Luck Of The Draw

Now that Thanksgiving is over, many companies can crank up the volume on their holiday advertising. (At least this applies to those among them who actually waited for Thanksgiving to finish. For most of them it will be like going from 10 to 12.) If you are anything like me, you have probably noticed an increase in the uptick in the amount of junk mail you are getting. As proof, my trip to the mailbox this afternoon yielded six catalogs. Even worse is that I don't know why I am getting them, because they are full of things no one in my family would want so it is not as though they are a result of past purchases. They are the worst gift suggestions in history. I'm willing to bet that if I combed through every page of those six catalogs I might come up with four ideas for presents. Not exactly a high return on the per-page ration. But it is even worse online. My inbox has always been a magnet for random emails and now every morning I wake up to find it full of coupons for products I can't even begin to imagine needing. (For example if anyone wants a custom bobblehead, I can get you a good price.) But, strangely, I can live with getting offered a deal for something I don't want. It's when they try to give it to me for free that I get really suspicious.

Have you ever bought an item from an online store only to find out that purchase also entered you into a contest for some prize you were completely unaware of? Apparently, this happens all the time and it is all perfectly legal. (If I ever took the time to read the incredibly small writing at the bottom of several of the forms I have filled out I would already know that.) Companies buy lists from one another for the sake of marketing purposes and to keep you from opting out, once a year they give away a prize to one person on this list. While it is literally the least they can do for the inconvenience I guess they should get credit for trying. However, I'm curious as to whether or not it actually works, because I can't help but wonder how often the prize goes unclaimed. I can not tell you the number of times I have received an email telling me I have "won" something and totally ignored it. I feel this is a perfectly normal response, especially when you have been entered into a contest without your knowledge. What's weird is that I always tell people in charge of contests that I would prefer to be contacted via email and yet if I ever got an email from them telling me I had won something I would think it was some kind of scam. It's a very strange double-edged sword.

[Sidebar: You may remember Sunday's post about the PowerBall drawing when I mentioned that I don't have great luck with lotteries. Actually, I should correct that - I have bad luck at trying to win things I want. I'm amazing at winning the raffles for items I don't want. If there are six prizes up for grab and I would be happy with five of them I can almost guarantee you I will be coming home with that sixth item. Currently, as a result of a golf magazine subscription, I was automatically entered to win one of a variety of prizes, with two things being given away each day (which is what got me thinking about the randomness of internet contests). The hitch I have noticed is that the prizes are totally random and not nearly of equal value. Take today's drawing - one person won a 3-day, 2-night stay for four people at a Mid-Atlantic resort which included a free round of golf for everyone involved. Even though the prize does not include airfare, I would guess this little trip would retail for several hundred dollars. The other person won a putter. Now, I don't care how nice or expensive that putter is, the second winner is immediately going to feel a little cheated. All I'm saying is don't be surprised if the day after they give away the grand prize of a golf trip to the Bahamas I am writing a blog post about my shiny new sleeve of found golf balls.]

I guess my point in all this is just to say that perhaps we have all gotten a little too suspicious of the internet. I'm all for being cautious about what emails you open and never giving anyone your personal financial data through a website, but we shouldn't let a few bad apples spoil it for the rest of us. Contests which give away prizes do exist in the normal world, so I don't know why we are more willing to accept those while immediately dismissing a contest which is being handled through the web, even though that is probably the more efficient way of doing things. I'm not saying you should trust the African Prince who will double your money if you just wire him enough to get into the country, just that perhaps a quick Google search before deleting every prize-offering email would be a good idea. The good news is that if it is a trick you are probably not the first person to get this offer, so you'll know what to do as soon as Google auto-fills the word 'scam' onto the end of the company name. It certainly beats the alternative, because wouldn't you feel worse if you had ignored an email only to find out the offer was legitimate? After all, caution is only helpful until it starts talking you out of beneficial situations.