SCROLLING on social media is just a mindless pass time for most people, but Katie Seales has made thousands by doing just that.
The 40-year-old support worker has received more than £17,000 worth of freebies over the past two years using just her social media accounts.
Katie Seales has won more than £17,000 worth of freebies through competitions
Katie, from Norwich, has bagged everything from high street vouchers to home appliances, designer clothes, food hampers and luggage from her years entering competitions.
Her lucky wins have seen her indulge in a £100 Fortnum and Mason food hamper and relax on a £180 spa day at the luxury Bishopstrow Hotel in Wiltshire.
Last year, she even bagged a free sofa after winning a £1,000 Furniture Village voucher through an Instagram giveaway.
Katie told The Sun: “I saw competitions popping up on Instagram, mostly from brands that I was following at the time so I decided to give it a go.
“The first thing I ever won was a £350 Everswiss watch and that spurred me on to enter more competitions.
“I see it as a little side hustle because, although some of it is luck, you do have to be consistent with it too.”
Katie keeps a spreadsheet of all of her wins and their value and so far, she’s won a whopping £17,397.98 worth of freebies.
So how can you maximise your chances of winning top prizes – and is it worth the effort? We picked Katie’s brains to find out.
How did you start entering competitions?
I entered my first competition in 2021, which is when I won the watch.
I saw the giveaway on an Instagram page called @mode9uk and thought it sounded great.
To enter you had to like, share and comment on their post.
I was shocked when I won – I found out after the brand sent me a direct message on Instagram and I got the watch within a couple of weeks.
My other first wins were £200 worth of accessories, clothing, and homeware from Monsoon and a £500 Cefinn designer coat.
For Instagram competitions, you mostly have to like and share a post on your Instagram story, as well as tag a few friends in the comments.
Sometimes, you have to click on a URL and fill in a form with a few personal details. I will only ever do this if it’s a brand I recognise.
I usually look for competitions on my lunch break or when I’m chilling out in the evening.
What are the best prizes you’ve won?
One of my biggest wins was definitely the £1,000 voucher for Furniture Village.
I had needed a new sofa for a while and was dreading forking out for one, so it came at the best time.
I’ve also won mini-breaks, including one to the Cragwood Hotel in Lake Windermere in the Lake District and a two-night stay at the Hotel Du Vin in Cheltenham.
I’m hoping to enter a few more holiday competitions because I know people who have won amazing breaks.
For example, a friend of mine won a week-long holiday to Dubai staying in a five-star hotel.
I’ve also won a lot of items that I then go on to sell on the second-hand app Vinted.
This included a £350 Hill and Friends handbag that I won through a competition and sold for £100 on Vinted.
I also won a £575 Danse Lente handbag that I sold for £120 on Depop.
I also sell a lot of the beauty products that I win, including items from Too Faced, Elemis and Nars.
In the last three months, I have made £600 by selling on some of my wins, along with items of my own and clothes I’ve picked up on Facebook Marketplace.
What’s your best tip?
It goes without saying that you will need to have social media accounts, particularly on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Facebook and Instagram.
Once you start entering them, you will start to get ads in your feed for other competitions too.
Following brands you like can help you to spot prize entry competitions, and so can searching hashtags like #giveaway and #giveawayUK.
I find brands like Karen Milan, John Lewis and Boohoo regularly have giveaways, like vouchers or specific items of clothing.
You can search on Facebook too, or even Google, particularly if you have a specific prize in mind like a trip to a specific location.
Since I started entering competitions, I have found lots of like-minded people on Instagram who are dedicated to entering competitions.
We all share giveaways we think others may be interested in.
For example, if I know someone who is pregnant and I see a baby giveaway, I’ll send it to them so they can enter.
There are also accounts dedicated to competitions – I suggest following The Competition Fairy and The Competition Collective on Instagram.
Not only do they run their own giveaways, but they also share competitions from brands on their stories.
It’s a good way to keep track of all the current competitions currently on offer.
Is there anything to watch out for?
I always make sure that the competition I’m entering is from a legitimate brand and account, to avoid falling for a scam.
On Instagram, posting something on your story doesn’t carry much danger as you aren’t giving away any personal details.
But if you are directed to a website, it’s good to be aware of some common red flags that tell you if a website is fake.
The Sun has a guide to how to spot and avoid internet scams.
Usually, one major sign is a URL that doesn’t look quite right – this is the text found in the top half of your computer screen.
Meanwhile, if the website you click on to does not exist, that’s another telltale sign.
What’s your advice to newbies?
Of course, there’s an element of luck to it, but if you’re consistent then you’re likely to win something eventually.
Make sure you stick to the rules of the competition.
For example, if you need to tag five people in the comments to be in with a chance of winning, make sure that you do – you don’t want to miss out for a silly reason.
I would say that Instagram is also the best place for giveaways, so follow lots of brands and competitions pages.
Keep going and eventually, you will win.
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