Long-time Rebaid shoppers might be surprised to see our newest feature- Sweepstakes campaigns! In addition to offering some of the best Rebates on the internet, we are now offering Sweepstakes promotions for an assortment of products. Shoppers have the option to enter into a Sweepstakes promotion while browsing our site.
In order to accurately depict the concept of sweepstakes, one must know how they started. No true origin story is complete without tracing a name back a century or two! The word “sweepstakes” can be traced back to 1773 and the Middle English word “swepestake.” The term was used to refer to someone who sweeps or wins all of the stakes in a game. It is from this concept that the common casino term “cleaning house” was born, which also means to collect all winnings.
Today, Sweepstakes in the United States are used as no purchase necessary marketing promotion to reward customers or draw attention to products. Sweepstakes winners are chosen by random chance and nothing else. Many sweepstakes promotions will offer additional methods of entry like cash, or gift certificates, but it is FTC regulated that no purchase is ever necessary for a Sweepstakes campaign.
There are lots of sweepstakes promotions out there that get a "bad rap" for being scammy or not following FTC guidelines. So how do you know how to differentiate the legitimate sweepstakes from the not so legitimate? Luckily most of the questionable practices surrounding sweepstakes are not related to the contests themselves at all but just use the sweepstakes name.
The 3 Largest Sweepstakes Red Flags to Look Out For:
One of the major scams that have given sweepstakes a questionable reputation is the “You Have Won” scheme. Scammers will send out an email saying you have been selected as the winner of a sweepstakes promotion you have never entered. If you receive something like this, delete the email and make sure not to click anything! These emails look fishy because they are fishy and they generally want you to click on a bad link.
If you received an email saying you won a sweepstakes you did not enter, then delete the email and block the sender. Do not click anything in the email address as it is most likely a phishing scam, looking to get your info.
Payment Demanded with Prize- If you received an email that claims you won the sweepstakes but you must enter your credit card details or any other payment information to redeem the prize- don’t do it! This is a practice that is popular with scammers looking.
The "You Have Won" phone call! Vishing or voice fishing is used by scammers looking to get personal information. If you receive a phone call saying you have won a sweepstake you did not enter!
Luckily there are plenty of places to enter into real sweepstakes, where you can win real cash or prizes.
The social media account Sweepstakes Fanatics is a great source of information on legitimate sweepstakes. The team at Sweepstakes Fanatics are constantly uploading their Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook accounts to reflect the real-time information on the best Sweepstakes promotions.
Rebaid now offers a platform for e-commerce sellers looking to host their own sweepstakes. With Rebaid you can know for sure that your sweepstakes prize is real and will make it to you. Rebaid guarantees the prize of each sweepstakes promotion.
