Overall it seemed that everyone was thrilled with the Google Docs entry method I used previously, save for a small minority that still preferred the comment method.
When Rafflecopter was introduced, lots of people asked for it and I delivered. However, I’ve heard burblings here & there (not from my readers though) that people do not like it, so I wanted to ask everyone what they think.
Here’s why I like form entry:
- Super easy/fast to enter, assuming minimal entry methods. Definitely easier than leaving comments, especially when the blog uses the blasted captcha and/or “you’re posting comments too fast” messages.
- Your information stays private, no posting your email address in “public.”
- Very easy for me as the blogger to check for duplicate entries by sorting the form.
- Easy for me to gather info for the sponsor about entrant responses, unique entrants, total entries etc.
- I love that people can leave genuine comments on the blog post, vs. only comments to get an entry.
Here’s why I like Rafflecopter:
- If an entry is offered for a Facebook “like” you can see right on the form if you already “like” the page, and “like” it right from there if you don’t.
- I know people like to see their odds of winning, so with Google Docs, I was updating each giveaway many times per day to number entries and update the post. Rafflecopter does this, in real time.
- Rafflecopter makes it even easier to check entries. With Google docs, I sorted by name and email address to look for duplicate entries. With Rafflecopter, I can also sort by IP address.
- Random.org is built right into Rafflecopter, which makes selecting a winner even easier.
Here are a few things I don’t like about Rafflecopter:
- It is in its infant stages, so there have been issues with the form not working occasionally.
- It tracks using cookies, and sometimes will let you enter twice.
- Can’t customize the look or change the ending time; the default ending time is 12:01 A.M. I think if there has to be a default, it should be 11:59 P.M. since it makes the end date not exactly right. Lots of bloggers don’t list an ending date on their giveaways, so I have to whip the calendar out to figure out when it ends for my roundup post. I would love to see it countdown by hours in the last day, and minutes in the last hour, but only if the end time can be changed. Right now it still shows 1 day left when there are just a few hours remaining.
- It seems that the ease of entry has encouraged some bloggers to add even more entry methods. So it can still easily take 5-10 minutes to get maximum entries, especially when you have to continue to leave the form to complete tasks.
- Some bloggers make you leave a comment, which means leaving the form, reloading the page etc. Rafflecopter doesn’t allow you to make the “extra info” field mandatory on the first entry, so people are confused and sometimes leave a comment on my giveaways rather than using the extra info field.
- Rafflecopter allows multiple mandatory entries, but since they are listed independently, it will allow you to enter with one or the other. It just won’t let you complete bonus entries until you complete all the mandatory entries. Will the blogger view the list and disqualify entrants who didn’t complete both?
- Rafflecopter offers minimal customization for the entries…it gathers the title of a Facebook entry from the Facebook URL, which makes it : ”’like’ changediapersblog” vs being able to write it how I want: “Change-Diapers.com.”
- You cannot have more than one form on the home page of the blog, so you have to use the “read more” feature and require an extra click.
Concerns I’ve heard about Rafflecopter:
- Other than the things I’ve already mentioned that bloggers and entrants both don’t like, the big one is that “sweepers” are concerned about cheating, since they cannot see the entries. Especially because they will see the total entries at a huge #, but only see a couple of comments. This is even more confusing since 25 entries could come from a single person the way many bloggers offer entries, so 10 entrants could create 250 entries. So did all the entries come from just a few people? Did people not leave a comment? Did they put the info in the extra info field instead? Will the blogger disqualify them or let it slide?
- Can’t edit your entries if you make a mistake.
- Issues with the form not working, form allowing you to enter twice etc.
- Causes issues with drop down menus on WordPress blogs. I don’t use these, so it’s not a concern for me.
- Form becomes broken when the post is edited. The same is true with the script I use to add the Facebook button at the end of my posts. I edit my posts in HTML mode vs visual mode, so this is not a problem for me either.
The cheating isn’t an issue here since my entry methods are so minimal that it takes me only a few minutes at the close of a giveaway to sort the entrants by name, email address and IP address, checking to make sure there are no duplicates. I can see this would be a big problem for giveaways that offer 10-15 methods for a giveaway, sometimes with 5-10 entries for a method. This would lead to huge lists with tons of entries to sort through. I don’t expect sweepers to believe that I do this, and that there will be no cheating going on here, but hopefully you all believe me!
The other “problem” with form entries in general for me as the blogger, is that my “page views” number is far lower than bloggers who have a page reloaded 25+ times for one person to enter a single giveaway. I’m not really concerned about this, but it could affect bloggers who are paid for ads by the # of impressions, and sponsors could potentially look at me as far less successful than others if they focus on a single number.
On the same note, my minimal entry methods make my giveaways look less successful to companies. I may have a giveaway with 250 entries and 250 unique entrants, but that looks unsuccessful compared to a blogger with 125 entrants, but literally thousands of entries for daily tweets, voting, leaving comments, entering other giveaways, 6 subscription options, blogging, grabbing multiple buttons etc. I entered one giveaway where I counted over 100 potential entries per person between the methods that got you 5+ entries, daily tweets etc.
While I am happy with my Rafflecopter entry forms, it’s not about me, it’s about you.
Do you like Rafflecopter in general? How about how I use it? I am doing my best to keep entry methods even simpler (making it name & email only, no mandatory comment/add’l info or bonus entries) whenever possible. I of course have to do what the sponsor asks if they’re not comfortable with that!
If the majority wants me to return to Google Docs or comment entry, I will certainly do that, though I’m doubting that will be the case. I’m sure there are some sweepers that see I use form entry, then just move on without entering or actually looking so see how I run the giveaways. While I value the traffic I receive from sweepers and sweepstakes sites, I’d really rather cater to my readers who come here for the information and community.
So this is your chance. Tell me what you think! What entry method do you prefer? What issues do you have with each method?
Maria wants to live in a world where cloth diapers are the norm and moms can make parenting choices without judgement. When she’s not chasing her 18, 14 and 11-year old kids around, you might find her checking out the latest gadgets, organizing something (again) or exercising in the fresh air. 
Why did they change Rafflecopter? Just because they could? I see no improvements, only bad things — like not being able to edit. I have probably disqualified myself dozens of times beause I hit enter by accident or made a typo. It’s a really stupid design in my opinion.
I really don’t care for the changes either and I did give them my feedback. For editing, have you tried clicking the entry again to see if you can make additions or changes? I could be wrong about that.
Hi. I am looking at starting a new site soon and was going to use rafflecopter for the competition side of things. Now, do you think in the past couple of years, that rafflecopter has improved?
I am still loving Rafflecopter! The inventors are very responsive & ready to deal with changes or customer requests. I highly recommend i!
Hi Maria,
I did a search on Google about Rafflecopter and came across your blog. I know that it’s been sometime since anyone discussed this thread. I am thinking of running a sweepstakes using Rafflecopter. Fast forward to 2013, does it still have a lot of issues and bugs? Are you still using it for your campaigns or have you not find it much useful anymore? Would love to hear some feedback before jumping in. All comments welcome. Thanks
I am very pleased with Rafflecopter, and the customer service behind it!
Hey Maria I know its been a few weeks since you posted this but I read a really great blog post this morning over at Still blonde after all these years that I think youd like. Its about using the Rafflecopter to help show sponsors exact figures without needing to go into the whole page view issue. Let me know if you need the url (I forgot to grab it since Im on my phone) cuz I can forward it to ya later if need be.
I saw that post in my Google reader yesterday! I’ve actually been doing that since I had switched to Google docs, and my sponsors love seeing unique entrants and so forth! I just tend to say that xx #of people selected the Facebook “like”bonus entry, rather than saying #of new likers (since current likers get the entry too!)
That was one of the big advantages for me of GD over comments before Rafflecopter! I would remove all personal info from the spreadsheet and send responses to the sponsor!
I like Rafflecopter even with its bugs. I run contests for another site and while I get a ton of questions because it’s new (and honestly, I think some of these people would have problems if the only thing they had to do was comment on the blog post!!), most people seem to like it better than Google Forms. I enjoy setting up Rafflecopter better than Google Forms–but that’s all about me and not about the entrants!
I haven’t used it as a blogger, but as someone who enters giveaways, I like it. I especially like it on WP blogs because I don’t like that “slow down, you are posting too quickly” message! And like someone above mentioned, I like that you can easily see if you already like a FB page or follow on twitter.
I love Rafflecopter giveaways and recently have begun to seek them out because I dont always have an hour to enter one giveaway (UGH at those with 5+ comment entries per method) but I dont mind Google doc as an entry method either. I love not having to post my name and everything else for the world to see because my junk mail is at the least 5 times worse than before and yes I stupidly used to write my whole name until I realized that if I googled myself I would see tons of entries with my name and email address out there for the world to see. Its like walking around with your skirt tucked into the back of my panties and everyone is giggling and you cant figure out why. I also hate like many others that if Im not using my laptop (usually my entry method of choice) I end up having no clue if I entered the giveaway days later. Cuz sometimes I can enter via Rafflecopter on my phone which is tedious to do if you have to do single entry comment method and they want you to comment 50 times. So I usually try to leave a comment even if one is not mandatory so that I know I entered but I do this with Google docs too.
Guess Im still pretty new to sweeping and didnt realize why some people were wanting me to comment so much until very recently (when a blog I actually read changed back from Rafflecopter to comment entry for just that reason-less page views). Maybe having their page views go down will force them to have content that people are reading instead of just hoping to keep their numbers up with giveaways.
Thanks for having great content as always. Being a CD rookie I like your advice posts like today I am interested to see what people say for the rash cream entry because both of my daughters are super sensitive and if it becomes a full blown rash the only things that help end up harming my CDs. Also like another respondent I use giveaways as a way to build up my stash since money is tight which is why I love your weekly link up and thanks for posting what type of entry method is used!
“Its like walking around with your skirt tucked into the back of my panties and everyone is giggling and you cant figure out why”
Oh my goodness, you made me laugh!! For the record, I would totally tap you on the shoulder and whisper to you about your skirt!!
Yay, I hope you start winning some giveaways soon! I’m glad you like my content too. 🙂 I really just started adding some personal posts because I wasn’t sure if anyone really cared about much other than giveaways. I always try to include a LOT of info in reviews too though!
When we first switched to cloth, I had to use half sposies because I didn’t have enough cloth. They’d give him a rash and I’d have to slather cream on him. In cloth full time, he rarely gets a rash, but if he gets a little red, I put a little Grandma El’s, Earth Mama Angel Baby or Motherlove on him & it knocks it right out.
If you have to use a thick layer of cream and/or non-safe cream, use a fleece liner. If it’s thick fleece, and (if you’re cutting it yourself) it’s cut a bit bigger than you think you need, it should cover the diaper inner completely and not bunch!!
Thanks so much! You have no idea how much it means to me that you took the time to personally respond to me so that you could be sure that I saw what you wrote. Although I was planning on coming back to check I just wanted you to know how much it meant to me.
As for rash creams the CD safe ones I have tried are CJs and something with Panda in the name (?) which only work for my infant and only if its a mild rash. Both my toddler and my infant are super sensitive (I blame my hubby and the redhead gene for this) and most of the time I have to use Triple Paste and after staining a few diapers I made a few of my own fleece liners with some scraps I had lying around.
Thanks for being the one who would tell me about my skirt too 😉 Im that kind of person too (the one who tells). And funnily enough I kept forgetting to subscribe to you by email and yesterday I made sure to and I am beyond glad! Keep up the great work 🙂
Overall, I’m a huge fan of RC. I’m with you though, I wish it had an hour countdown on the last day – it seems a little misleading! I also wish it listed the end DATE on the form. I always have to go back to RC to double-check my end dates. I always say they end at midnight, even though it’s technically one minute after that.
I like 11:59 because what’s midnight, is it midnight on Monday right after Sunday is over, or when it’s almost Tuesday? KWIM?
I love rafflecopter, and have my first giveaway using it starting tomorrow. Like Kristen above, I am getting spoiled by it and don’t want to use other methods.
Ssshhh me too. I’m like *sigh* comments. Tee-hee. Didn’t take long to spoil me!!
I am Rafflecopter girl. I pretty much quit entering giveaways unless they use ti just because it saves so much time.
Maria,
Great post!! I agree with the concerns you have. My biggest complaint about Rafflecopter is actually a lot of bloggers who use it have about 10000 ways of entering-especially when it has people subscribe a blog via GFC, Facebook, Twitter, RSS, Network blogs, Feedburner e-mail, etc. Often, I usually connect just by e-mail, GFC, and Facebook. It seems rather selfish when people do that, like they’re just trying to get their numbers up instead of caring if they have steady readers. There are often times I find a giveaway that I like, but don’t enter because I don’t want to subscribe to their blog. I have accidentally entered a giveaway twice because I often erase cookies at the end of the day.
When I first started blogging, I did offer several methods of entry (still not as many as some!) since you have to have those “numbers” to get opps.
At this point, I’d rather have GENUINE followers on GFC, RSS, FB, Twitter etc. than have 3,000 followers but less than half that visit regularly.
When I switched my Facebook page, I ended up with over 1,100 people still “liking” the old page. So they clearly don’t even look at it!
I have enjoyed using Rafflecopter. I love how it tells me if I already like a page on FB so I don’t have to take precious time to verify whether or not I am a fan. Having privacy is another great aspect of Rafflecopter. Have you ever Googled your e-mail address? Yikes! That’s embarrassing. =) Also, as a busy momma of seven kids I can’t always do all the entries I’m interested in at one setting. As long as I leave my internet window open I can come back later and finish my entries. Another thing I like is that RC helps me to not cheat on accident. On blogs with multiple entry options I sometimes forget where I left off and risk double submitting an entry. I do not want to be a cheater. In fact, I’d be embarrassed if I won something by saying I did something I hadn’t or if I entered twice when I should only have entered once. Oh, I also like how RC makes it obvious when there is more than one mandatory entry. (It won’t let you move onto the rest of the form until you have done the mandatory items.) Hmm. Now that I re-read your post, I guess I’m wrong about that last thing. I LOVE NOT HAVING TO worry about entering captcha codes a bunch of times per giveaway.
Like others have said, I would like to be able to edit my entries. Sometimes I submit an entry before typing in my extra entry info. I would love it if RC would provide direct links to Twitter from the entry form. It is a bit of an inconvenience to have to open a new window to get the URL from Twitter.
I’m not too concerned about either the blogger or the readers cheating. If someone is determined to cheat they will find a way to do so. Personally, I enjoy learning about new and different products and then having a chance to win something. If I don’t win, my life goes on. When I do win I am always so shocked. Winning is just a bonus to reading someones blog.
Regarding entry methods, my favorite blog contests to enter are the ones with fewer entry options. For example, go to sponsor’s site and share something I learned/would like to try/etc. (1 entry), follow via FB or Twitter (1 entry total, not 1 for each social site), share the giveaway (FB/Twitter/E-mail). The most frustrating extra entries to me are the ones that give people more than one entry to add a button to his/her site. I don’t blog so I feel as though that gives others an unfair edge.
Question for you: If the first entry directed the readers to make his/her first comment in the blog’s comments would that help show your sponsors or potential sponsors that you really do have traffic at your site? I think the statistics are skewed in a bad way if the counts are for each time the page is refreshed. After all, people aren’t re-reading your blog after each entry. They are simply making the comments necessary to enter the blogger’s giveaway.
Finally, I wouldn’t worry too much about what the sweepers think. If they don’t want to enter your giveaway, that is their choice. Personally, I would think a sweeper would want the easiest entry method if they are one who doesn’t read the blog post in the first place. =)
One more thing… I’ve noticed some bloggers don’t clearly state when their contests end. That can be frustrating.
Yes! That drives me bonkers, LOL.
You are right that if there are 2 mandatories you can’t do the bonuses until you do both mandatory entries. I’m just not sure if a blogger will DQ you if you only do one? If there are two, it shouldn’t let you enter just one, kwim?
I’d rather have comments from readers, showing they like my blog & are engaging with me. I think giveaway comments just show that they are entering the giveaway!
My tracking software DOES track unique visitors, # of visits etc. The page views are just a tiny part of overall “stats” but still…
Yes, I too like comments that aren’t just about the giveaway. There are several blogs I read where the blogger will actually e-mail a direct response to something I have shared on their blog. I think that is so neat. I am a SAHM so it is nice to have some virtual friends in my life too.
One of my big problems with Rafflecopter is that sometimes when I return to a post to enter an additional entry (like a daily tweet) it has forgotten that I’ve already entered. Because most bloggers set up the Rafflecopter form with mandatory entries, in order to add my daily entry I have to resubmit the madatory entry. I always wonder if doing so will disqualify me from the giveaway.
One of the things I like the most about Rafflecopter is that it will *usually* remember when I have already entered a giveaway which makes it much easier than having to look back through all the comments to see if I’ve already entered a giveaway. (Unfortunately there have been times when I’ve entered a giveaway through a Rafflecopter form, and then came across the giveaway again a few days later. Rafflecopter didn’t remember me and I reentered the contest and then shortly after I realized my mistake – and again wonder if I have just disqualified myself).
Good point about accidentally entering twice and then realizing you already entered. There are times where notification of a giveaway will come to me via different sources and on different days. I will head over to the site and not be sure if I already entered that giveaway or not. This is especially true of giveaways that last longer than a week.
*I* wouldn’t disqualify you. If I saw that you had entered using multiple email addresses/names to try to “trick” me…but every giveaway I have at least 1 or 2 people that entered twice & it was very clear that it was accidental. I just delete the additional entries and move on!
I’ve also had it happen to me where Rafflecopter wanted me to redo the Mandatory entry when I’d done it before. One other thing I dislike about Rafflecopter is I use 2 different computers, a desktop and a laptop, but Rafflecopter can’t show me my entries unless I always use the same computer. That’s a little annoying to me. However, I do love being able to see easily which entries I’ve already done (that is, as long as Rafflecopter is working properly!). In general, I’ve liked Rafflecopter, but as far as YOUR blog goes, and the way you use just a few entry opportunities, it really would be just as easy for me to use Google Docs like you used to do!
Hopefully if Rafflecopter has something in the works to allow you to enter using an account, the cookie thing won’t be such a problem!!
Maria,
This is a fantastic subject and, as a blogger, I appreciate the opportunity to eaves drop on everyone’s viewpoints on Rafflecopter! I’ve been hesitant to start using it myself, because I had seen a lot of gripping, but based upon your readers perspectives, seems as though everyone prefers it – flaws and all.
Thanks to everyone who has shared their experiences!
I personally really like rafflecopter. It’s a one stop shop, pretty much, for entering. I find it difficult to turn down entering one. When it comes to a comment or google docs one, I have to really want{it’s usually something very expensive} the prize to enter for it. In all honesty, I enter lots of giveaways daily, usually 15-50. I used to entered giveaways from larger sponsers like food companies etc. With those I use autofilling software for quick entry. However now that I have a child I prefer to enter from blogs because I enjoy the opinion of the person on the other end. I like that with rafflecopter, I find out who won faster. I don’t have to wait a week or so for the results to be posted. Unlike sweepers I keep all of my prizes. I only enter for things that I want or something I could give as a gift for a close family member. I just started cloth diapering, so this is how I’m building my stash, since I can’t afford to buy tons of diapers. I also never do daily entries. I don’t have the time to come back to the same giveaway everyday. I found that rafflecopter didn’t work very well with internet explorer, but I switched to mozilla and it works a lot better. I hope this was all helpful and sorry that it’s a bit ramblely.
I just switched to firefox finally(old dog, new tricks) and I’m loving it!
I do like rafflecopter because it is easy – especially with dial up and a slow computer! However, it seems the odds of winning have decreased with the use of rafflecopter simply because so many people enter. Good for some, bad for others. I rarely pass up a rafflecopter entry even if the odds of winning are very low – assuming it loads correctly in a decent amount of time; but I often pass up a comment only entry with low odds of winning just because it is very time consuming. I find google docs to be a good go between; it is faster than comments, but not as easy as rafflecopter.
Most of the issues listed for rafflecopter are the same for using google docs. Under the form people can look at what entries were completed and can load more to look for their name (if it’s not super common). But google docs you can’t see others entries. National sweeps you can’t see what other people filled out.
I actually like that. If I have a question in the entries then people can’t copy someone else’s answer.
Other than BIG giveaways or special event ones, I keep the number of possible entries about the same as they were with comments.
As for pageloads, having the same person constantly refreshing (same as multiple comments) does not (generally) help ad payment. Most are smart enough to pick up on excessive pageloads by a single user. It may increase the total number of pageviews but that doesn’t mean as much as unique visitors and unique views.
There’s no such thing as a perfect system. But it’s better than the other options in my opinion!
That’s a good point about asking a question. I actually do do the work to answer questions but have often wondered if someone else is just going to come along and copy my answer when entering a ‘comment’ giveaway.
Yep, I don’t like being the first because I do all this work to get the right answer and then it’s right there for everyone to see!
The thing I don’t like about Rafflecopter is that you can’t check if you entered. So there should be some tweak where the “copter” could automatically erase duplicate entries. Just my input.
I do like it overall. It is quick and easy.
If you weed through all the entries under the form (click “see more” or something like that) you can hunt for it. On my blog, just send me an email and I will do a quick search for you!
I’m with you about the Rafflecopter. It has it’s good points and bad ones too. I have noticed that it does go down often. But at the same time it weeds out the sweepers. They wouldn’t take the time to come back and enter if they really don’t follow the blog. I love that it is easy and that I can tell if I have already entered the giveaway for the most part. The bad part is when some bloggers give you extra entries for entering there other giveaways and use Rafflecopter, they don’t put enough slots and you lose out on some entries.
BTW I won the $20 GC to Snap-EZ and just ordered my things!!! Can’t wait to get them and try them out Thank you again!!
Yay!! Whatcha get? 🙂
I love RC entries, they are quick and easy to come and go back to when you have kids running around. My cons with them are the same as yours, and I have noticed leaving the RC to go leave a comment, sometimes messes up the mand entry. I don’t like when there is a 10 mile list to enter for RC, though, it still takes a lot of time. I don’t like how it ends at 12:01, either. I think your suggestions would be great!
I also like the google docs entries. It is easy to use and saves time. The plain ole leave a comment is fine if you only have one entry, but takes too long with kids to do multiple enries.
I have been using it for my giveaways and to enter giveaways. But I don’t like that I will go through and enter all of the entry options, then I go back the next day or two to tweet about the giveaway, and ALL of my entries were deleted, so I have to start over again. It really, honestly, sucks when this happens. I spend time everyday tweeting about giveaways that I entered to get that bonus entry, and then to have all of my entries deleted? I don’t know…I don’t like that there aren’t too many low entry giveaways around as much, but it is better for bloggers and for sponsors with more people checking out the products.
Heather, your entries are probably in the form, but if your cookies were wiped out, it looks like you didn’t enter. If that ever happens to you here, just drop me a note and I will double check & add entries if needed. I don’t have daily entries, but if say, you didn’t follow on Twitter and decided to the next day.
I’ve been using Rafflecopter for giveaways also, so I’m interested to hear your readers feedback! I agree with Kendra, I never enter giveaways with comments anymore, but Rafflecopter or Google Docs both work fine for me. (I wish 11:59 was the ending time also for Rafflecopter – grr!)
I guess i like rafflecopter. Especially if it is also easier for the blogger. I haven’t gotten a chance to use it for my Giveaways. It seems the mandatory for rafflecopter is always simpler. Cheating never factored into in my head.
I really like Rafflecopter (the Google form was better than plain ole comments, too, BTW!). I have had an issue where I guess I cleared cookies or something and then the mando entry disappeared so I couldn’t so daily entries (doesn’t apply to your giveaways, obviously). I have heard they will eventually have it so you can log in to Rafflecopter or something, because I am lazy and get tired of typing “Susan M.” everyday 🙂 I like your giveaways because they don’t have thousands of entry options!!
That would be so awesome, I had thought of it, but didn’t know it was in the works. I wonder if they could potentially search your Facebook/Twitter to automatically complete those entries for you if you were already a liker/follower too!
It would be nice if RC would remember our FB and Twitter user names so we didn’t have to type it in each time.
Totally agree!
Oh, like you could link your accounts–if you wanted, of course! That would be awesome!
I really like the Rafflecopter entry! It is SO easy to enter giveaways and I love that I can see if I like a FB page right there. The only thing I don’t like about it is that you can’t change your information once you hit enter. I have put the wrong info in the “extra info” field before (twitter name where they wanted FB name or vice versa) and I am unable to fix it.
I don’t mind the Google forms either. They aren’t as easy as the Rafflecopter, but they are so much better than having to write comments for each entry method. I have found that I no longer bother with giveaways if I have to comment to enter. Takes way too long.
I think most reasonable people (I think?) understand an error like that! You could always just leave a blog comment saying oops, here’s the right info!
I like Rafflecopter best for entry method… It is just so much easier to enter! Especially when you don’t add a ton of extra entries. I guess I just hope people are honest and don’t cheat! Sometimes people make honest mistakes in filling in the fields tho (at least I know I do) and you can’t fix it. I don’t like it when the blog pages are over critical and disqualify you for an honest mistake but I understand sorting out the cheaters from the honest people can be a hard thing sometimes with these giveaways.
I definitely don’t DQ people for mistakes. If you won and forgot to enter your Twitter username, I’d either find it, or email to ask you.
I do think you should be able to edit your entries prior to the end date.
What would be AWESOME is if Rafflecopter users could create an account and enter giveaways with that. Perhaps it could pre-fill forms with applicable info, and allow you to see all the giveaways you entered in one place!
Maria- I completely agree with your last paragraph! I love Rafflecopter, but your suggestions would make it perfect.
Maria,
I talked with one of the Rafflecopter guys yesterday and they are working on something very similar to the account method where you log in. I’m not sure all the details, but it will help prevent people from cheating and also enable quicker entries by pre-filling applicable info.
That’s awesome! A Rafflecopter community would be great too. If bloggers could link up their RC giveaways based on category, end date & # of entry methods so people could search them!
This is exactly what I was going to say. As both a blog owner and a reader I do like the features of being able to check if you already follow on Twitter and/or Facebook without having to open another page. Normally I will right click and open all accounts and additional stuff not found within the blog to check in another tab, but this is a problem sometimes for blogs that have right click disabled.
I also dislike not being able to correct an error, sure I could post I messed something up on the form and fill the correct details into a comment, but I have found some people actually close comments for giveaway posts using Rafflecopter. So top would be allowing entry corrections as well as creating user accounts to auto fill details. (i.e. fill out Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn, Digg names)
Like you I don’t like that it ends at 12:01am, I believe they should allow you to pick the time. I also noticed as I went to enter a giveaway, I went through and did all the entries and by my laptop on EST time I still had 5 minutes to fill out the areas (easily enough time)…. I completed the mandatory field and it told me the giveaway ended (now only 11:55pm) and I wasted my time.
Not sure if all browsers do it, but I notice once I complete the mandatory entry my name and email is stored, so usually I just have to either answer the question, input a username or link.
I am torn on it, while I find the idea and ease of entry to be faster, I think there is a lot more they can do to make it both user and entrant friendly.
I guess this string is too long, I can’t reply to Karine! Hopefully everyone remembers that Rafflecopter is still new, and they don’t intend to just let it remain the way it is. Hopefully they will continue to make improvements and before we know it, it will be close to perfect!
Disabling right click is a peeve of mine because I right click and open in a new tab. Especially when they pop up a “NO STEALING, JERK!!!” message when I do it, LOL!
I like Rafflecopter since you can see if you already like a FB page, etc.
I like the number of entries that you usually have, that’s one of the reasons I keep coming back to your blog.
What is a sweeper?
Sweepers are people who spend hours searching for and entering giveaways. They usually just look for good prizes, good odds etc. They’re usually not readers of the blog, if that makes sense.