So, you’re thinking about entering sweepstakes online but before you do you want to know the odds of winning that one grand prize, right?

Well, the odds of having the winning entry depend on a few things, so, let’s take a look at the estimated odds in more detail and what you can do to increase your chances of winning multiple prizes and many dollars worth of goodies.

Do People Actually Win Sweepstakes?

We know that many people think their entry form goes into a metaphorical bin when they enter online sweepstakes and while it is possible for this to happen if the sweeps are not run by a reputable sponsor, in most cases, this doesn’t happen.

It’s possible to win plenty of top place prizes, in fact, there are many Americans who take home tens of thousands of dollars each year in prizes and cash payouts.

The trick is to enter sweepstakes that are run by reputable organizations with clear rules if you want to be sure that people win what’s on offer.

What Are The Odds You Will Win Sweepstakes Grand Prize?

Simply put, for each given set of sweeps, there will be either one entry per person or a number of different entry methods that gain additional entries in the draw.

Your odds of winning that sweepstakes are based on the total number of entries received and the number of those entries that you hold.

You’d be amazed to learn that many sweepstakes online have a very low number of entrants and you can find yourself with odds as low as 1 in 10 of a prize if you’re lucky. But if you’re talking about HGTVs annual win-a-house sweepstakes? Then your odds are 1 in millions. It should be no real surprise that there are a lot of people out there who want to win a brand new house, a car, and a pile of cash or that many fewer people want to win a toaster.

What Are The Odds Of Winning Sweeps?

You should also be aware that the more prizes that a sweepstakes offers, the more your odds of taking home a prize increases.

If you can only win one grand prize, then your odds of picking up that prize are simply the number of entries you hold into the total number of entries they have received.

But if there are 100 prizes to be won? Then you have a hundred times more of a chance of winning! Sure, you may be more likely to win that gift card they give runners up than the car you want but a win is a win and we’ve never met anyone who was unhappy to be richer at the end of the day than when they started it and without doing much work.

How Many Times Do You Need To Enter Sweepstakes To Win Them?

We would estimate that, on average, the lowest value prizes in the most obscure locations online are going to have odds of around 50 to 1 on your winning.

For the more popular prizes, it may be much, much higher. And while, as we will see in a minute, you can boost your chances of picking up some prizes, particularly if you read the fine print, you need to enter more than one sweeps to be sure of winning.

In fact, you should aim for as many entries to sweeps as you can manage each day if you want winning to become a habit. Let’s say that you enter 10 sweeps a day and that you’re aiming for low value, obscure contests (odds of 50:1) then you ought to win around 4-6 prizes a month, sometimes more!

How Can I Increase My Chances Of Winning A Sweepstakes?

There are two ways to do this.

Firstly, by picking sweepstakes with fewer entries and thus, better odds of having the winning entry.

• Look for sweepstakes with strict entry restrictions such as those based on location, age, residence, etc.
  
• Look for sweeps that are a pain to enter, the longer the form, the more questions, etc. the more people will abandon them before reaching the point of entry.
  
• Look for contests as well as sweepstakes, these require an element of skill to enter, this puts many people off.
  
• Look for prizes that most people won’t want. A gift certificate for a local restaurant in Anchorage has zero value to someone in New York. A power saw, for example, will only attract a set of DIY fanatics and so on…

The other way to do this is to maximize your number of entries in the draw itself:

• Always complete social actions and share posts for additional chances to win, etc.
  
• If you really want to win and extra entries may be purchased, you might want to do that too – though our advice is to try not to buy entries, that can get expensive and they often still leave you with lottery-like odds of being the winner

Are Sweepstakes A Waste Of Time?

No, definitely not. We’ve been winners on more than one occasion. Sweepstakes are their entry forms are a form of marketing that connects business to potential customers.

People win them all the time and you can often take a look at a company’s Facebook page and see some previous winners too.

Spend one to two hours every day for a couple of months entering sweeps and you are nearly guaranteed to win something.

Final Thoughts On Winning Sweepstakes

Nobody can guarantee that you will win a particular sweepstakes but the odds of somebody taking home the items on offer are very good, indeed.

And the good news is that you can increase your own wins by simply following some simple rules and giving yourself the best opportunities in each giveaway.

The hardest advice is that you are not wasting time entering sweepstakes unless you’re doing the absolute bare minimum for each draw, in which case, you are your own worst enemy when it comes to the odds of a win.