After a long hiatus we’re back with our irregular round up of comping in the news. This is where we highlight those news articles that feature “professsional compers” or link to comping stories that we think you might find interesting. We do occasionally post links on the forum too and it’s always interesting to see what people think about the hobby under the media spotlight. Some folks don’t mind it whilst others would prefer that entering competitions is never spoken about. The latter is never going to happen though because the media are always fascinated by stories of big prizes or trying to win to earn extra income, especially in the current financial climate.
I Won £17,000 In 2022
Mum shares her number one tip for winning competitions is the rest of the headline in this Daily Express article. No prizes for guessing who the mum is though! Most of the article is information that has been shared before, but there are a few useful tips. For example seeking out effort based and/or local competitions on Instagram as well as purchase necessary competitions. Another tip is to seek out giveaways on TikTok because Di claims “they are generally low entry, with nice prizes”. Mind we guess telling everyone these tips might well change that? Another thing that might change that is having a book out that aims to help others replicate that success. The article concludes with a plug for Di’s latest book which is called Bootcomp. This is a comping planner and goal setter – much like a year planner but aimed at compers. Good luck to everyone undertaking this approach, it’ll be interesting to see the results at the end of 2023.
Comping: A Free Hobby
One of the more rounded comping articles we’ve spotted recently came from The Money Edit. This too features comments from Di Coke, but also features two male compers called Tom Boulet and Chris Treloar. The fact that it includes one male comper is unusual but two – wow – that has to be a first! Loquax does get a name check which is always nice although it’d have been nicer if the article linked to us too. We like the fact that Boulet suggests using a directory as a starting point for comping. Some vocal compers like to dismiss or denigrate sites like Loquax for various reasons some which are fair others which aren’t. If sharing comps is a bad thing (because they become easier to find) then why are their lists of comps on blogs and Facebook groups run by people who say don’t use listing sites? Interestingly the article does highlight scams in competitions and that people may miss them if they’re unsure what to look out for. Well if you use a listing site or a community site then we’re there to (hopefully) filter out those comps that aren’t worth your time. Anyway we like this article and would like to see more along these lines.
The Secret Lives Of Compers
For this particular article we’re heading to The Guardian and also Down Under. It’s one of the more interesting comping articles we’ve seen in recent times because it’s not a “look how much I’ve won” piece. There’s nothing wrong with them by the way. From this article we learn that Cynthia Sear has done an “ethnographic study of comping communities in Australia and the UK” as part of her research thesis. There’s even a paper written on the subject if you’re intrigued by her findings and research. Both links give you information about the highs and lows of comping and the rush that winning can provide. There are also some tips from Diane (not Di) and Bella who “are strategic in how they enter competitions”. One element of this research covers the compulsion and addiction that sometimes comes with comping. Bella suggest that “it’s an addiction and it attracts people with addictive personalities” and most certainly it can be that way. The article concludes that comping is in a way a form of gambling – just often without the cost – unless of course it’s a purchase necessary promotion or pay to enter prize draw from the likes of ITV, raffle sites etc. It’s something we’ve touched upon before, especially with the increasing number of raffle sites that now exist. Overall this is a very good read.
Comping Fesshole
Just as we finished writing this article we spotted a tweet from an account called Fesshole that we think is worth an addition to the blog. Fesshole is a twitter account that allows people to “confess” their secrets anonymously. It can be quite funny and is well worth a follow. Anyway today’s confession is comping related: “I work for a publication which regularly runs competitions. I hate it when ‘comper’ – people who enter them as a hobby – win after seeing details posted online – not normal readers. So if a winner’s email is something like [email protected], I will pick a different winner”. Now this is something we’ve often suspected happens even though it shouldn’t. The drawing of a winner should be conducted independently and be fair, without any prejudice. Our advice is to have a more non-descript email address so that dodgy promoters can’t “judge” their winners solely on email address. And if you’re the owner of [email protected] at least we all know why you’re not winning.