A beginner’s guide to comping

Have you ever dreamed of winning a luxury holiday, new car, or meeting your favourite celebrity? Well, comping can make those dreams a reality! This beginner’s guide is packed with expert advice to help you on your way to being a successful comper. ‘SuperLucky’ Di Coke has been entering competitions since the 1990s, winning an average of £12,000 of prizes every single year since then. Di’s trusted advice has helped her followers win thousands of prizes, from cars to £150,000 cash!

What is comping?

Comping is the UK term for entering lots of competitions and prize draws – and if you take on this fun and potentially rewarding hobby, you can proudly call yourself a comper. Be warned though – it can be addictive!

• In a rush? Start by entering Di’s current recommended top 5 UK competitions
• If you’re on Facebook, join 24,000 other compers in the Lucky Learners Facebook group
• If you’re ready to go full steam ahead on your new comping hobby, join the 2,000 Lucky Legends!
• Watch my YouTube Comping Masterclass to discover my strategies for success!

Aren’t competitions a scam?

Only a very tiny percentage of UK competitions and prize draws are a scam – in most cases, the promoters really do want a genuine and happy winner! Don’t be a cynic – after all you’ve got nothing to lose, and everything to win. Di’s advice will give you the confidence to easily identify and avoid scams, and help you to find and win the genuine competitions. It’s recommended you read How to spot giveaway scams on social media before you eagerly start comping.

Now, let’s get back to the beginner’s guide…

Di’s tips for new compers

1. Be Prepared

• Create a dedicated email address: compers receive LOADS of emails, and you’ll need to deal with the influx – Gmail is a great option. Choose a short and simple address, as you will have to write, type and spell it thousands of times. It’s important to keep on top of your emails, and setting up rules, folders and flags can help you get organised  – check the tips for a tidy inbox.
• Optimise your social media presence: lots of people join X (Twitter), Facebook, TikTok and Instagram solely for the giveaways. Consider your username carefully – try not to use hyphens, dots, underscores or random numbers – your name should be short, memorable, easy to spell and ideally, the same on all platforms.
• Become a competition hunter: look for the word WIN wherever you go – there are competitions in the supermarket, magazines, apps, bus stops, waiting rooms, on the radio… everywhere!
• Check the comping calendar: event days are a great opportunity to win prizes, so subscribe to my Google calendar to keep track – then prepare your creative and photo entries in advance. Then on the day, search for the hashtags on social media and Google to find comps!

2. Target the prizes you want to win

• Create a prize wishlist: If you enter every competition you see, the hobby can become overwhelming. Make a wishlist including small prizes like vouchers and tickets to big ticket prizes like a car or holiday. If you focus your efforts on finding and entering to win those prizes, you’ll find comping more manageable and easier to fit into your busy life! (use the template here, or order a copy of Di’s BootComp books which include a wishlist)
• Follow relevant brands: find and follow your favourite brands on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and X – and join their email lists so you’ll be the first to hear about new competitions.
• Do regular Google and X searches: check tips on searching for competitions on Google.

3. Enter competitions from brands you know and trust

• Start with entering comps on the websites and social media of brands you recognise: Don’t complete long entry forms where you give away lots of personal information, and don’t get tempted by big prizes on survey sites like MyOffers.co.uk or OfferX (these sites make money from selling on your details and you will get bombarded with spam phone calls and emails)
• Try social media comping: Instagram and X are a great introduction to comping as you don’t have to give anyone your name, address, email or phone number until you win a prize – Di has published tips for X, Instagram and TikTok comping.
• Beware of fake giveaways: Watch out for fake ‘congratulations winner’ notifications and messages, which are common on Instagram and Facebook. Report the accounts as spam!
• Be cautious of adverts, product testing and freebie sites: Watch out for ads when you’re browsing competitions listings sites and forums, especially for freebie and product testing websites – these are not recommended. This list of UK competition sites will help guide you. I have removed all adverts from SuperLucky, so you can be sure every link from this website has been vetted personally by myself.

Tip: For most prize draws the tick boxes are optional and you shouldn’t have to sign up to receive further information just to get an entry into the draw, so don’t tick the box unless you are genuinely interested in the brand! 

4. Put in the effort (and it will pay off)

The majority of people who enter competitions don’t like creative or effort comps, but these offer the very best chance of a win.

• Embrace creative competitions: Posting a joke on X, sharing a photo on Instagram, making a TikTok, commenting on a blog, doing a quiz on the radio, filming a video – these comps are harder to enter, but because of this, they are much easier to win. There are loads of effort comps listed on my Lucky Legends forum too, but you need to be a paid member to access them.
• Do what you can to make your entry stand out: try to come up with unique and original ideas for your photos, videos and written entries. Don’t worry if your photo isn’t fantastic quality, because a lot of creative competition winners are chosen at random.

5. Enter local giveaways

Competitions and prize draws hosted by local shops, venues, magazines, newspapers and shopping centres will get far less entries than nationwide brands.

• Enter comps hosted by local businesses: Check the websites and social media of all your favourite local businesses regularly. 
• Tune in to your local radio stations and check their websites regularly as the text and phone-in comps get very few entries! Think of the places you visit regularly – restaurants, salons, theatres, gyms – then follow them on social media and join their newsletters. Read more tips in the posts How to find local competitions and giveaways, and how to win radio competitions.

6. Read the rules!

• Always check the T&Cs – every UK prize promotion must have them. If there’s no terms & conditions, the promotion isn’t being run properly so be wary. It’s particularly important to check the details of any competition where you’re spending money or time on your entry. For a creative comp, whether the winner is judged or chosen at random will affect the amount of time you should spend on your entry. 
• Check your emails and notifications regularly. You’d be surprised how many new compers miss out on prizes because they’re not checking their junk email, or their Instagram and Twitter notifications. Find out more in How do I know if I’ve won a competition?

7. Make comping friends

Comping can be a solitary hobby – but it’s much more fun to do it with friends! 

• Search the Compers Connect database: Lots of comps require entrants to @ tag a friend in order to enter, and using our Compers Connect database is the best way to find one! Comping friends are fantastic for helping you discover new promotions and will let you know if they see your name as a winner. They’ll also cheer you up if you’re going through a dreaded ‘dry spell’ without any wins. If you can find local compers on the Compers Connect list, that’s the best option as you might even be able to share ticket, meal and event prizes with each other!
• Join online communities: Find fellow compers on Facebook (join Lucky Learners!) – or search the list of local Facebook groups or local comp clubs in the UK. You can also join a forum to connect with other compers – Di’s Lucky Legends membership gives you access to a great private forum full of competitions, chat and regional forums.

8. Watch out for scams

• Beware of fake giveaways: fake comps regularly pop up on Instagram, X and Facebook – these will usually be for phones, consoles or trainers. If you see a social media competition without any terms and conditions, check their contact details or bio – is there a website listed? If there’s no website, be suspicious and ask yourself, why are they giving away a prize if they have nothing to promote?
• Never pay to claim prizes: You should NEVER have to pay to receive a prize. Don’t give your credit card details – and don’t click the links in suspicious Instagram, Facebook or text messages. Read How to spot scam giveaways on social media for more advice.

9. Try purchase-necessary competitions

Comping can be a completely free hobby – but there are certain types of prize promotion where you can spend a little money and have a great chance of winning.

• Enter standard rate text competitions: These usually cost you less than 15p. Shops like Tesco and Poundland regularly run these, and they usually have loads of prizes – look out for advertising in store and see the list of current text-to-win competitions.
• Try on-pack and supermarket promotions: SuperLucky readers love purchase-necessary supermarket comps, and there are usually 100+ current in store promotions featured on the Compers Shopping list (access is restricted to paid Lucky Legends members). Make sure you take photos of receipts and store all your paperwork safely. 
• Be cautious of raffle websites: Watch out for ‘pay to enter’ prize draw sites – a lot of these sites are not picking winners fairly, and it can turn into an expensive addiction. Read about unregulated competitions leading to huge debt.

Don’t assume you always have to spend money though! Big cash radio competitions like Global Cash Call and Make Me A Winner advertise their £2.50 text or online entry routes widely, but they also have a completely FREE phone entry route – at least four SuperLucky readers have won with free entries!

10. Enjoy the hobby!

Comping isn’t for everyone – and the prizes aren’t guaranteed. Treat it as a fun hobby, enjoy the challenge of finding and entering the comps, and consider the prizes as the icing on the cake… Find motivation and inspiration from fellow compers on the Lucky Learners winners posts, in the Meet The Compers series of interviews and Di’s prize unboxings on YouTube!

Three final tips on organisation….

• Make comping a daily habit – use Google Tasks or Apple Reminders to create a list of your must-do daily entry comps from the SuperLucky instant wins list then tick them off every day!
• Don’t waste time keeping track of every comp you enter – but do save details of any local or effort-based comps, as the promoters sometimes need a reminder to choose/contact winners
• Do keep track of everything you win – some prizes don’t turn up and need a chase. Use the guide to setting up a prize spreadsheet if you like. A spreadsheet can be a real motivator to look back at all the great prizes you’ve won!

Enjoyed this post? Find more tips on being an organised comper in my video guide Ten great ways to organise your comping. If you decide comping is the hobby for you, set yourself the 12 comping challenges in my BootComp book – or consider signing up for Lucky Legends membership!

Any questions? Use the contact form or ask in Lucky Learners.

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