How long did it take you to get your first win?

I started doing sweepstakes sometime last week and after looking at threads on here, I'll admit that I was expecting to have one something (even something small!) by now. I try to keep looking at what everyone's won when I get a little discouraged but I figured maybe asking everyone how long it took them to win something would keep me motivated.

About 2 month for my first win. It was Finding Nemo VHS, so it was quite some time ago.

ETA: Try the instants.

took me several weeks for the first win than a month or so longer for the next, and that was back in the day when it was easier to win. it's all about how much and how often you enter. keep at it and wins will come.

Welcome to OLS!

I started online sweeping over 10 years ago. My first win came about a month after I started. It was a bag of coffee that I won in a weekly entry sweep (where a winner was chosen each week).

Sweeping takes patience and persistence. Some people do see a win shortly after starting sweeping, for others it may take months before they see a win. Have fun and good luck!

It took me about 2 months and my first win was actually a local radio station one (a little digital camera -- I still use it for when I need a camera I can just stick in a pocket), not one from here. I won a few little things here and there after than and then a few months later won a 56 inch projection TV (Sony).

Keep in mind that when you first start you are entering a lot of sweeps that don't actually end for several more days/weeks/months. After they end it often takes weeks or even months before all winners are notified. So usually when starting it will take a while to see a first win unless you get lucky with an instant. Hope that happens for you. Hang in there and GL.

Originally Posted by chelsknits I started doing sweepstakes sometime last week and after looking at threads on here, I'll admit that I was expecting to have one something (even something small!) by now. I try to keep looking at what everyone's won when I get a little discouraged but I figured maybe asking everyone how long it took them to win something would keep me motivated.

Back when I started, instant wins paid off a lot more then they do now. I pretty much won a couple of times a week on them. I think my first daily win notification took 2 or 3 months time. Most wins took 8-10 weeks from end of contest to receive the prizes. So the short and simple answer is it will be a while and this type of thing requires a lot of patience.

My first prize over $100 took me 5 months, and was a portable DVD player.

My first prize over $1000 took me ~14 months, was a piece of jewelry

My first trip hit about 19 months in.

My first prize over $10,000 was 2.5 years in.

In my 6-7 years, I have won two prizes over the $10,000 threshold. I have won 6 trips. Handful of $1,000 prizes. I'm confident if you are persistent and take a long term approach you will have similar results.

I've been trying the instant ones but haven't had any luck so far. I've already entered over 100 sweeps and actually most of them end by the end of July! I'm not really doing that on purpose, but I think it's nice that it's turning out that way because it seems like I have more of a chance of winning something soon, before I feel too discouraged. I actually have probably 10+ ending sometime this week. I wasn't aware that sometimes it takes that long to be notified though ... I assumed the day it ended, you would be told if you won.

2 years. But I kept at it and won a trip to Aruba!!! Bumpa

I started in March and had a win in May for a trip to a nearby state (no transportation - I think those have less entries so better odds but I only enter for those that are for places near enough I don't mind driving.) Second win was in June for a $100 visa card and they were drawing for one a day so better odds also. I work full time, so I only enter about 200 dailies plus any new singles that come out.

I've never won on an instant but I only enter the IWG attached to a sweep. I think there must be instant games or instant sweeps that maybe I'm not aware of yet.

Best of luck. Just keep entering and most of all, have fun.

It took 2 or 3 months for me.

I got my first win the following day after I started entering. A $185 chronograph watch!

ABout two months, I won a gift card for 200 to theSak.com. I almost missed out because I missed the email. If it wasnt for the sender leaving out her contact info and resending it, I would not have found it.

I won my first big one, trip to Disney for 4, nine months in on an instant win game.

I'm one of the lucky ones, I had two or three wins the week after I started. Just keep at it! It's all about numbers. If there are over 1,000 entries and you only do one of the entries (on blogs) your chances aren't great. If I want something and there are under 500 entries, I'll do all that I can. If it's already got 30,000 entries, I'll do the easiest entries only, unless it's something I really need or want.
Good luck!

It took me a few months before my first win.