The Dark, Slightly Glittery World of Online Competitions

Spoiler: I’m still waiting on my Mercedes and lifetime supply of beer.

Some people have poker. Others have fantasy football. Me? I got addicted to online competitions.

It all started innocently enough but as often is the case online, I found myself on a forum I didn't even know existed. I stumbled across the MoneySavingExpert competitions board, and as I write this, I genuinly have no idea how I did, but it opened my eyes.

An example of how many get uploaded in a day

Reader, I fell down the rabbit hole.

For those blissfully unaware, this forum is where comping obsessives (that’s probably not the technical term but I think it works) list out every free online competition they can find. It's alarmingly organised where it gives you a heads up if it's just a simple email sign up, on social media, or if more effort it needed.

From there, I discovered the "goldmine" websites like Good Housekeeping, House Beautiful, Country Living, and yes, even Men’s Health. These glossy lifestyle magazines each run dozens of competitions at once, and better yet, you can enter most of them daily over the course of 30 days or so. There was probably about 10-12 websites like this, plus the daily prizes posted on the forum to work through every day.

So I did.

The idea was simple, that the prizes available were something I generally needed or wanted, such as a new TV, sportswear, vouchers for furniture shops etc, or something which I could sell on and make money. So I would get something I needed/wanted and not have to spend my money buying it, or I would sell the thing I won. I was relatively selective if the prize fell into either of these catagories, and I wouldn't enter anything which I wouldn't use myself, or I could sell. That was the plan.

I became, quite sadly, obsessed. I even developed a system. Each morning: 30-40 minutes of clicking through all the new daily competitions, ticking them off my spreadsheet like a weird admin gremlin. Sometimes I'd squeeze them in during work calls. Once or twice, mid-conversation with my boss, you'll notice a pattern here from my other blog with the We are 8 blog!

But in all that time, five months or so, what did I win?

A hot sauce hamper that was largely average, and a £100 Zoggs voucher, which was actually useful because my swim shorts were genuinely indecent. That’s it. Probably close to a 100 hours of entering, and my return on investment was some condiments and improved poolside modesty.

Then, just like that, on the 31st of July, most of these comp sites stopped running. I don’t know why exactly. Maybe they weren’t profitable, or maybe the universe saw what I was doing and staged a quiet intervention.

And weirdly, I felt relief.

Because here’s the truth: while online competitions can be a fun and free (ish) way to snag cool gear they are a colossal time drain. No guarantees. No returns. Just lots of false hope, and the occasional daydream about how I’d use my new hot tub while sipping artisanal gin.

And yet, I still can’t quite stop.

It now takes me only 15 minutes to do the remaining daily websites still left, and the daily competitions I do during work time when I am still being paid. Still not great, but definately better. I think getting the Zoggs win so recently helped keep the silly illusion alive, almost like a drug addict chasing the next high! What a loser.

So here I am, posting this partly as a confessional and partly as a warning: yes, these things exist, and yes, they’re technically “free”… but be wary. That time you spend clicking through “Win a luxury pergola!” could be better spent investing, side hustling, learning a skill, or, you know, living your life.

If you’re in it for the thrill, knock yourself out. Just know that most of us end up with spicy regrets and a Zoggs voucher.

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