Anyone else notice this?

Most people get it, probably because they gamble, but I get the occasional "it's a scam" comments too.

I've given my addy to numerous people, but few follow up. Their loss IMHO. :laughing:

With all the scams out there that anyone who surfs sees, I get their skepticism, but anyone who has ever snailed gets it. :headbang:
 
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I am new to this addiction, but I love it. It has replaced my old addiction, shopping, in a very positive way. Instead of going to ebay, I now go to SA, which helps my budget. Some family members do think I'm a little strange about this, but that's OK. My favorite grandson gets some sweeps from me, and loves it, so I have a buddy. I'm a psychologist, and I know that some addictions can be fun, and I believe this one is. Good Luck to all of you.
 
gurli said:
I am new to this addiction, but I love it. It has replaced my old addiction, shopping, in a very positive way. Instead of going to ebay, I now go to SA, which helps my budget. Some family members do think I'm a little strange about this, but that's OK. My favorite grandson gets some sweeps from me, and loves it, so I have a buddy. I'm a psychologist, and I know that some addictions can be fun, and I believe this one is. Good Luck to all of you.
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It's self-regulating too - if you get burned out {from entering at the expense of other things/from not winning} you'll find yourself slacking off/taking a break and coming back refreshed & raring to go!!! :laughing:
 
Hey Jeff, I know exactly what you are saying............My mom once said to me, "Well, haven't you about worn out your luck?".....That was back in 1990 she passed in 1991 and on occasion I still tell her, "Hey mom, you aren't gonna believe this!!"

My husband and I were conversing with our doctor a couple of weeks ago and told him of my facination with the sweepstakes. He kind of laughed but finding out that my 25 year habit has been quite fullfilling
he said, "Well maybe, in my free time, I might check that hobby out." I'm sure he'll make more money doing
his doctoring but the relaxation I get day after day is just worth it all.

GOOD LUCK TO ALL we still have six months to GET'ER DONE!!!!!!!!!.......wILLA
 
amyshulk said:
It's self-regulating too - if you get burned out {from entering at the expense of other things/from not winning} you'll find yourself slacking off/taking a break and coming back refreshed & raring to go!!! :laughing:
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It got too much for me due the harrassment of others in another site that ended up me losing my dear friends at one site and the admin of my small site.This wa my first love and first site for sweeping. I come back when i am healed. There is a lot of stress in sweepstaking and a lot of bad people, too many but not so many here thankfully. I hope to see everyone in texas soon.

Yep self regulating, how quaint but true. Off to check chat then sweep, need lots of money.
 
I love how people react to my answer to the questions "What are your hobbies?" or "favorite hobby?" (sweeping of course).
 
Glad I came upon this posting!
When I tell people about my sweeping, they think I'm bonkers!
Even my own husband thinks it is strange (although he likes the wins)
I've been told this was a scam, I have no life, I need to get a better hobby, I'm wasting my time, etc...
My coworkers ask me to bring my wins to work b/c they don't believe sweepstakes are legit...
Over the years my family has gotten more supportive after seeing my wins over the years and funny to say that my mom and brother have recently been trying to get into sweeping....
I liked reading everyone else's stories!
 
At first when I started playing the IW games I was skeptical...Gave up only after a few days of trying but kept reading how much other's were winning so I said to myself...Self: If they can do it why can't I?? I asked around at other forums of how to win at the IW games and was told you have to play every day if you can and try different times of the day...My very 1st win was a movie ticket and the rest is history!! I am now addicted and I will admit it!! My husband was skeptical when I 1st started but that all changed when the nintendo sweepstakes Wii's/cash etc started rolling in!! Now when he gets up in the morning and sees I have been up in the early hours of the morning plugging away at the IW games he says: What have you won this morning??? :laughing:

I don't care what other people think of my addiction I have fun win or lose!!
 
Yeah, I know my husband thinks I'll get scammed or my identity stolen or something. His whole family is like that. We have boxes full of paper - mail and things that have his name and address that need to be shredded when he gets around to it. He did let me enter a few sweepstakes for SmartCars in his name because I've never had a license (never needed until now). I told him if he wins a SmartCar for me I'll learn to drive.

I told my mother-in - law that I was thinking of entering AmeriCorps - along the lines of distrust - which I've had friends do in the past and it really helped them and they work with well known volunteer organiziations like Make a Wish and really make a difference. I want to enter because they give you a stipend, child care and pay off school loans. I can't work right now because we don't qualify for childcare vouchers and I'd spend my entire paycheck paying that, uncle sam and gas. She said look out, sounds like a scam to me. Like I wouldn't research them thoroughly. Even when I know people in the past who have done it. So I won't be telling her about sweepstakes. I'll tell my family - my sister-in- law had me entering for her for the HGTV dream home.

I've been doing this about three weeks now and have received something every week - a child's ABC flashcards (for toddlers) and three dvd sets. Its very exciting!

I try to be cautious on what I enter - reading the forums and avoiding what seems to be scams. And I'm aware of all the taxes involved in winning prizes and the changes the IRS has made to the sweepstakes arena.

I'm told many prizes don't start arriving for months I hope that's not true. Because I'm moving to MS at the end of August and my husband will follow a few months later! I'll just have to give my landlady a heads up I guess.
 
mtejen said:
What IRS changes in the sweeps arena are you talking about? I haven't heard of this...thanks!
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There have been no changes. It's as straight up as it has been. You pay taxes on everything you win whether the sponsor reports it or not to the IRS, and you pay taxes on the fair market value (FMV) and not the approximate retail value (ARV).
 
There are no changes that I have heard of. Not sure about minimums and stuff.

what I know:

You must report any items, cash or other stuff that have cash value. It can be from babysitting, recycling bottles, selling stuff you find while dumpster diving or the free food you get from your neighbor for doing her lawn. It can be from prostitution, gambling, bets like who can eat the most pickles, or embezzlement.

WARNING: the IRS does not cotton to the words "They did not report the win." as they do not care if your employer never turned in you paperwork, if your neighbor gave you food for yardwork, that the prize company did not send in the paperwork or that you lost your information. They want their money and will get it. It is a matter of getting caught or making someone so mad that you get reported.
 
I agree with everyones posts! I think that if I had not found SA, I would not be a sweeper. They always post the best of the best sweepstakes and the contests are companies that I usually use. Why not take advantage of a promotion that they are offering? Someone has to win, why not me? :sunny:

I have had the same skeptical responses as most of you have. But last week I won my first semi-big prize, a Sony Cybershot T70 camera. My Fiance who sells electonics suddenly got very excited when I told him what I had won and his first response was "well you alredy have 2 cameras, you should give it to me!". Pft, I don't think so honey! I told him how to enter the sweeps and if he decides not to play, then he will never win!

On another note, I was becoming addicted to buying lottery tickets. I often won, but also lost a lot. Instead of going to the movies with my friends I would decide to buy a couple of lottery tickets. With my new (FREE) hobby of playing the sweeps, I still win and lose. But not any money!

Thanks SA for everything!!! :love:
 
mssc1985 said:
Whats the difference between the fair market value and retail value?
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The people you win from will give you a statement of the ARV, or Approximate Retail Value-like when I won a ring who's ARV was $1500
then it was up to me to prove that the ring actually sells for $800 and I pay taxes on that. ARV's are often way higher than the actual price of the item in the real world. A good tax guy is very helpful to have if you sweep a lot. :sunny:
 
I know what u mean. I recently won a trip for two to Las Vegas and when I told my best friends they just smiled a little and looked at me as if to say "don't you know this is a scam"? They know I have won other stuff too. I don't think I will invite either of them to go with me. LOL! Wouldn't you think someone would say how nice or congratulations??? No, nothing! I think the funniest thing is when I go into our little local bank with an affy in my hand that needs to be notarized. The first time two cashiers came over to talk to me to warn me about scams online. I thought it was cute. I guess they thought someone was out to ruin me, but I convinced them that I wasn't that vulnerable and that I knew what I was doing. Last week I had to go back to the bank twice (once for the Vegas affy and once for a video camera affy. Now they get all excited and want to know what I have been winning lately.
 
I too rarely tell people about my hobby. Those that I work with always seems so skeptical about what I win. Some are interested but never seem to really start sweeping. I get the "geez, I want an XBox too, so if I enter sweepstakes I will win one?" People don't understand the time or effort that one puts in to win the things we want! I also get the "why dont I ever win anything?!?" and my response now is "Did ya enter?" I have a brother in law that was just distraught over the fact that I won "another" trip, he was pissed. I looked at him and said, "let me know the next contest you enter and I wont enter it, heaven forbid you think I won something that you were supposed to win." Still no phone calls telling me not to enter something from him! :laughing: My husband learned a long time ago to just leave me alone about it and enjoy whatever it is I win and my best friend starts almost every conversation with "so, win anything good?!?" :sunny: I guess it is great that we have a wonderful group of people here that understand and support our hobby! Happy Sweeping All!
 
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