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 🙂