once this discovery was implemented we devised a way to allow you to still rate and remember wins on Facebook pages that don't allow the toolbar. If you notice when you play a Facebook prize game now, instead of placing the toolbar on top of the Facebook game, it shows it back on the Win.ly page.

So once you return from the game and your results are still fresh in your mind, you can simply check of your like/dislike and whether you won right there and then close the popup and return to browsing.

We hope all the new Facebook prize games will make winning prizes with Win.ly even more fun. If you don't have a Facebook account, it's very easy to sign up and it's free.

Good luck!

P.S. Do you think we should mark Facebook games in the directory so you know before you click? Let us know...

Want to Win a Motorcycle? Now's the time!

2011-07-11T13:18:00.000-07:00

Trends in sweepstakes prizes seem to come and go, and for some reason there just seem to be an avalanche of motorcycle based prize games.

So if you've been looking to win a motorcycle, check out some of these currently running sweepstakes and instant win games that feature motorcycle prizes to win.

2011 7up/Dollar General Captain America Sweepstakes
2011 Ardbeg Chopper Tour Sweepstakes
The Complex Custom Honda Cbr250r Rider Performance Gear Sweepstakes

Grand Waileas 20th Anniversary Our Legacy Wont Sit Still Sweepstakes

Hair Club Custom Chopper Giveaway Sweepstakes

Harlistas: The Ultimate American Journey Sweepstakes

The Honda Civic Tour MCR CBR250R Giveaway Sweepstakes

Lean In And Ride With Us Contest

The Mmi 2011 Superbike Sweepstakes

Rev Up With 7up And Captain America

Remember, you can go to Win.ly at any time and search on "Motorcycle", or any other prize, for a current list of prize games that are awarding the prize you're looking for.

Good luck!

Looking to Win a Ford Focus Sweepstakes Prize?

2011-06-16T15:00:00.000-07:00

If you're looking to win a Ford Focus, then now is the time to do it.

Ford is really taking the sweepstakes route with its Ford Focus. There are no less than seven sweepstakes running now with a Ford Focus as their prize.

The list

http://win.ly/prizes/searchprizes/page1?search=Ford+focus&submit=Search

If you're interested, don't forget to log in (or register) first so you can track your play. And for the daily entries, add them to your "likes" so you can easily get back to them every day.

Click for more info on how to win prizes with Win.ly

Does 'When You Play' Have Anything to do with 'How Often You Win Prizes'?

2011-04-27T15:25:00.000-07:00

Does time of day matter?

If you're trying to win prizes online, chances are that you're on the lookout for any way to improve your odds of winning.

If you're already using Win.ly Premium, then you have a big head start, since you are playing games with better odds to begin with.

But that doesn't mean you still shouldn't look for further ways to improve your odds. Every little bit counts.

One thing to consider is time of day. Does playing a game at noon provide less chances than playing at midnight? Does playing when your first get to work make it harder to win than playing at 3:00 am?

Sweepstakes and Contests

Let's examine what's involved. First, let's consider sweepstakes and contests. The general structure of games in this group is that you enter (either once or daily or such) and then at the end, either by random drawing or by judging, a winner is selected.

Since every valid entry is taken into account at the end of the promotion (or the period) it seems obvious that time of day of when you entered would not play a factor.

But how about Instant Win Games?

Instant Win Games

Virtually all instant win games these days are of a type that is called "time seeded". This means that prior to the promotional period, all the prizes are assigned a random time during the play period. The first person to play on or after that time is awarded the prize.

One of the key ideas that drives Win.ly is that if you're playing a game that fewer other people are playing, you have a better chance of winning. This is universally true for Sweepstakes, Contests and Instant Win Games.

But Instant Win Games have a further twist -- since the prizes are awarded instantly, you also can consider how many people are playing just at that moment.

Less competition equals better odds of winning

So even if you're playing an instant win game that has a high volume of players overall, as long as you play at a time when they are not playing you could improve your odds.

Take for example a game with a prize seeded around noon and one in the middle of the night. If there were tens of thousands of people playing during the day you would have very little chance of winning the daytime prize. But then everyone goes to bed and there are only a dozen people playing at the time of the night time prize, so your chance of being the winner are quite good.

Night time is the right time

There is data to show that for most games, fewer people play at night (which is understandable, since people do tend to go to bed and sleep). So to win prizes online playing Instant Win Games, you're generally better off playing at night than you are during the day.

The actual times vary from game to game but generally speaking, following that pattern will improve your odds to win prizes.

Time Zones and Coasts

Something to keep in mind with this is where you live. If you're on the East Coast, even though it may be 1:00 am for you it is still 10:00 pm for folks on the West Coast. You may consider getting up early to play instead of staying up late.

And on the contrary, for West Coasters you'll avoid more East Coast competition by staying up late rather than trying to rise and shine and beat the rush.

Wrap it all together for more prizes

So we know that time of day does matter and you're better off playing at night (if you can).

Keep in mind that all these strategies to improve your odds work in combination. So, the more you employ the better your overall odds.

And likewise, if you can't stay up late don't sweat it. Try and compensate with some other tactics. Time of day helps, but remember that the strongest tactics are:

Playing the games with the best odds to start with (from Win.ly Premium)
Playing as often as you can. (Playing every day for a month gives you 30 times better chance of winning than playing once).

Be sure to use Win.ly's "Last played" tracking and "Like" lists to easily make sure you play the games you are targeting every day.

The better your odds, the more you win. But a little luck always helps too. Good luck!

Win.ly is up - but it's down

2011-03-31T17:17:00.000-07:00

All of our web servers are up, operational and live.

Unfortunately, "Win.ly" is not resolving to our web servers so you probably will not be able to get to them.

As some of you may know, the ".ly" extension is managed by Libya. We are suspecting this has something to do with the current unrest there as we also can not contact the Libyan company that manages the name server.

We are on top of this and will keep you up to date.

Holiday Instant Wins and Sweepstakes are Heating Up

2010-11-24T10:01:00.000-08:00

The holiday prize games are starting to come in and there are some really good ones this year. Big brands are really trying to outdo each other with big prize numbers.

Here's a sampling of some of them we've come across the last few days.

27 Days of Giveaways Contest is giving away 1,602 prizes over 27 days, worth $200,000!

Bake Sweet Memories Game (Bake Your Holidays Merrier) is giving away 10,000 free product coupons.

Chevrolet and Conan O'Brien are giving away Twenty Pine Tree Air Fresheners in Twenty Nights (oh, each one "wrapped" in a 2011 Chevy Cruze). That's 20 cars being given away, worth over $580,000 in total!

American Express Season of Surprises is giving away one $100,000 check, ten $10,000 checks and 2,000 $25 gift cards. That's over 2,000 prizes with a total value of $250,000. (See the "more info" button on Win.ly for the secret to getting a free code without purchase).

Wow. That's over thirteen thousand prizes worth over one million dollars in just those four.

There's plenty more and new ones are coming in each day. Now is a good time to really get in the habit of playing every day to get the most out of this fun time of year for prize hunting.

Don't forget to sign in to Win.ly and mark these as your "Likes" to remind you to play each day.

Good luck! Let's see how many Win.ly members take a home one of these prizes!

Top 5 Craziest Sweepstakes Prizes

2010-11-17T12:18:00.000-08:00

The world of sweepstakes prizes sometimes gets repetetive. Another trip? Another gift card? A car or motorcycle? The latest Apple products? Join the group.

Here's to the brave and brazen who take a risk with their prizes and make things a bit more interesting.

5. Swarovski-Encrusted Gotchi Figure

I know very little about Swarovski crystal outside of I think it's expensive and used to "encrust" things to make them expensive. I know less about Gotchi Figures. But I guess put them together and there's someone who really wants one.

http://win.ly/prizes/sweepstakes/prize-game-3115

4. Nothing

This is a clever prize description to support Jones' "Zilch" soda, with the tag line "Win Absolutely Nothing".

The trick? The prizes are actually having various bills paid for you for a month by Jones, so you pay "nothing".

http://win.ly/prizes/searchprizes/prize-game-2817

3. Bacon

Ok, it's not actual bacon. They advertise it as bacon, but the prize ends up being groceries (which you could buy bacon with).

But, the second prize is great. A bacon-shaped USB drive containing Farmland® recipes. (There's a picture on the site).

http://win.ly/prizes/sweepstakes/prize-game-3018

2. Underpants

You don't actually win underpants, but you win a trip to run in the "BVD Underpants Run in Kona". Who knew there was such a thing?

http://win.ly/prizes/searchprizes/prize-game-3081

1. A Corpse

Well, almost....

Just in time for halloween, Fear.Net is running their "Halloween Hung & Skinned" Sweepstakes. The prize?

From the Creature Corps' Haunted Attraction Catalog comes "HUNG & SKINNED", a highly-detailed life-sized corpse, suspended from the very wooden rack on which he met his demise. On the rack you'll find implements of torture and pain, while a metal tub sits firmly at the bottom, waiting to collect the victim's bloody entrails as they drip from the lifeless body.

http://win.ly/prizes/searchprizes/prize-game-3172

Hurry, this one ends on 10/22.

For more fun with prizes, visit Win.ly

Multiply Your Odds of Winning: Play Early and Often

2010-09-29T14:47:00.000-07:00

This rolls up in to one of the big themes here: "Don't get discouraged." Winning prizes is all about perseverence.

The great thing about Win.ly is that it can really cut down on the time this would otherwise require. But you still have to keep at it. Games that give prizes to nearly everyone who play do come along from time to time, but they're not the norm.

Take an example of a highly rated game on Win.ly and let's pretend we know the exact odds of winning. In this case, let's say it's one in one hundred odds.

This would rate as a "green ball on fire" on Win.ly so you'd certainly be seeing it towards the top of the list and be interested in playing it.

So let's start with player one, who gives it a try, doesn't win and just marks it as a "dislike" and never comes back.

Now let's compare to player two, who notices that you're allowed to play every day and so, comes back every day for the full two months of the game.

These are the odds that the two players have enjoyed:

Player one? One in one hundred chance of winning, or about 1%.
Player two? Better than one in two chance of winning, or about 62%.

Quite a difference. Player two will more likely win a prize than not win one, where player one would have to get really lucky.

So keep it up. And remember, it's not work, it's fun. Once you start winning prizes it's exciting and addicting. And Win.ly allows you to not have to invest hours a day. But don't get fed up too early, give it a chance to work for you.

Site Refresh. You like?

2010-09-28T14:21:00.000-07:00

We gave the site a little refresh. In a word, everything is a bit bigger.

Bigger fonts, bigger buttons. It's all much more easy on the eyes and feels a bit lighter and easier.

Let us know what you think.

Win.ly prize directory

Want to win an iPad? An iPod? A Cruise?

2010-09-25T12:35:00.000-07:00

We just updated our search to also include the entire rules of all live games.

So now you can search on specific prizes (gift cards? iPads? iPods? Cash? Cars? Trucks). This is a pretty powerful way to pick the games you want to play.

And combine with a full membership and you can cross reference to see what your odds of winning are.

Try it out and see if you win the prize you want.

Thought for the Day: There's a lot of prizes out there waiting for someone to win them

2010-09-22T07:58:00.000-07:00

"Win.ly is currently rating 310,073 prizes worth $11,115,712.00"

That's the banner across Win.ly today. That's not just an estimate either, it's calculated exactly each time you load the page.

Think about it, most of these games run for about two months.

So over the next two months, almost a third of a million people are going to win prizes worth over $35 on average.

The prizes are out there. Get out there and win some. If you haven't won yet, prepare yourself for a thrill you could really get used to.

What's the Single Best Tip for Winning Prizes Online?

2010-09-21T07:45:00.000-07:00

Whether you're a hobbyist who enjoys playing online sweepstakes and instant wins for the thrill of winning prizes, or simply a casually interested internet user looking for a fun diversion for a few minutes a day, winning prizes is fun and it's why we do it. Filling out registration forms and seeing "Sorry, try again tomorrow" is not fun, that's the "other" part that we put up with while waiting for the next "Congratulations! You're a winner".

So it would seem that we all want to spend less time with the "try again" and more time seeing "You've won!". But how can you do that?

Recently we examined the difference between two very different games to show how much more often you'll win playing a game that has high odds vs. playing a game that has bad odds.

Let's take that a step further and pick five games at random vs five games from the top of the Win.ly rating.

Of course, Win.ly doesn't know the exact odds of winning (nor does it need to) it just knows close enough. For example, if you join a church raffle in the morning and then go to a sporting event and drop your name in a box for a prize there, you know you're competing against a few hundred people for the church raffle and tens of thousands for the sporting event. You don't know the exact odds of winning, but you know the church raffle has hundreds of times better odds.

So, taking a rough estimate of the top five Win.ly rated games, you have about one in twenty chance of winning a prize at the top rated game down to about a one in 200 at the fifth. That means for every twenty times you play the first game, you'll most likely win a prize and for every 200 times you play the fifth game, you'll most likely win a prize

Taking all five together, it comes to an average of 1 in 100 of winning a prize on each.

Assume you play each game each day, so that's 5 plays a day. If you do this for 20 days the odds say you will have won a prize by then. That's less than three weeks!

Taking the five random games we picked, the average of winning is about 1 in 23,000 on each. Doing the same math, you would need 4,600 days or just over 12 years to win a prize.

So how do you make sure you're playing the games with the good odds so you'll win?

We know of only two ways. Join a traditional sweepstakes directory and spend hours each day playing a huge number of games hoping to get a prize. This works for many people, but is very time consuming.

Or join Win.ly and start at the game with the best odds of winning prizes and work your way down. You'll hit all the best games and most likey win as many prizes, for just a few minutes a day.

A few much more pleasant minutes.

Give it a try. It works. Play the top five or ten Win.ly rated games each day for a month and we'd be amazed if you're not hooked on the thrill of winning prizes

Anatomy of a high ranking sweepstakes (and a low one)

2010-09-09T14:03:00.000-07:00

Looking at two promotions on either end of the Win.ly Rating Engine scale gives good insight into the advantages that the automated ratings give.

First let's look at the Sobe "Heads or Tails" instant win, which is currently at the top of the rating list by a wide margin. Actually one of the highest ratings in the history of the engine. [The engine has been running since the summer of 2009]

What are the key factors?

First of all: number of prizes. Wow! Over 490,000 prizes worth just short of $2 million in total. (And that's not even counting the BOGO coupons).

Second: duration. Only three months. That's over 16,000 prizes given away every day.

Third: traffic. Although the site has moderately high traffic estimates, it isn't high enough to effectively diminish the odds. So there are relatively few people competing each day for those 16,000 prizes.

That's a recipe for a really good chance to win prizes.

Now compare this to "Game Z" [name withheld for politeness] with one of the worst ratings on the list.

This is a sweepstakes for one prize.

It runs for nearly eight months. Average prizes per day? Less than .005 (that's "five one thousandths").

And it lives on a site that is getting HUMONGOUS amounts of traffic.

Rough estimate of traffic is about 20 times more than what we are seeing with Sobe Heads or Tails.

Simplifying quite a bit for a rough estimate, you have (approximately) one twentieth the number of people competing for 3.2 million times more prizes (on average per day). So that's (shockingly) 64 million times better chance of winning a prize on Sobe Heads or Tails.

Yes, you read that right. 64 million times better chance of winning a prize.

This, my friends, is the value of Win.ly. Are you wasting your time on "Game Z"?

Do coupons count as prizes?

2010-03-27T14:08:00.000-07:00

Do coupons count as prizes? In a word, "no".

Legally speaking, they certainly don't. Win.ly follows the same guidelines and for the same reason.

It's not really anything of value unless you buy something from them, which is a pretty big condition.

So when calculating chances of winning prizes, Win.ly ignores coupons and other things that have no legal ARV (average resale value).

A good example is the Shop, Play & Save Instant Win (click to take a shot at winning their prizes) promotion. It's a great promotion, with a very respectable 2,057 instant win prizes to be given away.

But Win.ly ranks it as having only 257 prizes. Why? The rest are all coupons with no inherent resale value. So it won't rank nearly as high as it would have had all 2,057 been pries of actual retail value.

But it's still a good game. And it's still giving away prizes worth over a half million in resale value so give it a shot and let's see how it ends up in the ratings.

Edit:
Keep in mind we are talking about "coupons" meaning a partial reduction in price. Like the kind you get in the Sunday Paper.

"Coupons" that are redeemable for completely free products (often referred to as "vouchers") are in fact acceptable as prizes and do contain value.

Some Quick Stats on Sweepstakes and Instant Wins That You Actually Have a Chance to Win a Prize On

2010-03-19T06:59:00.000-07:00

Wondering what percentage of major sweepstakes, instant wins and contests out there really provide a decent chance to win a prize?

We just ran some quick summary stats. Based on the Win.ly ranking groups:

Green on fire (best chances to win a prize): less than 3%
Green (good chances to win a prize, worth playing): 6%
Yellow (probably not worth playing): 35%
Red (don't waste your time): 56%

(Numbers don't add up to 100 due to rounding).

Wow. Goes to show how crucial it is to know the odds.

Also kind of makes you feel bad for the poor folks who are wasting their time on games that that they'll never win a prize from. Knowledge is power.

Why does Win.ly have a "Purchase Component' marking when it's illegal to require purchase?

2010-03-16T08:31:00.000-07:00

It's because of something generally referred to as "Alternate Means of Entry" or AMOE.

What this means is, someone can run a sweepstakes or instant win that effectively requires purchase (requiring you to enter a code that is printed inside a label on the product, for example) as long as they also provide an AMOE.

But the kicker is that these AMOEs vary quite a bit. Some games are nice and allow you to email in for a code, or even just "click here" to get one.

Others require you to fill out an entry and mail it in, often with detailed constraints on how it must be filled in and what must be included, in order to get a code back by mail.

So, although technically you can't be barred from any of these games by not purchasing, you may have to go through some extra hurdles beyond the usual "register and go" sort of entry.

And that's why on Win.ly we call it "Purchase Component" instead of "Purchase Required". It's just a helpful marking so you can better assess the games you wish to play.

(If you haven't seen it, it's the little "dollar sign" symbol next to the promotion name. That along with a "21" (for age requirement over 21), a black and yellow striped sign (for "other restrictions) or a globe (for foreign language or other international elements) help you to quickly gain additional information about the game.)

Q&A: Should I decorate my mail in sweepstakes entries to get a better chance of winning a prize?

2010-03-14T09:22:00.000-07:00

I've seen advice blogs out that there that advise all these silly methods of getting your mail in entry selected in a sweepstakes--like using a big envelope, stuffing it to make it heavy, decorating it, even putting oragami in it.

Well, I hate to tell you but this is a giant waste of time. The firms that run these sweepstakes do not look at each envelope individually, nor do they throw them into a vat and physically select winners.

Winners are always selected by computerized random number generators that are matched to the entries by id number. So the only thing you can do to increase your chances is to follow the rules to the letter so you don't get disqualified.

(Note that we are talking about sweepstakes. Contest submissions are a totally different story.)

Please visit Win.ly for the best chance to win prizes on online games.

Q&A: How often do I need to play to win?

2010-03-09T07:43:00.000-08:00

Obviously we can't tell you how often you will win, that will vary based on what games are out there, how diligent you are in playing them, and how lucky you are.

But during an average period of time, if you play the top ten to twenty ranked promotions as often as you can (usually every day, but they vary) you should be seeing a prize at least every couple months if not every month.

The key is that you have to keep at it. Just because http://Win.ly can tell you which are the best, doesn't mean the best win every time you play.

It means if you play every day over a period of time you have a decent chance of winning a prize.

We recommend playing the top ten or twenty every day (or as much as possible) for the first month (right now you get a free month of premium for registering, so take advantage of it). If you had no luck winning a prize, let us know and we'll extend you a free month to see if your luck gets any better.

We love hearing from you. Reply to this blog, send us an email at feedback@win.ly or send us a direct message on Twitter at WinlyPlaySmartr.

Good luck!

Why not use an automatic form filling service to enter sweepstakes?

2010-02-17T08:02:00.000-08:00

Automated form filling services claim to be able to use an automated process to submit your information to hundreds, maybe thousands of promotions a day. By shear number this should increase your odds of winning a prize, right?

You'd think so, but there's a lot more to it.

Look at the rules for nearly any promotion and there will be a clause in there that says

Use of any automated program to enter will result in disqualification.

So first and foremost, you're breaking the rules.

But what if you're not concerned about that? What if you'll take the prize and not feel guilty about it?

Well, it's not that simple. Nearly every promotional agency worth its salt has many layers of very sophisticated ways to detect and automatically disqualify entries from automated entry methods.

So in the end you're paying a service to submit "hundreds or thousands" of registrations (Do you really know how many they really are submitting and to what promotions?) most of which will never even count.

The registration service gets their money -- they win. You don't.

There are only two ways to consistently win prizes from these games. One is by becoming an expert, reading blogs and posting on message boards and spending a lot of time each day on your hobby. The other is by using Win.ly, which will allow you to spend just a few minutes a day and quickly enter just the games worth entering.

Of course the experts could also benefit from Win.ly. :-)

Q&A: What's the difference between a sweepstakes, an instant win and a contest?

2010-02-08T12:20:00.000-08:00

A lot of people use the term "contest" (or sometimes "sweepstakes") as a catch-all for any online, rules governed promotion that is giving away prizes. But there are really three main types of these promotions. And knowing the differences is very important for knowing which ones to play.

Note we are excluding things like "giveaways" and coupon offers in which everybody who registers and meets the requirements gets something. We are concentrating on the "many will enter, few will win" type promotions.

Contest

The game is a "contest" when it is based on some sort of skill rather than random chance. These games usually have you submit something like an essay, a photograph, a video, etc. and then judges select the best entry or entries and they receive the prize or prizes.

These tend to allow one entry during the game.

Sweepstakes

Sweepstakes collect entries during a period of time, then perform a random drawing to determine the winner or winners.

These can vary in their entry frequencies, from "unlimited" to "daily" to "once" to even "once per period".

Instant Win

Instant wins, as the name implies, let you know whether you won immediately after playing.

Most instant wins "seed" winning times evenly throughout the period the game is running and generally the first person to play after that time wins.

Most instant wins tend to be daily entry although other variations exist.

Summary

As you can see, contests can be tough unless a) you are extremely good at the subject matter of the contest or b) you happen to know that there aren't very many entries (because you use Win.ly).

But keep your eye open for contests that might be tough to enter due to the complexity of the subject matter. They often get very few entries and can be worth the effort.

Sweepstakes are tough for two reasons. They tend to have more people vying for a small number of prizes, and you're totally at the mercy of who comes in after you. You might find a sweepstakes that no one knows about and get your entry in without much competition, and then two days before the drawing, word gets out and an avalanche of entries comes in and buries yours.

That's the great thing about instant wins. If you identify one that has good prizes and few people playing, you can cash in immediately. Win.ly consistently has instant wins among the highest rated for this very reason.