Gun Contests

I found myself entering more and more gun contests lately until my email inbox started overflowing with all kinds of emails from gun, knife, tactical gear, and tactical clothing companies. I enjoyed it for a while, but now it has become burdensome. I’m cutting back to just USCCA contests for a while.

My question for you is do you enjoy entering these type of contests from manufacturers, or does the inevitable emails and advertising drive you away?

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Choose and pick, be particular to those that would seem worthy but, limit yourself. That is what I have done.

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I stopped, too much junk email.

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walked away from 2 contests today, started to enter one, had an M1a Tanker which would complement my Scout nicely…it seems many are no longer just a 1 entry deal, but want you to go to FB, instagram , youtube etc., …and follow their sites.so I am quite handicapped there…I feel like I have enough “stuff” anyways as it is which is a good feeling…and yeah, the email influx gets absolutely absurd.

Had a back and forth email conversation with a local gun store a couple days ago after they let me know they put up a new FB site after the first one got shut down. I asked why they would support the enemy? I understand the need to advertise, but their reputation is well established by now. I did thank them for driving our deep blue politicians crazy with their barely legal offerings.

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It became annoying after some time.
I’m still keeping few that I value.

USCCA is a one that is hard to manage.
I’m getting emails from Tim Schmidt every morning, that I should mark as spam (clear marketing) but I don’t do this because I’m worried to miss something important… so I decided that I can live with that single problem.

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I never enter a contest unless it’s from a company I already do business with because it merely invites a tsunami of junk email.

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To add to that, I won’t enter a lot of drawings, even when I know the company well, if they’re being managed by an unknown third party.

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I don’t enter any contests anymore because I’ve never ever ever won anything in an on line contest.

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I enter every time Cabot is giving away a 1911.

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Classic Firearms and USCCA are the only ones I’ve entered. Oh yeah, Alien Gear as well. Wait a minute, We the People Holsters as well. Actually, I enter every one I’m offered. I figured, you can’t win if you don’t try. Just use your backup email when entering. You know, the one with tens of thousands(literally) of unread messages. I have as much hope for one as I do any of the others and that is zero. Obvi advertisements. I don’t think they even give the guns away. Again, can’t win if you don’t try and cost nothing to enter.

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Maybe I should try a backup email just for contests.

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Using a backup email, I get too much junk mail to enter all gun giveaway contests.

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The old adage “if it’s FREE then YOU are the product” holds true here.

At first I signed up for every contest… then like many others got a deluge in my mailbox of stuff from a wide variety of loosely affiliated products/manufacturers. Then I guess those folks sold my email to lawd knows who else and I start getting even more emails from an even wider variety of sources.

No more, thank you.

Unsubscribed from all of them. Liberally marked as “spam” those who don’t listen to the unsubscribe.

Now I only do contests/raffles from sources that I know (USCCA, ASA, etc) or if they are giving away something I really want (hello Daniel Defense Delta 5 PRO!) that is worth getting on all those emails lists again. Those are pretty few and far between.

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Yep.,…
They are selling your information is all they are doing.
I refuse to get involved for this reason even though I would love a chance to win.

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I feel like ALL of our info is accessible to most anybody that wants it already.

I’ve been feeling the same way lately. I usually sign up with an email account I made just to receive junk offers I sign up for…but even that gets too full. Fun to enter and think about, but like lottery tickets, these contests never worked out in my favor.

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Yeah, I got another "Thanks for subscribing " from someone I never heard of. Clicked Unsubscribe and 80% will stop, 10% cut it down to a couple a week, and the rest ignore everything and send you 3 a-day!

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To me they are shooting themselves in the foot. If they annoy me, there is no way I will buy from them. What do they gain?

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I enter a few but have had to unsubscribe to several offers. it;s a snowball effect. Of course, the reason for the contest is to get your information to other sites that might have items of interest & they will also have a contest etc…

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