The Sweepzy journal
Good reads.
Better comping.
Ideas, practical advice, and a little inspiration for your next entry. Get to know the world of UK competitions.
Fresh perspectives
89 stories in the journal
Help & Advice
Competition Burnout: How to Recover and Stay Motivated Long-Term
Competition burnout creeps in quietly. You start dreading the daily entries, feel guilty for not winning, and resent the time it eats up. This guide covers the signs of comping burnout, why it happens, how to prevent it, and what genuine recovery looks like — including why some people quit comping permanently, and why that's completely fine.
Help & Advice
Privacy and Data Protection in UK Competitions: What Compers Actually Need to Know
Every UK competition entry hands a brand some of your personal data. This guide explains your UK GDPR rights as a comper, what brands legitimately need versus the red-flag asks, how to control marketing post-entry, and how to complain to the ICO if a promoter mishandles your information.
Help & Advice
Social Media Account Restrictions Comping: The Full Survival Guide
Nothing kills UK comping faster than a restricted account. This is the full survival guide — per-platform triggers on Instagram, Facebook, X and TikTok, the prevention rules that actually work, what to do when you're already locked out, and whether a separate comping account is the right answer (usually not).
Help & Advice
Why Are My Competition Entries Invalid? Every Cause and Fix (UK Guide)
Entering UK competitions but suspect your entries are being silently disqualified? This guide covers every reason competition entries are invalid — locked profiles, duplicates, wrong accounts, missing fields, region locks, AI-generated content flags — and the exact fix for each one.
Help & Advice
Competition Tax UK: Are Prize Winnings Taxable? (HMRC Guide)
Are competition prizes taxable in the UK? Short answer: no, HMRC treats wins as windfall gains. But reselling, state benefits and the Gambling Act 2005 all have edge cases worth knowing before you win big.
Tips & Strategies
Comping Spreadsheet Template (UK): The Ready-Made Tracker Compers Actually Use
A ready-made comping spreadsheet template for UK compers — the exact columns, formulas and conditional formatting rules that turn a blank Google Sheet into a working competition tracker. Plus the point where a spreadsheet stops being enough.
Tips & Strategies
Browser Extensions for Auto-Fill Comping: The 2026 UK Guide
Browser extensions for auto-fill comping are the single highest-leverage tool a UK comper can adopt. Done right, they save 15-30 hours a year and stop typos from disqualifying entries. This guide covers the Sweepzy Chrome extension, the built-in Chrome/Firefox/Safari options, password-manager auto-fill, what NOT to auto-fill, and the security tradeoffs nobody talks about.
Tips & Strategies
Comping Routine Time Management: Daily Schedules That Actually Win
Comping routine time management isn't about doing more — it's about doing the right amount, consistently, at the right time. Here are realistic UK comping schedules from 15 minutes a day to 90, when to enter, when to skip, and how to build a habit that survives Christmas, illness and busy weeks.
Tips & Strategies
Best Competition Prizes to Target: A Strategic ROI Guide for UK Compers
Not all UK competition prizes are worth the same effort to enter. This guide ranks the major prize categories by genuine ROI — time per entry versus realistic win value — so you can target the comps that actually pay off.
Tips & Strategies
Sweepzy vs ThePrizeFinder: Honest UK Comper Comparison
An honest Sweepzy vs ThePrizeFinder comparison. How a free mobile-first comping app with built-in tracking stacks up against a paid subscription competition aggregator on catalogue size, filtering, mobile UX and pricing — and which (or both) is right for your routine.
Tips & Strategies
Sweepzy vs Loquax: An Honest Comparison for UK Compers
An honest Sweepzy vs Loquax comparison for UK compers. How a mobile-first integrated tracker stacks up against a decades-old free community aggregator on catalogue size, mobile UX, tracking, community and pricing — and which (or both) is right for your routine.
Platform Guides
Instagram vs Facebook Competitions: Where UK Compers Actually Win in 2026
Instagram vs Facebook competitions for UK compers — which platform actually wins? We compare entry volume, realistic win rates, average prize value, ban-risk levels and time per entry, with a beginner-friendly recommendation on which to focus on first.