I’ve been asked the last few times to explain what a “giveaway account is” and why I won’t consider them valid entries for my blog giveaways. So please allow me to explain:

A giveaway account is one (Twitter, IG, etc.) where the sole purpose is to enter giveaways in the hopes of winning absolutely anything at all. This can range from household items like cleaners, toilet paper… to makeup, spa packages, etc. Unfortunately, there seems to be little to no discrimination between what kind of giveaways these people will enter. I’ve had 50 year old men enter my makeup giveaways and while I begrudge NO ONE wearing makeup, it’s very obvious that some of these people will not be using these items and instead only want to win something in the hopes of getting a freebie of ANY kind. These are also the kinds of people that follow you for the giveaway, and then promptly unfollow you once the giveaway has ended. (And repeat that cycle every time you do have a new giveaway!)

Sometimes these people will take their giveaway winnings and try to return them in store (obviously without a receipt) for CASH. I can’t tell you how much this pains me. Any item that I am specifically shipping to a winner is costing me my OWN money to send and I want someone to ENJOY the item they’ve won. I want them to play with it, and love it (or perhaps not! It happens!), and I don’t want to see the items get returned to the store, or traded for cash because that isn’t what my blog is about. If the PR firm is covering the costs of shipping, then I will follow whatever they say for the giveaway. But if it’s costing me my own money? Sorry, but no – I will not accept giveaway accounts as actual entries and your entry WILL be disqualified.

If you are concerned that you will only be viewed as a giveaway account, find a way to interact with the blogger – I promise you – they will remember it! Post a comment on a blog post that isn’t involving a giveaway. Tweet at them other than to enter a giveaway. Comment on an Instagram photo of theirs. Bloggers spend incredible amounts of time and money on blogging and we want to reward our readers for sticking around. Not supporting someone who really just wants a freebie.

I hope that helped to clarify what I consider a “giveaway account”.  🙂