The only way to have a friend is to be one....Ralph Waldo Emerson

Monday, July 11, 2011

Happy Monday... & a Question

The big burning question.........

When a blogger hosts a giveaway, should it be the givers responsibility to hunt down the winner?



Please let me know your thoughts on this......

Have a Great Monday All
Traci

13 comments:

  1. Hi Traci,
    Good question. In my opinion, the giver should post the winners name and send an email to the winner. If the winner does not respond in the alotted time then I say pull another name.
    I have seen where bloggers who host a giveaway state that the winner must contact the giver within 3 days or another name will be pulled.
    I think it's how ever you want to host.
    If you put stipulations on the giveaway in your post, then the followers should abid by them.
    Just my opinion.
    Blessings,
    Jean

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  2. Hi Traci-I think it depends on what you mean by "hunt down"....a good post about the winner and perhaps one email is good...then a final post saying "if I don't hear from you by...then...". You shouldn't have to work too hard at trying give away something! During the summer months, I would perhaps allow a little more time, because people do vacation...and hey...if noone claims the prize, you can always send it to me - HE HE - Have a good week.

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  3. Hi Traci, I think that if you are following the blog you will see you won. Alot of gals, SORRY TO SAY this but they just sign up for the giveaway and I feel that it is up to the person to contact you if your name is picked!

    I hope you are having a wonderful summer my prim friend.

    Summer blessings,
    Tricia

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  4. I think if you are generous enough to be giving a gift the winner should get back to you.I've been there and now if they don't contact me in 72 hours I pick another name. So many people enter just to enter and don't bother to check in so give it to someone who appreciates it.Hugs!~Amy

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  5. I just had a giveaway and I posted the winners one of them got back to me right away and the other one I knew was out of town and was going to email her but she beat me to it.
    I feel if you post the winners that is good enough alot of people that sign up are no reply bloggers if they are true followers they will contact you. I like Amys idea of 72 hrs.
    Have a great day!
    Prim Blessings
    Robin

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  6. Traci, I post it on my blog, then I e-mail
    the person.....They always get back with
    me, right away. They could be on vacation
    and not able to get to their e-mail, so I
    would wait awhile, before drawing another
    name. Another thing, that I would like to
    mention is....People post a picture of a
    bowl with papers of the entries, when they
    announce the winner, not of the item that
    the person wins. I have to go back on posts
    some times, to see what was being given
    away, because I can't remember...I like to
    post the picture of what the person won.

    Bear Hugs & Blessings~Karen

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  7. Okay, here are my thoughts and I have to agree with Tricia and Amy, totally... If a hostess of a giveaway is generously offering something to someone for free, the winner ought to follow up with the giveaway.

    I don't think it should be the responsibility of the hostess to email the winner about winning the prize. When I sign up for a giveaway, I always try to watch for the winning post, Thank the Hostess and Congratulate the Winner.

    I, myself, only sign-up for giveaways on blogs that I truely follow and on average check in with the bloggers' posts at least once a week.

    If you are following a blog, signing up for the hosts' giveaways, I think that you should actually be "following" the blog for the blog & blog owner, not just to try and win something. I know that there is sooo many good things out there to win and it's so tempting to sign up for everyone of them.

    I am sure there are many who will disagree with my point of view and that's okay. But as a hostess of giveaways myself, I would rather only have five people sign up that truely want to win something that I offer, than 50 people that never once check back (even simply for a visit and to say Hello)

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  8. I agreed with what the others have said. A post regarding the winners name, a time frame to respond and an email should be sufficient for the hostess. I also like Karen's suggestion of posting what the giveaway was in the winner announcement post. I know that I've been guilty of not doing this so will have to remember to include a picture of the prizes in my winning announcement post.

    Have a great day.

    D

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  9. Posting the winner and sending them an email is what I do. It's a good idea to state in the giveaway rules (and if you email them) that you'll only give a certain amount of time for the winner to respond. I think 3-7 days is enough time. Or if you aren't going to email the person and only post their name on your blog, then state that in the rules as well. Beyond that, I don't feel there is more for the giver to have to do. (no reply bloggers-- if they can't be bothered to leave a way for the giver to contact them, then they shouldn't be entering.)

    Things do happen to prevent people from being on their computers daily, then get behind reading blog posts. Or emails get trapped in the spam folder, or the person doesn't even get the emails. (That has happened to me. I really don't recommend AOL emails, their block system is too sensitive.)

    Personally, I made a folder in my favorites for giveaways. I edit the link to include the day of the drawing so I don't forget about it. Because, I confess, I am very forgetful.

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  10. Yep I too didn't think to post a pic when I announced the winner of my giveaway...have took note of that. Yep all giveaways have an end date, if you sign up and think you'll be gone then a quick email to the host would help just in case you win. I myself will wait a week, email a couple times post on my blog...and if I got no answer, pick another cause I know there where others that would have liked to win.. There are so many giveaways, I couldn't poss do all, I'd need a calendar with all the drawing dates to remind me...

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  11. It would be unfair to all those who really do follow to wait indefinitely for someone to claim their prize. You can post it in your rules that they only have 72 hours to respond. I think any more than that and they are just taking advantage of your patience and kindness. One email if you feel you must but if these are true followers, they are there for every new post anyway. There are far too many out there that just want a freebie--The PIFs proved that. Usually people are anxious to give you their addy for their prize. Hostess is already responsible for the gift, the packaging, the postage,the drawing, the original notification. I wouldn't try more than the original notification.
    Why? Did I not respond to my giveaway notice? LOL
    ★Linda★

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  12. I know you've gotten probably more opinions than you need - and clearly there is a consensus....but I will add my 2 cents anyway. My first response to your question was "are you nutty crazy??!!!" Absolutely NOT!! A giveaway hostess should have no obligation to "hunt down" the winner! You are generously giving something away - if the person entered the giveaway, they should be a regular follower of your blog and see that their name was drawn and be more than happy to email you the necessary info. With that being said, I would note two instances that put a little wrench into things....I have personally experienced severe computer outages....I have gone days with no internet access due to the lack of service in our area...and it is possible that this - or an illness, vacation, family emergency, etc. - could mean someone just is unable to respond. The other thing I also personally experienced is reading I had won a giveaway, and being asked to email my address info, which I did. A few weeks later tho, the hostess emailed me again saying she hadn't gotten my address. I emailed it again, to the address she indicated (which was a different email address than I originally sent it to). Then, several days later, I read on her blog that she still hadn't heard from me....Turns out that, apparently, the emails sent to her one account went to SPAM, and she didn't check the other email address. We did manage to connect, but it was weird seeing that post that she still needed my address. I guess if she hadn't been so patient, she would have just given the prize to someone else, even tho I was a regular follower and commenter on her blog (and I am not a no-reply blogger...) So, I guess, in some cases, there may be cause to make an exception to the "no hunt" rule....Sorry I rambled....Have a good week! Smiles & Hugs ~ Robin

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  13. I don't think it is the host's responsibility. Post the winner on your blog, email them. Wait a couple days and draw again.
    If you have already disposed of the other names you can always just sent it to me. I know it would be a hardship for me but I am willing to do that for anyone that has a giveaway that can't find the recipient for. :O)
    Kat

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