Giveaways. Everyone loves a giveaway. I mean who doesn’t like getting something for free?
I LOVE getting free stuff. Books are probably my favorite- but in the past I’ve won gift cards, a purse and wallet from Vera Bradley and an ornament from Radio City Music Hall.
Getting the package in the mail and opening it- seeing the goodies, well it’s a great feeling!
However, there are some bad sides to a giveaway, as well. And when a giveaway goes to the dark side- nobody wins. We’re all unhappy. It leads to wrinkles and gray hairs. It makes us feel all yucky- and that is no fun.
Let’s discuss a couple of things about giveaways that make us feel yucky (and solutions to them!)
Not Getting The Prize You Won
Oh, this is terrible. It happens, though. Is it the person who sponsored the giveaways fault? Could your mailman be to blame? Might you be to blame because in your excitement over winning you mistyped your information.?
If you won from a publisher (say a book), seriously- calm it down for about 6 weeks. Usually, it’ll arrive and life will be good. After 6 weeks, though, perhaps you’ll want to send a nice email to the person- just a simple inquiry as to “if said prize had been sent”. Hopefully- you’ll get a nice response and the prize will either be on the way or quickly shipped if it was indeed forgotten. If it’s the mailman, though, not much can be done. 😦 😦
True story: I won a book from XYZ place- a book that was named XZY (in case you hadn’t picked up on it- I won’t be naming the said book or person/place I won from). Over 6 weeks go by without a book- and I email to check. Emailed back with apologies and a promise to send another book out within next few days. Fine with me 🙂 Then 2 weeks later- still no book. Another email- and a promise of sending a different book since they no longer had this book. Ok. Not what I wanted to hear- but I’m rolling with it. I’m still technically waiting on the 3rd book XYZ said they were sending- although- I have no faith it will show. And it’s ok- because I learned that sometimes, even when you love a giveaway, some you should not enter. Because it’s no fun not getting the prize- and while I’m sure XYZ is a great place- it is disappointing to win- but not to win.
Not Being Clear about Restrictions of Giveaway
I live in the USA. So, restrictions about giveaways rarely apply to me. And because they did not apply to me- at one point in my life, I rarely thought about them applying to others #justbeingtruthful. When I started having giveaways here, though, I made sure to make the restrictions known- even though I really did not think that people viewing my blog were not from state-side. I’ll be honest again- when I would view my stats and I would see the foreign maps lit up with visitors- just assumed it was S*am (rhymes with ham). And if you looked at the s*am folder- you would’ve assumed that, too. But, guess what? It’s NOT! I actually have international followers (hey ya’ll!) And thanks to them- I’ve become so much more aware of WHY you should make sure to mention if there are restrictions or not on the giveaway.
If you think you hate not getting the giveaway you won- imagine winning the giveaway and then finding out you are ineligible. Yep- that hurts. Am I saying that every giveaway should be open to everyone? No- I’m not. Because, for the most part, someone higher above you decided if the giveaway is international or not (this is if you have a giveaway being offered by a publisher). What I am saying- regardless of whether you are providing the books yourself OR it’s a publisher sponsored giveaway- just make sure it’s known if it’s US only, US/Canada or INT. Because when everyone knows the rules and restrictions- we all feel happier (well maybe not exactly- but at least we don’t have hurt feelings!)
And make no mistake- I’m not advocating that bloggers that host their own giveaways have to make it international- it would be lovely- but when you’ve already bought the book, then add postage- it gets expensive!!
Emails. Emails. Emails.
Yes, emails can be a downside to a giveaway. Why? You email the winner. And then the winner is MIA. Never answers. You hate that. You WANT them to reply. You don’t want them to miss out. But you have people you need to let know, prizes to be sent, etc. I like to give 48-72 hours of reply time (because in this day and age with everyone attached to their smart phones- email is at your fingertips. ) Winners, don’t make us wait- send your replies as soon as humanly possible. Again- makes everyone feel better!
The second part of why emails are annoying- when you have won something and it’s not arrived. I can’t speak for everyone- I can only speak for myself- but my giveaways are sent by a publisher. I forward the winner’s info to them- and then it’s sent to the winner. So, yes, after sometime- I LIKE to know if you have not received your prize- but please know that multiple emails are not necessary. Because after you email me 1 time, I touch base with my contact- and usually let you know the scoop. I can’t (and won’t) email someone a million times about the prize. #justsaying
What Did You Learn About Giveaways?
I hope some of these topics were helpful. Or made you more aware about giveaways. Go forth and win! #beawinnereveryday Hopefully none of these things will apply or happen to you- but if you win a giveaway- be Joe Cool. 9 times out of 10, it’ll arrive- and you’ll be all happy 🙂
Traveling With T 
Such a good post, T! When I’m working on a giveaway with a publicist/tour company, etc, one of my first questions is who is the giveaway open to…it’s a standard question so that I can indicate it appropriately in my post.
I get really bummed when I email a giveaway winner to get their address and they never respond back. In my email, I clearly state when I need to hear back from them…ex: “Please respond to this email by 3:00 PM, Friday, November 29th” – it’s usually a full 24 hours from the time I send the email.
Now – my question for you and anyone else is: how do you announce the winner(s) of your giveaways? Do you do a separate post? Do you include them in a weekly wrap-up post? Do you indicate the winner at the bottom of the original giveaway post? Or something else? This is something I struggle with constantly and am trying to figure out the best way to handle.
Thank you K!
YES! I always ask- Usually I just say to them “US only or US/Canada only?” and they let me know!
What I do about winner’s is this:
I usually post on the giveaway post- “Thanks to all who entered- The Winner is XZZ”. Then I email the person with subject line “WINNER: XYZ from Traveling With T”. It’s been working for me- so I’ll prob continue that way.
I’ll be curious if others have other suggestions about the notifying of giveaway.
This is so great! I actually an a giveaway and said in TWO places that it was US only and then the winner emailed me upset that they won and live out of the country. You can’t help those who don’t read the restrictions 🙂
TY! And yes- if you put it 2 times and they still get upset- well that’s totally on them- 100%! 😉
I have entered and won giveaways and not received the books. Sometimes I wonder whose fault it is, and mainly I just assume that the book got lost along the way. For instance, I won from Fabulous XYZ blog and the blogger actually emailed me to ask if I got the book since she hadn’t heard from me, which shows it was obvs publisher’s fault, and I didn’t hold it against her.
I also think that you have to be SO clear on restrictions for giveaways! There are just too many international bloggers, that if it’s only for US, you have to make that clear!
Also with the emails. . . sometimes after not receiving a book for 6 weeks+ I forget who I won it from! There are times I have received a book and have no idea who to thank! Because sometimes you enter your address into the giveaway itself! I always feel bad (and still have the book in question with no idea who to thank)!
On to the post itself, this is another great one! Very valuable for everyone who is thinking of doing a giveaway, yet so simple, too!
YES! Exactly. Sometimes the blogger is the link to the giveaway- but has NO WAY of knowing whether book made it or not. It does suck (it just does) but things get lost, people drop the ball, and you just have to deal.
Yep! Just watching your blog- I start to get tiny feel for how many INT bloggers are out there- and they are def reading the giveaway guidelines closely!
Totally understand- I usually don’t have that problem since I mark on my calendar date I won, who from, etc so I have a point of reference. But before I got organized- I did have times where I had to think hard about “Who do I thank for this?”
Thank you! An international blogger buddy kind of inspired me to write this because of her recent troubles with winning books that were not marked US only giveaways.
Great post. I often have people asking if they can host a giveaway with a review. I always ask who it is open to and if they say US/Canada only I refuse. I am in Europe and I would feel awkward hosting a giveaway for which I am not even eligible myself.
At first I was not sure about entering giveaways that have not stated clearly what countries are eligible. Now I only enter those that clearly state open international. If it is not said I assume they are only open to US and never considered there is more out there 😉
Thanks! I’ve always been clear about my giveaways (I just don’t like people to NOT know y’know?) But after I became friendly with a INT blogger- I was amazed at how many blogs DO NOT post clear guidelines. For me, 99% of my giveaways are either US or US/Canada only ( got to abide by the pub restrictions!)
I think you are on the right path- if it’s not stated- it prob is just US only. I think (again just my thoughts) that more bloggers would like to host more INT giveaways- but, cost of mailing can be expensive- and therefore prohibitive.
Thanks for stopping by!
This is a great and very informative post! Actually, getting to the ugly, I recently had a tour giveaway for which I had no entrants. How do you think that makes you feel? However, the tour people set the date for my review and giveaway just a bit too close to Thanksgiving travel time. Sigh . . .
As for announcing the winner, I’ve been doing a very short and simple separate post. But I think all the ways discussed so far work.
To date I’ve won and have always received the book, but as you said, publishers can be very slow, and on giveaways I’ve not experienced an MIA yet. But it could happen tomorrow!
I KNOW! I’ve had some moments where I thought “Oh wow- no one is going to enter this” Usually I have someone save me- but I always worry (and sad to hear that it happened to you!) Please know that if ever you are getting worried- I can be your “in a pinch commenter”! 😉
I’ve thought about doing a short post to announce the winner- but I guess I just hate the idea of doing a post ONLY about that. I don’t know. It always looks good when others do it, though!
I hated when I didn’t get a book I won. It happens (and it’ll happen again!) BUT it’s just so annoying. Glad you have not experienced it yet 🙂
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Thanks for mention!
Thanks for the mention!