Wombling for wins

Are you a womble? Wombles collect other people’s litter, making good use of the things that they find (as the song goes!) Not only are wombles helping Keep Britain Tidy, but they might even make a bit of cash – or win a prize! – with the litter they pick up.

You might already be familiar with the term wombling – many money-savers love to collect discarded receipts from near a supermarket, then use them to claim money off vouchers (Asda), or loyalty points (Tesco & Sainsbury’s). Have a read of Skint Dad’s great guide to wombling receipts – ‘How wombling can save you hundreds on your weekly shop’

But what about wombling for wins?

Did you know…. SuperLucky reader Julie actually won a CAR from wombling a Spar receipt, and Janet wombled her way to the Algarve with a promotional toothpaste box! 

The easiest thing for compers to womble is packaging that features unique codes – with this type of promotion, a code can only be entered once on a website, so a receipt is hardly ever required to claim a prize (and the packaging itself is rarely asked for – although T&Cs might warn you to keep hold of it!). If you don’t want to keep the packaging, snap a quick photo of the code on your phone before throwing your wombled item into the nearest bin.

The easiest and most common promotional products for compers to womble are cans (Coke, Rockstar, Carabao), bottles (Coke, Lucozade, Highland Spring), cereal boxes (Dorset Cereals, Weetabix, Cheerios), snack packets (Walkers, Tyrrells, Wall’s), and chocolate wrappers (Kinder, Cadbury, KitKats).

Won’t the codes already have been used?

Winners lists for unique code promotions show that between 95% and 99% of codes are not entered on a website – so the chance of finding new, unused codes is high!

Where’s good to womble?

Health and safety is super important – don’t go delving into dustbins!

• Look out for cereal boxes, beer boxes and fizzy pop bottles in your neighbours’ recycling boxes (here in Brighton they’re left out on the pavements so it’s easy to swipe a Lucozade bottle as you pass by!) Go out in the early morning on recycling day for the best selection (if you enjoy this, do watch the Contest Queen’s video on ‘Pin code hunting’ in Canada!)
• Parks and benches near secondary schools, colleges and Tesco Express stores usually have junk food packaging discarded by teenagers who clearly don’t recognise a bin when they see it!
• At sporting events (particularly football matches) you’ll find lots of Coke bottles on the concourse and even on the floor of the stadium – Coke promotional codes are usually printed on the bottles or under the cap
• You can even womble in your office – or if you see products being thrown away, politely ask your colleagues if they’ll pass them on to you next time!
• Are you on good terms with a local bar or café? Ask them nicely to save their empties, labels or lids for you!

Are you a womble? What’s the bravest or cheekiest wombling you’ve done in the name of comping? Share your secrets in the comments!