Any given week there are thousands of giveaways starting and ending.
Pepsi alone had over 400 sweepstakes/giveaways this Summer for a marketing campaign.
Countless blogs start giveaways every single day, and some blogs have hundreds of giveaways on their site every single year.
The question most people have is can you actually make money entering giveaways?
My wife and I have made a lot of money entering giveaways, and I’ve even won two trips this year alone. I’ll do my best to explain how to make money entering giveaways.
My experience with giveaways
My wife and I started to enter giveaways about a year and a half ago. Since then we’ve won at least 50 giveaways ranging in value of $0 to thousands of dollars. Some things we win aren’t worth much, others are worth a whole lot.
Some of the biggest giveaways I have won were relatively recently.
I won a trip to Hawaii earlier this year in a giveaway/competition that was put on by IZEA. This post about how ordinary people can make money on social media helped propel me to the win. We won a $5,000 trip to a resort on Wakiki Beach that we’ll be taking during the frigid months here in Minnesota. Definitely a big win.
Recently I won another trip, ironically to my hometown of Minneapolis for the All Star Game. This was a really great win because it came with $200 of spending cash. It was supposed to come with airfare and ground transportation, but I was compensated $500 instead. Finally, I was able to sell the $295 face value tickets on Stub Hub about 9 hours before the game (after stub hub fees it was less than face value, but I’ll take it!). Almost forgot to mention that we also got a hotel stay out of it at a nice hotel in town.
I don’t mention these giveaway wins to brag. I mention them to show that it’s possible to win big prizes. These are obviously two of my biggest wins, but there are countless smaller ones we’ve won, including a number in the $100-$250 range.
This leads me to what I look at as optimal giveaway strategy. If your goal is to make money by entering giveaways, it’s best to follow this strategy:
- Cash and cash-convertible giveaways are king – If the goal is to make money, obviously cash giveaways are the best ones to win. Gift cards are also good giveaways to win because of how easy it is to sell them (or use them if they are places you shop).
Don’t underestimate your ability to convert giveaway wins into cash. We won a Ryobi lawn mower worth $400 and I was able to return it for a $400 merchandise credit at Home Depot. We have also sold a Pfister faucet, baby carrier, baby book shelf, and many other things on Craigslist. It takes very little time. Be sure to read our post on how to stay safe when buying and selling on Craigslist if you plan to go this route.
- Focus on bigger giveaways – Because of the sheer number of giveaways out there, you will not have time to enter all of them. Even if you have only 10 minutes a week to enter giveaways, it can pay off to get your name in the hat for the bigger ones – there are typically multiple giveaways on our roundup alone that are valued at $500+.
Of course it can’t hurt to enter smaller giveaways if you have the time. I use the word “smaller” lightly – even giveaways valued in the $100-$300 range can sometimes be considered “small” because they don’t attract as many entries as the $500+ ones.
One final thing I should mention is taxes. Companies are required to give you a 1099-MISC if they run a giveaway that has an estimated value of $600+. That means the IRS will know about your giveaway win.
So even though I won a $5,000 Hawaii trip, I do owe taxes on it as if I had earned $5,000 of blog income. Still, I’ll take the trip!
How much money can you make entering giveaways?
I wanted to end with a quick blurb about how much money you can make entering giveaways. I won’t pretend to have the correct formula or algorithm to calculate how much money you can make per hour entering giveaways. At the same time, I think it’s misleading when others claim to have the formula figured out.
Another blogger ran some numbers on how much you “make” entering giveaways. He guessed one entry takes about 30 seconds. I’ve gotten 100+ entries in some giveaways in less than a minute, simply because I had already done certain things in the past (i.e. followed accounts on twitter, liked accounts on Facebook, etc.) so it goes really quickly for me. Even on giveaways where I have not already followed accounts I can typically get entries in just a few seconds and move on to the next one.
Even in online poker – which is a relatively controlled environment with set rules – you can play optimal strategy for a year and still lose money. Variance is killer and goes both directions. You may enter 10 giveaways and win half of them. You also might enter 1,000 giveaways and lose every single one.
I have talked to others who have won thousands and thousands of dollars worth of giveaway wins. Treating it like a “side hustle” is a good approach if you want to make a lot of money. People who win a lot of giveaways aren’t lucky, they are more likely giveaway grinders. The more you play the luckier you are, just like most things in life.
Final Word – Have Fun!
As with anything that you do on the side on top of a full-time job, make sure you have fun entering giveaways. If you aren’t having fun it’s really not worth it.
Good luck!
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The most I’ve ever won is a book :) I think it’s awesome that you’ve had such success though. Focusing on the bigger ones is a strategy I think I need to employ.
This is awesome! I never win anything because I never try =/
Wow a trip to Hawaii! I don’t usually enter sweepstakes because like Holly I don’t make the attempt…but a free trip would be nice. Good idea DC!
I still can’t believe you won a trip to Hawaii – very cool! I’m like Holly, I never win because I really don’t take the time to try. :)
I like how this post is about giveaways and not just an actual giveaway. It’s a nice breakdown of giveaways and makes me think I should enter more. I think I’ve entered 3 in my entire life.
I haven’t had a lot of luck with giveaways. I don’t go out of my way to find them and enter, but if I see a good one that interests me on your roundup lists, I’ll pop over and give it a try. So thanks for that! :D
I’m a giveaway and contest entering junkie. I do it on the daily. I haven’t won anything in a while (sad face) but I can’t tell you how many times I’ll wear something and then someone asks me about it and I say I won it!
When I was only working part time, I entered a number of giveaways. I only won a few things, but with the advent of blogger giveaways, there seem to be a LOT more that are open to Canadians now. I still won a few hundred dollars worth of stuff. If my employment dropped off again, I would probably pick up entering giveaways again. Right now, I have way too many things on the go!
I need to get back into entering giveaways. I haven’t really done any in nearly a year, but when I was entering them I was winning an insane amount of them it felt like. Great post!
Holly at ClubThrifty Kind of hard to win if you don’t play haha
MoreThanJusMony Yeah it’s impossible to win if you don’t make an effort. It’s definitely paid off for me, granted I have a tiny sample size so I can’t say that it pays off 100% of the time.
brokeandbeau I can understand why some people casually enter hundreds of giveaways a week, but if you have a very limited amount of free time it seems to be worth it to enter the bigger ones.
FrugalRules It doesn’t take much time to enter just the big ones. I made over $1k on the All Star Game giveaway and it took me literally 20 seconds to enter. Not a bad ROI!
theFinancegirl I enjoy writing about “giveaway theory” because it honestly can be a decent side hustle. It doesn’t take much thought, you can put as little – or as much – time into it as you want, you can pick it up – and stop – whenever you want, etc. The payout isn’t bad either.
TheWriteBudget I think that’s the best way to go about it. I personally have taken this approach as I’ve had less and less free time and found it to be ideal.
PinkSunshine94 There are definitely stretches of time where I’ve entered a bunch of giveaways and haven’t won a single thing. There have been times where I’ve won a bunch of things in a row, though, so it balances itself out. Just this past weekend we were talking about something my wife had won and we happily told people we had won it : )
moneypropeller I’m with you on having too much going on to enter. If the blog – and other things – didn’t take up all my free time I would probably try to get entered into as many as possible. Now that I’ve won two trips in the past year I’ve realized just how important it is to at least get entered into the big ones. The potential payout is too high to not sacrifice a couple minutes to get your entries in.
SenseofCents I only have time to enter the very biggest giveaways these days. With that being said, having won 50+ giveaways the past year or so, I should really try to make time to enter giveaways with medium prizes as well since they have lower entries. It has paid off for both my wife and me.
If you don’t play you don’t win. I just got my first give-away victory with a book that Debt Discipline was giving away, score #1!
I know so many people who just focus on this, and I wish that I allocated more time in my schedule for giveaways because it’s amazing what is out there to be won. I am always so impressed with your Friday post on the giveaways and have no idea how you guys do it, but when I am ready to spend more time on this, I will definitely start here. :-)
I still love that you won a trip to Hawaii. And the amount you pay in taxes on your big win wouldn’t have paid for a nice trip to Hawaii so it’s still a big win in my book! I admit that I don’t enter many giveaways, but I see them all over place and people are obviously winning some really nice prizes. I think once you get in the habit, it’s probably a pretty mindless task you can do while you’re watching TV or something.
Way to go on the Hawaii trip–that’s awesome! And good point about the taxes on winnings. I don’t really enter giveaways, but you’re making me think I should start :)
I have been entering giveaways weekly since late last year. I’ve only one once. I hope that changes soon.
I’ve won a number of things through giveaways too. I won a laptop, shoes, trips and gift cards. When I was VP or marketing we’d run campaigns and the relative small number of people that actually submit entries increases the likelihood that the same people win often.
I have won a couple giveaways myself without too much effort. I’m sure if I put in more time I could win more, but there is only such much time I want to dedicate to it. I love your roundup. It’s great to see it all in one place.
FranklyFrugalFI Nice job! Congrats on the win!
blonde_finance Victoria does all the work currently, but I’ll probably pick up some of the slack when she starts grad school this Fall. I don’t currently enter all of the giveaways (though I have in the past – and not surprisingly won a lot more often!) but I try to get my name in the hat for the bigger ones.
ShannonRyan Exactly, it’s absolutely a mindless task once you get in the habit. I can 100+ giveaways in about an hour :0
Mrs. Frugalwoods I think entering the big ones can have a great ROI, because it takes a very immaterial amount of time and you can get a big return. I definitely can’t wait for the Hawaii trip!
Jason @ The Butler Journal You can go through months and months of not winning anything and then all of a sudden win some big prizes. Honestly when I won the All Star Game trip I hadn’t been entering many at all – maybe only 1 or 2 a week :0
Phroogal I hear you on that. I think less people enter than people realize. If you are committed to entering them you are bound to win. It’s a numbers game for sure.
Beachbudget I’m glad you like the roundup! I think it helps people (quickly) find the ones that they actually want to enter.
That is pretty cool – I’m really happy yall won your trip to Hawaii!
BudgetBlonde Thanks Cat! We can’t wait for our trip!
Awesome DC, seems like you are the giveaway king :)..
On an unrelated note how do you feel your site is coming along and have you started your new role yet?
I feel like I go in phases. Some weeks I’ll enter several giveaways. Other weeks I won’t enter any. I guess it just depends what I’m up for.
I have won a few giveaways and should put more effort into it. Your posts make it so easy!
You are going to miss Minnesota when you are in Hawaii. You can’t beat -20 here in MN, it makes for solid character. You will be soft when you return from Hawaii and thinks it actually cold.
Eyesonthedollar I’m glad you find the Friday posts useful! It takes a lot of effort (almost all by my wife at this point) so it’s nice to know others use it.
No Nonsense Landlord Haha very true! Though I’ve endured the some brutal winters the past few years.
@mycareercrusade Haha I’m not sure about that but I’m definitely trying! My site is doing well and I started my role about a month and a half ago. So far so good!
BudgetforMore That’s one of the great things about it. You can pick it up – or stop – whenever you want. I definitely have gone through phases of entering and not entering.
I really need to be entering more giveaways – you guy rock at this sort of income!
DC @ Young Adult Money Sounds really positive DC, great to connect with you on LinkedIn too :)
I’m still working on increasing how many I enter each week. You’re definitely a motivator!
Laurie TheFrugalFarmer We are doing alright with it ;) Though I fear that I’m giving advice with not enough data – I don’t want to give others false hope.
ImpersonalFinance Glad to motivate you! Good luck on the ones you enter!
I’ve done fairly well with winning from giveaways. I won $500 cash last year, and another $220 earlier this summer. Those were the “big” prizes I’ve won. I’ve also won a few $20-$25 cash or gift code prizes, a book, a sweater, and I’ve filed my taxes for free 3 years in a row. I’m not quite sure if I’ve hit the $1000 mark yet, but I’m pretty close :)
mylifeiguess That’s pretty good! I think it’s such an easy little “side hustle” that takes such a small amount of time. I’m sure you’ll pass the $1,000 mark very soon if you stick with it.
Giveaways are an amazing way to make some cash on the side. I’m amazed at how many I’ve actually won, without having to spend any money on entering etc.
I’m always surprised at how much better giveaways are in the US versus Australia though. :(
As they say, you’ve got to be in it to win it!
Ok, so, where do I find these giveaways? :)
I would like to start this…how do I find them?
DC @ Young Adult Money Eyesonthedollar
whats the name of the free giveways site? very interested