The Ultimate Guide to Comping UK: Win More Free Competitions

▍The Ultimate Guide to Comping UK: Win More Free Competitions

If you only read one comping guide this year, read this one. This is the pillar — the full reference. It covers every part of being a UK comper, from the 30-minute setup that beginners skip, through the dozen different entry methods you'll meet, the daily routine that wins prizes, the tracking habits that stop you losing them, and the boundary-setting that stops the hobby eating your life.

It's long. It's meant to be. Skim the table of contents, jump to the section you need, and bookmark it. Each section also links out to deeper guides on specific topics so you can go as deep as you want without reading 6,000 words in one sitting.

Let's start at the beginning.

▍1. What comping actually is

Comping is the UK hobby of regularly entering free competitions, prize draws and sweepstakes with the goal of winning prizes. The word is short for "competition entering". A comper is someone who does it as a hobby — usually 10-50 entries a day, almost always free, almost always entered from a phone or laptop in 20-30 minutes.

It's not gambling. UK law requires every prize draw to offer a free entry route, which is why on-pack promotions like McDonald's Monopoly include a no-purchase-necessary postal entry in the small print. It's not a job either, though committed compers regularly bring home a few hundred pounds of voucher and prize value each month. It's a hobby that pays for itself.

For the deeper definition — origins of the term, the comping vocabulary, who does it, why — read what is comping. For this guide, that one-paragraph framing is enough. Everything that follows assumes you know roughly what comping is and want to start (or improve).

▍2. Is comping legal, safe and tax-free in the UK?

Yes to all three, with caveats worth knowing.

Legal

UK competitions sit in two main legal categories:

That's why brands offering "buy our cereal to enter" prize draws always include a postal NPN (no purchase necessary) route in the T&Cs.

The full legal landscape (Gambling Act 2005, CAP Code rules for promoters, age restrictions) is covered in detail in our competition tax and legal UK guide. For now: as a comper sticking to free entry routes, you're on the right side of the law.

Safe

Comping is safe if you set it up properly. The risks are:

• Spam and marketing email. Solved by using a dedicated comping email address.
• Phishing and prize scams. Solved by knowing what real wins look like (see section 10).
• Identity exposure. Solved by sensible profile hygiene and never sharing financial details to claim a prize (real prizes don't require it).

The overwhelming majority of UK competitions are run by legitimate brands and agencies under ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) oversight. The dodgy ones are usually obvious in retrospect; we'll cover the red flags in the competition scams guide section.

Tax-free

The exceptions:

• Systematic reselling. If you start consistently winning vouchers and flipping them on Vinted or eBay, that activity could be classed as trading income.
• Holiday prizes with cash alternatives. Sometimes T&Cs offer a cash alternative — taking it has no different tax treatment, but watch for capital gains if you later sell a high-value prize like a car or property.
• Premium Bond prizes are tax-free for unrelated reasons (they're a NS&I product, not comping).

For the full tax breakdown including what to do if you win something genuinely large, see the competition tax and legal UK guide.

▍3. The 30-minute comping setup

Most beginners enter their first competition before they're set up, get disqualified for a locked Instagram or a wrong email, get discouraged, and quit. Spend the 30 minutes upfront. You'll thank yourself.

Step 1 — Dedicated comping email (10 minutes)

Create a free Gmail or Outlook account that you'll use only for comping. Suggested format: yourfirstnamecomps@gmail.com or yourlastname.comper@outlook.com. Make it clean — promoters do read it, and a name like partyqueen2009@hotmail.com quietly hurts your credibility on judged competitions.

This email becomes:

• Your sign-up address for all competitions
• Where winning notifications (WEMs) arrive
• Where brand marketing newsletters go (which often contain the best competitions)
• A place you check daily without it cluttering your real inbox

For a deeper setup including filters, labels, and how to plug it into the Sweepzy Mailbox so wins are auto-flagged, see the creating a comping spreadsheet and email setup guides.

Step 2 — Public social profiles (5 minutes)

Lock the social profiles you use for personal posting, and run a separate public-but-clean account for comping if you'd rather keep them separate. The non-negotiable: the profile you enter competitions from has to be public. Promoters need to verify your entry exists (you tagged a friend, you commented, you reposted). A private profile means they skip you and pick the next eligible entry.

Minimum coverage for a UK comper:

• Instagram — biggest comping platform in the UK, huge for like-share-tag mechanics
• Facebook — biggest for older brands and local competitions
• X (Twitter) — useful for breaking comp announcements and instant-win retweet mechanics
• TikTok — fast-growing for video and creative comps
• Threads — newer but increasingly used for low-entry comps

Make sure your handle is reasonable, your bio mentions you're a UK comper (it builds promoter trust), and that you actually post occasionally — bot-looking accounts get filtered out. The full setup is in how to win Facebook competitions, how to win Instagram giveaways, TikTok giveaways guide and Twitter competition tips.

Step 3 — Paste-ready personal details (5 minutes)

Save a snippet somewhere fast-pasteable (Notes app, Google Keep, a sticky note on your second monitor) with:

• Full name as it appears on ID
• Postal address with postcode
• Mobile number
• Date of birth
• Email address (your comping one)
• Social handles (with @ prefix)

For a more advanced version, install a browser auto-fill extension for comping — most compers use one for the web-form-heavy comps.

Step 4 — Tracker (5 minutes)

This is the part most beginners ignore and most experienced compers swear by. You need a system that tells you:

• What you've already entered (so you don't double-enter and get disqualified)
• Closing dates (so you don't miss tie-breaker windows)
• What you've won and what's still pending
• Which sources actually win you prizes (so you can double down)

Options, in increasing sophistication:

• A Google Sheet using a free comping spreadsheet template
• A Notion database or Trello board
• The Sweepzy competition tracker, which adds reminders, entry analytics and a unique Sweepzy Mailbox email that auto-detects wins

The full case for each approach is in how to track competition entries.

Step 5 — Bookmark your sources (5 minutes)

Pick:

• One aggregator site to scan daily (the Sweepzy competition tracker lists 16,000+ live UK competitions and adds 500+ a month)
• 2-3 brand Instagram accounts you genuinely follow (free-from food, beauty, parenting — whatever matches your prize interests)
• 1-2 UK comping Facebook groups
• The competitions section of one or two of your favourite magazines

That's enough to start. You'll add sources naturally as you find what works. The best UK competition websites guide covers the landscape, and finding competitions online goes deeper on each source type.

Total setup time: 30-40 minutes. Don't enter anything until it's done.

▍4. The 12 ways to enter UK competitions

This is the bit beginners don't realise: "comping" isn't one activity. It's a dozen different entry mechanics, each with its own optimal approach. Master one before adding the next.

a) Web form entries

The classic. Brand or magazine hosts a competition on their site, you fill in your details, you click submit. Usually one entry per person per competition. Volume mechanic — enter lots, win occasionally.

Auto-fill helps massively. Read browser extensions for auto-fill comping for the setup. The general technique guide is in how to enter sweepstakes online for free.

b) Email entries

Less common now, but plenty of magazine and B2B comps still ask you to email a specific address with a code word, subject line, or short answer. The trick: a saved email template you can adapt in seconds. Track these aggressively — there's no "confirmation page", just your sent folder.

c) Postal entries

The original comping method. Still alive because of the legal NPN (no purchase necessary) routes — brands have to accept postal entries to comply with UK competition law. Often the highest-odds route on big-budget promos because hardly anyone uses it. Buy a stack of postcards, write your entry with name, address and any required code, and post. The full method (including how to find NPN addresses for major promos) is in the postal entry competitions guide and free competitions guide.

d) SMS / text entries

Text a keyword to a shortcode. Sometimes free, sometimes premium-rate (anything more than your standard text rate). UK compers stick to free or standard-rate texts — premium-rate is a tax on the desperate. Full guide: text competitions complete guide.

e) Social comment / tag entries

"Like this post, follow us, tag two friends in the comments." The dominant Instagram and Facebook mechanic. Easy to enter, easy to forget you've entered (track everything), and the tag-friends part really does matter — promoters check. Read the comment to win strategies and like-share competition guide.

f) Social like / share / repost entries

Lighter-touch social comps. Like the post, share to your story, or quote-tweet. Quick, low-effort, high volume. The trade-off: very high entry counts because the friction is low. Platform-specific guides: how to win Facebook competitions, how to win Instagram giveaways, TikTok giveaways, Twitter competition tips.

g) Photo entries

Upload a photo themed around the brand or campaign — your pet wearing the brand colours, your home decor, your meal cooked with the product. Lower entry count than likes-and-shares because effort filters most people out. The right approach: lighting, clean composition, no minor children unless rules permit. Full method: photo entry competitions guide.

h) Video entries

The next step up. 15-60 second video, often themed to a brand or product. Low entry count, much higher win rate per entry, but real effort. Best treated as the "big bet" of your comping week — pick one or two a week, do them properly. Method: video entry competitions guide.

i) Slogan and tie-breaker entries

The creative skill comps. "Complete this sentence in 20 words or less: I love [brand] because…" Pure skill-based judging. Often "only" a few hundred entries vs tens of thousands on a typical IG giveaway. Master this and your win rate transforms. Full craft guide: tie-breaker competitions guide and the broader creative competitions and how to win creative competitions.

j) Instant win competitions

Find out immediately whether you've won — usually by entering a code, clicking a button, or scanning a barcode. The McDonald's Monopoly model. Often very low individual win rates but huge prize pools, and entry takes seconds. Full guide: instant win competitions guide and the Monopoly-specific how to win McDonald's Monopoly.

k) On-pack and receipt-upload

Buy the product (or use the NPN route), find the code on pack or on receipt, enter the code on the brand's promo site. Beating budget supermarket compers requires sharper sourcing — minimum-buy promos at Tesco, etc. Guides: on-pack promotions guide, receipt upload competitions guide, in-store and product competitions.

l) Quiz and trivia comps

Answer a question correctly to enter. Usually skill-based legally (so no NPN required), but the question is often trivially easy because the real winnowing happens at random draw. Full approach in quiz competitions strategy.

That's twelve. The full taxonomy with edge cases (postcards-only TV comps, podcast giveaways, Twitch-stream raffles, in-app comps) lives in types of competitions. Pick the three or four mechanics that match your time and energy and master those first.

▍5. Where to find UK competitions

Not all sources are equal. Here's the realistic taxonomy:

Aggregator sites

Websites that collate UK competitions in one place. They're the bread and butter of daily comping. The Sweepzy competition tracker lists 16,000+ live UK comps with filters by entry method, prize value, closing date and category. There are other aggregators in the space — pick one or two you trust and don't waste mental energy hopping between five. The comparison and pros-and-cons of the major players is in best UK competition websites.

Brand newsletters

Underrated. Sign up to the newsletters of brands whose prizes you'd actually want — food, beauty, parenting, travel, tech, whatever. Many of the highest-win-rate competitions are subscriber-only and never appear on aggregators. Use your dedicated comping email so it doesn't bury your real inbox. Read newsletter competition opportunities for the deep version.

Social media accounts

Follow brand accounts on the platforms you actually use. Set up Instagram "close friends" lists or X bookmarks for the brand accounts that run the best comps. Don't follow accounts whose marketing you'd never engage with — your timeline becomes useless.

Magazines and newspapers

Women's weeklies (Take a Break, Best, Bella, That's Life), Sunday supplements, hobbyist magazines (gardening, baking, knitting), local press. Often genuinely low entry counts — the people who comp magazines tend to be older, more disciplined, and they win more. Method covered in magazine and newspaper competitions.

On-pack promos

If a product you regularly buy is running a competition, the receipt or pack code is literally free entry money. Cereal, soft drinks, crisps, ready meals, snacks. Cover the basics in on-pack promotions guide.

Radio and TV

Morning radio call-in comps, daytime TV phone-in comps, Saturday-night TV game shows. Often skill-based (call in with the right answer) and routinely under-subscribed. Detailed in radio and TV competitions and radio competitions how to win.

Comping community recommendations

UK comping Facebook groups and forums are full of "just spotted this comp" posts. Useful for finding low-entry comps before they get blasted onto the aggregators. Etiquette matters — share competitions back, don't just lurk.

Apps

Loyalty apps (Tesco Clubcard, Sainsbury's Nectar, Boots Advantage) run frequent prize draws for loyalty members. Game-loyalty apps from food brands sometimes carry promo comps. See app-based competition strategies.

The one anti-pattern: don't pay for any "premium comping list". The genuinely good sources are all free.

▍6. The daily comping routine

Here are three realistic routines for different time budgets, summarised:

Full breakdown of each routine below.

The 20-minute daily routine

For most working compers. The minimum that produces visible wins within 6-8 weeks.

• 2 min — Check your tracker for closing-soon entries, do any urgent tie-breakers
• 8 min — Scan your aggregator (filter by "closing today" first), pick 8-10 web-form entries, auto-fill them
• 5 min — Open Instagram and Facebook, do 8-10 like-share-tag entries from your followed brand accounts
• 3 min — Check your comping email for WEMs and brand newsletters
• 2 min — Log everything in your tracker

Total: 20 mins, 18-25 entries. Maintained for 6 weeks, this produces a comper who's winning small things weekly.

The 45-minute routine

For compers with a bit more time — typically evenings.

• 5 min — Inbox sweep and tracker update
• 15 min — Aggregator scan, 20-25 web entries
• 10 min — Social — like-share-tag across IG, FB, X
• 10 min — One creative entry (photo, tie-breaker, slogan)
• 5 min — Browse comping Facebook group, save promising comps for tomorrow

Total: 45 mins, 35-50 entries plus one quality skill entry. This is the routine of compers who win monthly.

The 90-minute power routine

For the most committed compers. Often retirees and people working from home.

• 10 min — Inbox, tracker, planning
• 30 min — Web form entries via aggregator
• 15 min — Social entries
• 20 min — Creative entries (one photo and one tie-breaker)
• 10 min — Magazine and newspaper comps
• 5 min — Postal entries (write a stack of postcards, post tomorrow)

Total: 90 mins, 60-80 entries plus 2-3 creative entries. This is the routine of compers who consistently win every week.

Deep dive on routine-building, including how to schedule it around school runs, shifts, or chronic-illness energy patterns, is in comping routine and time management.

▍7. Maximising your odds

Comping is partly random, but it's not entirely random. A handful of strategies materially change your win rate over time.

Low-entry strategy

The single most powerful technique: bias your entries towards competitions with fewer entrants. A low-entry comp with 200 entrants gives you the same expected value as 100 high-entry comps with 20,000 entrants each. Read the low-entry competitions strategy for how to spot them — magazine comps, hyper-local comps, niche-brand IG giveaways, newly-posted comps before they're aggregated.

A related strategy: focusing on niche competitions.

Skill-based competitions

Tie-breakers, slogans, photo and video entries. The effort filter knocks out 90% of potential entrants. If you're competent at any of these, your win rate on skill comps will dwarf your win rate on prize draws. Start with tie-breaker competitions and the broader creative competitions.

Multi-entry comps

Some comps allow multiple entries — once per day, once per email, once per platform. These reward bulk-entering. See bulk entering strategies for the legal-and-allowed version.

Time-of-day patterns

Social comps that close at midnight often see most entries in the last few hours, but the random draw doesn't care when you entered. Enter early — you'll never forget; you remove deadline risk; some promoters cap entries.

For brand IG comps, the first 24 hours tend to be the highest-engagement window. Entering early gets your comment seen by the brand (useful if there's any judging element).

Pick prizes you'd genuinely use or gift

This sounds obvious but most beginners don't do it. If you enter a holiday comp for a destination you'd never visit, the prize becomes an admin headache. Win something you actually want — your enthusiasm to claim, share, and re-enter goes up.

Don't double-enter

The quickest way to get disqualified. Track everything; check before entering. The Sweepzy competition tracker flags duplicate entries automatically.

Follow the rules to the letter

If the rules say "tag two friends" and you tag one, you're disqualified — even if the promoter never tells you. The discipline of reading every T&C carefully is what separates compers from entrants. The umbrella guide is understanding competition rules and terms. The flip side — why your entries are getting invalidated — is in why competition entries invalid.

The broader systems-thinking strategy guide is in maximising your chances of winning and the troubleshooting variant why am I not winning competitions. For the deeper how-to-actually-win technique deep-dive, see how to win UK competitions.

▍8. Tracking and organisation

The boring chapter that prints the most prizes. Here's why:

• You can't enter a comp twice. If you do, you're disqualified.
• You need to claim wins within the claim window (usually 7-28 days).
• You need to know what's working — which sources, methods and prize categories actually win for you, so you can do more of them.
• You need to remember tie-breaker submissions and not duplicate ideas.

Minimum viable tracker fields:

• Brand and competition name
• Prize value (your best estimate)
• Closing date
• Entry method (web form, IG comment, etc.)
• Source (aggregator, newsletter, on-pack, etc.)
• Status (entered, drawn, won, claimed)
• Notes (your tie-breaker answer, code entered, anything that affects future entries)

Approaches in increasing sophistication:

1. Pen and notebook. Works. Goes wrong the first time you take a holiday.
2. A spreadsheet. Most experienced compers use this. The comping spreadsheet template guide gives you a download-ready Google Sheets template; creating a comping spreadsheet walks through building your own.
3. A dedicated tool. The Sweepzy competition tracker is purpose-built for this — it adds deadline reminders, win-rate analytics, achievement badges, push notifications when you win and the unique Sweepzy Mailbox email that watches for winning notifications automatically. There's a free competition tracker tool version with the core features. The full case for tooling-up your tracker is in how to track competition entries.

Analytics matter once you've been comping for a few months. Patterns emerge — "I win 10× more on tie-breakers than on IG like-share comps", "my best source is Brand X's newsletter", "I never win comps that close in fewer than 3 days". Without analytics, you're guessing.

For odds-modelling and the maths of expected value, the competition odds calculator does the arithmetic.

▍9. Winning: what to do when it happens

The first win is a rush. The second is also a rush. By the tenth you've started developing a process. Here's what to do.

Claim properly and quickly

Reply to the winning email within the claim window (almost always stated in the email or the original T&Cs). Use the email address you originally entered with. Provide the details requested — usually full name, postal address, mobile number, and sometimes proof of ID/age. Real wins do not require:

• Payment of any kind (delivery, admin, tax, customs)
• Your bank account details before prize delivery (PayPal/transfer prizes are the exception, but always cross-check the brand's domain)
• Your password to any platform
• A credit card to "hold" the prize

The full claiming process, with edge cases (overseas prizes, voucher delivery, holiday booking, car prize logistics) is in what to do when you win a competition.

Be wary of taxes you don't owe

UK individuals don't pay tax on competition winnings. Anyone asking you to pay a "customs fee", "tax processing fee" or "release fee" to claim a UK prize is running a scam. Foreign comps (US sweepstakes especially) sometimes have legitimate customs implications on physical prize delivery — but the brand handles it, not you.

Take and keep proof of win

Screenshot the winning email, the prize delivery, and your reply. Save it. If a brand later disputes that they sent you a prize, the screenshot is your proof.

Share wins (carefully)

Win photos are great content for comping community engagement. They also generate goodwill with brands — many promoters track which winners post about wins and prioritise them on judged comps. Don't include addresses, full names of children, or anything that compromises your safety in the image.

What if the prize doesn't arrive?

Claim windows aren't infinite the other way either — most brands ship within 6 weeks, some take 12+. After that, contact the promoter, the agency running the comp, or (in the worst case) raise with the ASA. The full troubleshooting flow is in not receiving competition prizes.

▍10. Avoiding scams

Scam attempts will land in your comping inbox eventually. The good news: they're almost always obvious if you know the patterns.

Red flags

• You've "won" a comp you don't remember entering. Possible (you might have entered weeks ago) but check before responding.
• The sending email domain is wrong. Real win from Tesco: from @tesco.com. Fake: from @tesco-promo-winners-uk.net.
• Urgent claim windows. "Reply in 24 hours" with personal details is suspicious. Real brands give days or weeks.
• Any request for payment, bank login, or card details to claim. Always a scam.
• The grammar. Major UK brands proofread their winning emails. Typos and weird capitalisation are warning signs.
• Generic greetings. "Dear Winner" rather than your name suggests a mass-blast scam.
• Prize doesn't match what was advertised. You entered for a £50 voucher, you've "won" a £5,000 car. Check the original comp before celebrating.

What to do if scammed

• Don't engage further
• Report the email to Action Fraud (UK) at 0300 123 2040 or actionfraud.police.uk
• Report the sender to your email provider (Gmail and Outlook both have "report phishing")
• If you gave card details, contact your bank immediately
• Post a heads-up in your comping community so others avoid it

The full scam-recognition and response guide is in competition scams how to stay safe. Also useful: privacy and data protection for competitions and the broader legal and ethical considerations.

▍11. The UK comping community

Comping is more fun and more profitable when you talk to other compers. The UK community is generally friendly, generous with tips, and quick to flag scams. A few practical points:

• Forums. The Sweepzy community forum is the on-platform option. There are also long-running independent forums covering UK comping.
• Facebook groups. Several large UK-only comping groups exist — search Facebook for "UK competitions" or "comping". Vet new members carefully, read the pinned rules, don't spam comp links.
• Comping etiquette. Don't repost paid-promo comps as if you organised them. Don't tag every UK comper into every IG entry — pick relevant friends. Share back when you find a good comp.
• Win-sharing. Most groups welcome win photos. Some run "Win of the Month" competitions of their own. It's social, but it's also useful — promoters notice active community members.
• Mentorship. Veterans of 10+ years are usually happy to answer beginner questions. Don't be shy.

Restrictions to watch for

If you become very active across many social platforms, you may run into algorithmic restrictions — comment-rate limits, repeat-engagement flags, follow-cap limits. The patterns and workarounds are in social media account restrictions for comping.

Reading wins from other compers is also a good calibration on what's realistic. The competition winner success stories and Sweepzy winners page have real UK win examples, and our success stories and case studies goes deep on a few longer-form winner profiles.

▍12. When comping becomes a problem

This is the part most comping guides leave out. Worth saying clearly.

Comping is enormous fun. It can also creep up on you in ways that aren't healthy.

Burnout

The classic pattern: a beginner gets excited, enters 100 a day for a month, wins a couple of small things, plateaus, feels like the time isn't "working", and quits in frustration. The cure is consistency over volume — 20-30 a day forever beats 100 a day for a fortnight. The full burnout management is in competition burnout and staying motivated.

Gambling-creep

This is the dangerous one. The moment you start:

• Buying extra products purely to enter on-pack promos
• Paying for "premium" comp listings or paid "chances"
• Buying many bottles of a drink to get more codes
• Entering paid prize draws where the odds aren't disclosed

...you've drifted out of comping and into gambling. The economic logic of comping (free entry = positive expected value over time) breaks the moment you start spending. The free vs paid entry competitions post covers this in detail. If gambling-style behaviours appear, talk to GamCare (free, UK, 0808 8020 133).

Boundaries

Good boundary-setting for comping:

• A fixed time budget (the 20- or 45-minute routine above)
• A fixed device pattern (no comping in bed)
• Skip days are fine. Comping should be a hobby, not a duty.
• Track your real win value over time. If you've spent 200 hours over a year for £40 of vouchers, the maths isn't working.

The overall managing your comping hobby guide pulls the boundary-setting together.

Common comping myths worth ditching

A few persistent misconceptions cost beginners months of frustration. The shortlist:

• "It's all luck." Partly true for individual prize draws, but completely false at the portfolio level. Consistency, low-entry targeting, skill-comp focus and tracking discipline change a comper's win rate by 5-10× over a year. The data is in comping statistics.
• "You have to spend money to win the good prizes." Almost never true in the UK. Free entry routes are legally required on prize draws, and most skill comps don't require purchase either.
• "You'll get spam forever." Only if you use your real email. The dedicated comping email solves this in 10 minutes.
• "Big prizes are always scams." Most aren't. Genuine UK brands give away cars, holidays and £10,000+ cash prizes constantly. Real ones never ask for payment and always come from the brand's actual email domain.
• "You need to enter thousands a day." No. 20-30 a day is the sweet spot for almost every comper. Volume beyond that hits sharply diminishing returns relative to time invested.
• "Tie-breakers need to be poetry." They need to be clear, on-brand, and ideally a little witty. Awkward attempts at rhyming usually backfire — read the tie-breaker competitions guide for the technique.
• "If I haven't won in three months, I'm doing it wrong." Sometimes true, often not. Three months of consistent comping with no wins should prompt a review of methods (are you tracking? are you on low-entry comps? are your social profiles public?) — but plenty of compers have a slow three months followed by clusters of wins. The troubleshooting checklist is in why am I not winning competitions.

Ditch the myths and you'll find the hobby much more rewarding much sooner.

▍13. Resources and next steps

This guide is a map. Each section above links to deeper posts. Here are the most useful jumping-off points for the most common questions:

Starting from zero

• What is comping — the definitional piece
• Comping for beginners — the beginner-focused walk-through
• Getting started with comping — the on-site getting-started guide
• Beginners guide to comping — alternative beginner guide with a different angle

Going deeper on technique

• How to win UK competitions — the main technique reference
• Maximising your chances of winning — the odds-and-probability guide
• Comping strategies and tips — broader strategy reference
• Comping techniques and strategies — techniques deep-dive
• Competition entry secrets — the more advanced patterns
• Common competition mistakes — what not to do
• Entry methods guide — overview of every entry method in one place

Specific entry methods

• Instant win competitions, postal entry, on-pack promotions, text competitions, receipt upload, tie-breaker competitions, photo entries, video entries, quiz competitions

Specific platforms

• Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter/X, Pinterest, Threads, YouTube, Telegram, Discord

Specific prize types

• Car competitions, house competitions, Amazon giveaways, McDonald's Monopoly, Boots competitions, raffles, best prizes to target, daily competitions

Where to find them

• Best UK competition websites
• Finding competitions online
• Magazine and newspaper competitions
• Newsletter competition opportunities
• Browse live UK competitions (Sweepzy's curated daily feed)

Tools and tracking

• Sweepzy competition tracker — full-featured tracker
• Free competition tracker — free standalone version
• Competition odds calculator — expected-value maths
• Free comping tools — full tool index
• Browser extensions for auto-fill
• How to track competition entries

Legal, tax and safety

• Competition tax and legal UK
• Competition scams
• Privacy and data protection
• Legal and ethical considerations

When you win (or don't)

• What to do when you win a competition
• Not receiving competition prizes
• Why competition entries are invalid
• Why you're not winning competitions (troubleshooting)
• Sweepzy winners page — real wins from real UK compers

The bigger picture

• Benefits of comping — the long view on why people do this
• Comping statistics — what real data shows about UK compers
• Competition burnout and staying motivated
• Managing your comping hobby
• Comping routine and time management

▍Ready to start (or start winning more)?

You now have the whole map. The honest advice: don't try to implement all 13 sections this week. Pick the three or four that matter most for where you are.

• Brand-new beginner: Sections 3 (setup), 4 (entry methods), 6 (routine) and 5 (where to find comps). Add the rest as you grow.
• Returning comper picking it up again: Sections 7 (odds), 8 (tracking) and 6 (routine). The fundamentals haven't changed; the platforms have.
• Plateaued comper: Sections 7 (odds — particularly low-entry strategy and skill comps), 8 (analytics), and the troubleshooting links in section 13.

The single change with the highest impact for nearly every comper: get the tracking right. The Sweepzy competition tracker is purpose-built for it — free forever for unlimited entry tracking, with optional Premium features for advanced compers. Create a free Sweepzy account and you'll cut duplicate entries, never miss a closing date, and start to see which sources and methods actually win for you.

Welcome to the hobby. Or welcome back. Either way, see you in the winners list.