Reddit giveaways introduction
Reddit is aptly touted as “the front page of the internet.” The platform is notorious for helpful content and hilarious content too. It’s said that the inception of memes started on the platform.
Reddit is known to have thousands of live feeds of content that ranges from memes to breaking news, from more serious discussion to fun ones. Not only that, Reddit is famous for giveaways and free stuff.
The platform allows its users to “ask me anything,” and their user content ends up going viral because of this. Promotional marketing gains traction quickly on this site.
Reddit has been ranked as the 16th most popular social media platform (as of 2022). With that said, the platform is the perfect place for successful giveaways with an estimated $10 billion valuation and 52 million daily active users.
It goes without saying that Reddit giveaways are bound to be a success with so many users on the site. Whether you’re holding a giveaway or entering a giveaway, there are best practices to follow.
Now, let’s explore these Reddit giveaway practices to follow in April 2024
Reddit giveaway types
This giveaways guide will cover all there is to know about Reddit giveaways for businesses who would like to run Reddit giveaways and participants who would like to enter them.
Hence, this comprehensive guide will cover Reddit giveaways for two groups.
1. Giveaway organizers: This section is for business and giveaway organizers who want to run their giveaways on Reddit. We will cover how you can use Reddit for marketing and tips to stay within their terms and conditions.
2. Giveaway entrants: This section is for participants who want to enter giveaways on Reddit and maximize their chances of winning a prize. We will cover how you can use Reddit to find the best giveaways and freebies.
How to promote Reddit giveaways
With over 50 million active users (or Redditors, as they’re known), Reddit ranks among the most popular social networks worldwide.
Reddit is perfect for marketing, but it’s not easy to use unless you’re an expert. Integrating Reddit into your marketing strategy comes with challenges for most businesses.
For this reason, we created a guide for small businesses on how to use Reddit and how to use the platform for your next giveaway. Our guide will answer your questions whether you’re an influencer or branded company.
What are Reddit giveaways?
Reddit giveaways are essentially giveaways that are advertised on the platform. The giveaways are often created elsewhere and promoted on Reddit, where it will go viral.
Let’s use an example. On the platform, there are subreddits, for example, “r/giveaways .”This is a subreddit especially dedicated to giveaways.
On each subreddit, you will see what the content is all about, for example, r/giveaways about section states: “Place to post giveaways/sweepstakes/contests, either personal or links to other websites doing similar. Reposts are allowed every 48h..”
Reddit giveaways community hot posts
Now, you might be wondering what some of that jargon was. What is a subreddit? What are r/giveaways?
To answer this question in more detail, we’ll walk you through the basics of Reddit and the platform’s layout. Knowing the platform’s finer details will help you make your Reddit giveaway a success.
The platform’s home page showcases all of the highest trending posts and topics. There you will find all of the content that is going viral.
Those who are registered to Reddit will see their “subreddits” on their home page. Those are groups they’ve joined and they’ll see posts based on their interests. Unregistered users see mixed information on the home page.
Subreddits are categories that are created on Reddit. They’re sub-communities within the Reddit community that any registered user can create about a topic of their choice. For example, as we mentioned above, r/giveaways is a subreddit with a huge following.
Let’s take another example – searching NBA on Reddit brings up associated “communities,” also known as subreddits, related to the main search term NBA.
Popular subreddits might have thousands of users, whereas the least popular might have a few. No matter their size, the subreddit can have air-time and be permanently open, given it follows the platform’s terms.
How are subreddits relevant for you as a business? We will discuss this later, and examine how to share your Reddit giveaway in a relevant subreddit.
Ask me anything (or AMA) is an interview style held on Reddit. This platform section allows you to promote yourself as an expert on any topic.
You’re invited to introduce yourself and tell the community what you do and the intention for your AMA. Then, the interview begins or “opens up” and each user can submit questions to you. This is one way you could promote your services and giveaway.
When you post and comment on Reddit, you build up something known as Karma. In some select subreddits, you can only join once you reach a certain level of karma.
Reddit karma is essentially your rating score for posting. Your karma will increase or decrease depending on the number of upvotes and downvotes you receive.
Upvotes and downvotes can be made about your post or comment by other users – these are made by clicking the up or down arrow on each.
It will help your profile (and giveaways) the more upvotes you have. Upvotes will ensure your content is more noticeable to others. Of course, downvotes aren’t ideal.
If you gain thousands of upvotes, there’s the possibility for your giveaway to be aired on Reddit’s homepage. It could also be the first thing people see when they click on the subreddit where you have made a post. However, this is an approximate science as there isn’t a procedure to follow or a guarantee for getting there.
Make note, the higher your karma, the higher the likelihood that you’ll appear to be a trusted giveaway holder, but with low karma, this likelihood is lower.
Using the platform within the terms of service and gaining more upvotes will ensure your giveaway is a success. That brings us to the last piece of Reddit terminology.
Shadowban is a term for being banned, but you won’t know about it. Because there will be no external signs of a shadowban, you might not notice aside from your posts receiving little to no interaction.
You’re allowed to continue writing posts and comments, but it’s a waste of time as no one sees them except for you. They’re automatically sent to the spam list by the moderator.
This can happen for several reasons, namely going against their terms of service. You can be shadowbanned in a specific subreddit or on the whole platform.
Check out the subreddit r/shadowban and the unofficial guide to aveoid being shadowbanned.
To avoid this issue, we’ll walk you through exactly how you can hold a giveaway on Reddit without facing a shadowban. We’ll also cover ways to decrease your likelihood of being shadowbanned.
How do you do a giveaway on Reddit?
As noted earlier, all you have to do is create a post on Reddit with a link to your giveaway. It’s very simple.
You need to create your giveaway (on any platform of your choice) and then share the link to your giveaway on the subreddit of your choice.
You could also create your own subreddit in advance and post the giveaway link there. The only downside to this is you might have gained few followers in that timeframe. In contrast, a well-established subreddit might already have thousands of followers and a lot of activity.
If you’re investing a lot of energy in Reddit giveaways, we suggest you start up your own subreddits and, eventually, post all of your giveaways there.
Create subreddits. The upside of doing this is you can tailor the subreddit to exactly what you want it to be – but remember, you should minimize the overselling part, so you don’t get banned.
To do this, search for “create a community” in the sidebar.
Reddit giveaways encourage users to interact with your brand while you’ll bring value to the sub-community. If you’re a popular host, you likely won’t get punished for advertising.
It goes without saying the more we discover about Reddit, the more we learn about the ways it can benefit your business. You can get swathes of traffic to your business by trading a small amount of your time.
Per month alone, Reddit gets 150 million page views. That’s tons of traffic to your giveaway for free. Unfortunately, self-promotion is generally “down-voted .” Any marketing is not seen in a good light unless you know how to avoid this.
You must add subtle touches to your posts to promote them without getting banned. This article by Mashable is great for Reddit beginners.
You should also check out Reddit for Business, where you can sign-up to advertise on the platform. The minimum to advertise on the platform is $5 a day.
So a giveaway on Reddit will generate loads of interest for you. Now let’s cover how to run a giveaway without getting banned.
By running you through the site’s conditions, we will help you maximize your giveaway engagement on Reddit.
Reddit giveaway rules and terms
It’s quite straightforward. Reddit has only 8 ground rules they need you to adhere to as a Redditor.
First and foremost, Reddit clarifies that no group should be “used as a weapon.” Communities on Reddit are intended to be safe and friendly places for everyone.
With that said, every subreddit (or community) is defined by its users, so much of this is out of Reddit’s hands. In other words, it’s also up to the users to protect one another.
Each community is shaped by the rules enforced by moderators and, additionally, by the votes it receives and the discussions of its community members. Reddit asks you to abide by the rules of the specific communities in which you participate. You’re also not allowed to interfere with communities in which you are not a member.
The 8 rules governing each community apply to everyone on Reddit and the site as a whole. The admins of Reddit enforce the rules.
The rules span from ensuring your posts are user-friendly and don’t participate in hate crimes. You must also abide by the rules of your communities.
Knowing the rules of Reddit helps you ensure you’re using it right, so we highly recommend you check them out. Here are the rules, briefly in our own words.
- Bullying is not tolerated
- Spamming is not allowed
- Respect others privacy
- Sexual content about minors is prohibited
- Do not impersonate anyone or be deceitful
- Label your community according to its content
- Keep your content legal
- Don’t hack the site and its content
To see the details of all of the terms, here is Reddit’s content policy.
Next up, here are 5 Redditors who didn’t break the rules and conditions of the platform and created successful giveaways. Let’s examine what made their Reddit giveaways so successful.
Reddit giveaway post layout
Generally, Reddit giveaway posts are laid out clearly to provide all the information entrants need to enter the giveaway.
Check out the example image below and use this template when creating your giveaway.
Giveaways are usually outlined like this:
1) Title of the giveaway
2) The date that the giveaway is ending
3) The region where the giveaway is available. Usually labeled as {US}, {UK}, {WW} (worldwide)
You should note all of these points to create a well-rounded giveaway post!
7 popular Reddit giveaways examples
Here are 7 popular Reddit giveaways that ranked highly on the platform for various reasons. We will let you know the secrets of their success and examine the best methods for running Reddit giveaways.
1. Dungeons and Dragons Giveaway
This DnD giveaway has seen plenty of user engagement. In 7 months, it gained over 40K comments and over 25K votes, 90% of which are upvotes.
The descriptive title tells you all you need to know about this giveaway. The giveaway listing also contains a video and “original content” (or OC), which adds to its appeal.
As you can see, there are many symbols next to “7 months” which indicates that users have rewarded the giveaway. It has received gold awards, silver awards, and helpful rewards, for example.
This giveaway was held on the r/DnD subreddit, which has 2.9 million members, so it’s no wonder the giveaway saw so much engagement.
Dungeons and Dragons Giveaway key takeaways
- Use of video and original content to attract more participants
- An informative title that describes the giveaway clearly
- Call to action in the title to “check out the video and comments for more…”
2. Spider-Man Giveaway
A user on the r/pcgaming subreddit held this Spider-Man giveaway. In just 1 month, the giveaway saw nearly 8K votes, 82% of which were upvotes.
This giveaway has a short and catchy title compared to the example above. This style of title has its charm, and there is more content in the information section of this giveaway in comparison to the above example.
When the giveaway was announced, the admin posted the draw results on the giveaway page. Something to note, this makes the giveaway look trustworthy and boosts their reputability.
Next to the date showing when the giveaway was posted, you can see the symbols that were awarded to the giveaway. These symbols include the heartwarming award and the helpful pro award.
To enter this giveaway, all you had to do was to comment on the post.
Spider-Man Giveaway key takeaways
- A simple method of entry
- Short giveaway title with descriptive information on the post
- The admin edited the post information to re-emphasize the giveaway rules
3. Pandabuy Giveaway
This giveaway is held by a shipping company. Pandabuy Giveaway has a lot going for it. It might look garish or over the top to some, but the use of emojis, caps lock, and exclamation marks make it stand out from the crowd.
As you can see, that’s worked in its favor, with 1.6K votes in 3 days and 99% of them being upvotes.
Next to “3 days”, you can see a handshake sign and the number 2 next to it. That indicates two users have rewarded the giveaway for “helpful information”.
The giveaway also has a “verified user” working in its favor. As you can see to the right of the giveaway page, this giveaway isn’t only posted on an individual’s page but an entire subreddit called r/FashionReps.
The account that posted the giveaway is named u/PandaBuyers – the “u” stands for “user.”
This giveaway has also opted to write an introduction to the giveaway rather than only relying on the gfiveaway link. Below the information and instructions, you’ll also see they list the prizes with clickable links.
So there are various ways to go about this task. You can link to giveaways as the giveaway holder, or you can link to it even if you aren’t.
Also, if you are the giveaway holder, you might hide your identity and pretend you’re a fan sharing it – if you’d like to keep things lowkey.
Pandabuy Giveaway key takeaways
- Use of emojis and creative style to attract more participants
- Informative text that introduces the giveaway
- Lists the prizes that are on offer
4. Desk Mats Giveaway
This desk mat giveaway was run by someone named Glutchpls and posted on r/PCmasterrace. This subreddit is dedicated to PCs.
The giveaway has received 3.9K votes so far, with a total of 94% upvotes. The page has seen well over 7K comments in 9 days, so it’s no wonder they’ve received some downvotes. You can’t please everyone.
There is bound to be some negative feedback with so much attraction. Still, the giveaway received 2 “silver awards” and 1 “all-seeing upvote reward.”
As you can see, it’s hosted by deskmat.io, represented by the user Glutchpls. Notice he has the website link on his homepage.
When you’re setting up your user page for your Reddit giveaways, you can add your social media handles and websites to your bio. See the image below.
Desk Mats Giveaway key takeaways
- Not the most interesting giveaway title, but it is clear and straight to the point
- Good use of visuals with more than one image showing all of the prizes on offer
- Hosted by a reputable user with over 64K karma
- They have a dedicated “giveaway” section on their feed
Bonus tip: if you love PC giveaways, you should check out our PC giveaways guide.
5. NFT Giveaway
This giveaway, NFT Giveaway, held by an individual creator, asks its participants to upvote and drop their Ethereum wallets to win a free drawing. Again, the title of the giveaway lets the participants know exactly what they’ll be winning.
The title reads, the “first 200 participants will get the free pencil drawing mantis”. That’s a great way to promote the giveaway for different reasons.
First, the prize is front and center of the giveaway, with an attractive image of the prize underneath the title. Second, participants have to hurry to enter to be one of the first 200 entrants to win a prize.
We discovered this giveaway was one of the most popular on NFTs Marketplace. If you love NFTs, you should check out that community and our NFT giveaway guide for more NFT giveaways.
The giveaway also makes use of emojis to attract attention. It was voted for 130 times in 1 month, with a total upvote score of 98%. Due to this buzz of activity, there are well over 300 comments on the giveaway page.
The giveaway was awarded one “helpful award” and one “silver award”, as you can see next to the giveaway admin’s name, and when it was posted.
NFT Giveaway key takeaways
- Good use of an informative title, emojis, and image of the prize to gain attraction
- It is made clear that the first 200 entrants will win a prize
- The giveaway holder has links to other social media handles on her page, with good karma, and this makes her appear trustworthy overall on the site
Bonus Tip: 6. $25 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway
The following two giveaways have less traction than the ones above, but there are reasons they’ve made it to the list.
This giveaway, which offers a $25 Amazon Gift Card, has been upvoted 5 times within one day of being uploaded. That’s a good sign.
Also, notice the boxed section which reads “0/43” – that first number is link karma: points earned when people upvoted their link posts. The second number is comment karma: points earned when people upvote their comments.
Remember, it’s important to build up your karma before running giveaways, because it’s displayed next to your name. This individual looks more trustworthy with numbers next to their name, and rather than running their own giveaway, they’re sharing others giveaways.
Also, take note of the box in the bottom right corner – it reads 99% upvoted. You’ll look more trustworthy if you get that many upvotes for your giveaway.
We also appreciate that this giveaway is simple to enter, with an attractive Amazon prize. Those giveaways with prizes for well-known brands will ultimately be more popular.
Note: if you’re interested to see more Amazon giveaways, we have an Amazon giveaways guide.
$25 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway key takeaways
- Good engagement within one day of posting the giveaway
- The giveaway holder has “good karma”
- Attractive giveaway prize
Bonus Tip: 7. Rattlesnake Giveaway
This giveaway to win a 10-pack of mixed flex patches has a long title, but it’s very detailed and attractive for that reason. It specifies the retail value of the giveaway prize, and it shows where you have to be located to enter the giveaway.
This giveaway post moderator also has good karma points. The post also saw good user engagement, 100% upvoted with 3 upvotes in 23 hours and 1 comment.
It is also attractive due to clearly showing (in viridian green) that the post is a ViralSweep repost.
This giveaway is held by someone who reposts giveaways rather than running their own, but it’s still a good example of how to organize your giveaway.
You will notice that in r/giveaways or r/sweepstakes, giveaways from big brands are reposted and shared by fans. In contrast, in specific communities, such as r/FashionReps (for replica fashion) you will find specialized giveaways shared by brands for the target audience.
Note: While you should post your giveaway everywhere, you should target communities related to your giveaway prize.
Rattlesnake Giveaway key takeaways
- Detailed title and entry rules within the title
- Clear layout of the giveaway information
- Good user activity in a short amount of time
Are Reddit giveaways effective?
As you can see from the examples, giveaways on Reddit can be really effective. Giveaways will be effective if you follow the guide outlined here. You want to ensure you don’t get banned from the site. You can’t post effective content if you’re found to be breaking Reddit rules.
One of the most common reasons people get banned on Reddit is due to using their accounts to upvote each other’s posts. It’s fine to have more than one account, but this rule says you shouldn’t use them solely to upvote all of your posts.
Reddit was ranked as the 16th most popular social media platform for a reason. Its $10 billion valuation and over 50 million daily active users are a testament to its ability to host successful giveaways.
With that said, we want to help you make your giveaways as effective as possible. Next, we have covered our top tips to help you run a successful Reddit giveaway.
7 Tips for running Reddit giveaways
Here are our 7 tips for running your giveaway on Reddit. We’ll help you to stick to the terms of use, so you don’t get banned.
As noted earlier, shameless plugs can cause you to be shadowbanned on Reddit. In the terms of use, you will notice that Reddit doesn’t specify marketing as a cause for concern. However, spamming is.
Reddit is a finely tuned mechanism with an algorithm driven by its participants. If you shamelessly advertise your product everywhere without care (essentially spamming every feed), the participants will most likely downvote you.
Remember, many downvotes aren’t a good sign – you will get banned or even removed from the platform for doing that.
Make a note to study the etiquette of Reddit (or the Reddiquette) and the dictionary of terms we provided above before creating your first giveaway post.
1. Use the site before posting giveaways
It would help if you aimed to accrue karma before you post your giveaways, that way you’ll look like a trusted platform member. It will also appear like you didn’t join only to post your giveaways.
Aim to comment, upvote and engage with communities that are relevant to those you want to use. Follow all of the subreddits that interest you. While you do this, aim to get upvotes.
Share information that will generate interest and take your karma to a higher level. Sharing something funny or something informative usually does the trick.
Another way to gain karma is to comment on posts in the subreddit r/AskReddit. It’s a very popular hub for activity. Participate in relevant discussions and link to your work when appropriate to attract your people.
All of this combined will help you to increase your rating on Reddit. Starting with good karma and upvotes will ensure your Reddit giveaway is successful.
2. Join relevant subreddits
By joining relevant subreddits (with many participants if you can help it), you will be able to target your target consumer. You want to join communities interested in your promoted product or service.
You’re one step ahead of the game when you join subreddits with a greater potential for attracting your target audience. You can surprise them with the giveaway after interacting with them.
Another tip: check out subreddits such as Deep into YouTube if you want to learn how to promote your YouTube channel on Reddit. Whatever kind of marketing help you’re looking for, enter the keywords in the search bar of Reddit.
Also, apart from the general 8 rules on Reddit, some subreddits also feature special terms. You can find the rules in the right column of each subreddit. You should carefully study their rules and that way you’ll avoid getting banned for making a mistake.
3. Ask the subreddit for permission
It sounds unusual, but you should ask the admins of a subreddit for permission to post your giveaway. Doing this step will put you in good stead with the community’s admin.
Technically, this is also a prerequisite to advertise on Reddit to guarantee you won’t be breaking the rules (spamming rules, that is).
We recommend you message the admins to ask permission to post your giveaway on their page. Neither admins of the community nor its users will tolerate aggressive advertising and spam posts.
To win over the admins:
- Pitch your giveaway in the best way possible.
- Let the user know why your giveaway will benefit their community and share how it might attract more members to their community.
- Aim to specify how you will bring value to their audience group.
Also, take note that links posted by admins naturally gain more traction. To benefit yourself, you could contact the admin and ask them to post your giveaway link – again, let them know what’s in it for them. If possible, offer them an incentive in return.
4. Use dedicated subreddits
To get the most out of Reddit, you should join subreddits that are attractive to your target audience. Getting noticed on the platform is difficult if you’re a new user, so starting small is easier.
Joining a subreddit will allow you to break down your work into smaller chunks or in smaller communities.
For example, in the sidebar on the right of the marketing subreddit, you can find thematic links and “related communities .” You can use this sidebar to explore subsections.
Also, check out what you can find on the main giveaway page. You can find a subreddit dedicated to sweepstakes and PC giveaways.
Tip: if you love PC giveaways, check out our PC giveaways guide.
5. Regularly engage on the platform
The easiest way to get noticed, gaining you more upvotes and karma, is by engaging with the most popular posts, especially those featured on the front page.
Remember that your comment will be upvoted if it’s relevant and useful. You might receive downvotes if you do the opposite. You can ensure your karma stays intact by deleting old posts without comments or upvotes. If downvotes come your way, you can simply delete them. That way, you’ll stop losing karma.
Also, don’t use different accounts to upvote your post. Reddit is very strict about this. Your accounts might get blocked if you use this trick. If you have low karma, that’s nearly certain.
To maximize your chances of standing out as a great Reddit (and trusted) giveaway holder, check the subreddits you’re in (or those you’ve created) daily. This simple task will increase your karma and boost your opportunities to promote yourself.
6. Use Reddit analytic tools
We recommend you check out Reddit analytics tools if you’re taking your marketing to the next level.
These analytic tools will give you insights into Reddit promotion strategies.
Later for Reddit: You can analyze the activity patterns of a specific subreddit with this program. You can learn the best times to publish your posts and schedule them from the app.
Brandwatch Analytics: Using this tool, you can perform deep consumer research to determine the number of your brand mentions and the quality of reactions.
Reddit enhancement: This popular browser extension simplifies your activity. You can easily create posts and comments, expand pictures, and hide your viewed and downvoted posts from here.
Reddit Metrics: This tool, found on Reddit, allows you to track the growth of existing subreddits and discover new ones. It’s pro-level stuff. There is a function that lets you generate a report to find out which subreddits were created and became the best within a day.
Reddit Insight: This tool, also found on Reddit, lets you see how karma is accumulated live. You can view visual graphs, message histories, and user comments using the analytics functions. See the “Post Insights” image below.
7. Ask your friends and fans for help
Following all of the steps to build your Reddit presence, it’s time to run your giveaway. After you’ve generated enough interest in your brand, you’re ready to run to create your first giveaway post.
At this point, you’ll start to bring value to the communities you’re in, and if you message the admins of the communities you’re in before sharing, you won’t be banned from advertising.
Last but not least, ask friends to upvote your post, and if you already have a following, make sure you announce it to them.
For each giveaway post you make, use a different strategy so they don’t all look the same, which might look spammy. It’s also important to generate all kinds of activities for your post, such as comments.
FAQs for running Reddit giveaways
Here are the most talked about questions regarding running Reddit giveaways.
How do I join Reddit?
Creating an account on Reddit is pretty straightforward. All you need to use to sign-up is a username and password, but the email address is only required if you want to verify your account for long-term use.
Generally speaking, using your real name or birth year in your username is discouraged. Personal brands who want to invest a lot of time on the site usually use their real name.
We recommend using your brand name if you have one. It’s important to understand that most people on Reddit remain anonymous, but transparency keeps the platform in check. Admins and moderators scan the room for scammers, so keep your username believable, and maybe don’t use the keyword: giveaways in your title. The only time we recommend you use “giveaways” as part of your title is on a post, comment, or if you create a subreddit.
It’s not against the rules to have more than one account either. Just make sure you’re using them fairly. You could use some “main accounts” and some “throwaway accounts” that are disposable.
After you’ve signed up, you’ll automatically be subscribed to some popular subreddits, but this is the time to subscribe to subreddits you want to be a part of based on your interests. You can subscribe to more subreddits at any time.
What are the benefits for businesses using Reddit?
As highlighted throughout our guide, there are many ways that businesses can benefit from using Reddit. One of those benefits is that you can quickly reach a huge target audience.
It’s possible to grow your audience on Reddit organically and through the use of paid ads. Either way, you can easily connect with potential customers looking for what you offer.
Browsing on various subreddits, you can also learn about popular trends you might not have known about previously. You can start your own subreddit altogether, so you can create the culture of that community.
Redditors trust the platform for information, products and news. Approximately 90% of people who use Reddit for research reportedly trust what they find there more than information on other sites. Reddit is beneficial for research and decision making for both businesses and users.
How can I promote effectively on Reddit?
Ensure you don’t get shadowbanned on Reddit to continue to promote effectively – that is one priority you should get right from the beginning.
As you now know, there’s a subreddit for everything. You could promote your giveaways and brand material in other subreddits, from giveaways to deals.
If you’re running a sale or discount codes, you can share those in communities such as r/deals.
Now we have covered everything for giveaway organizers, we will cover all there is to know for entering Reddit giveaways.
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How to win Reddit giveaways
Find out how to enter Reddit giveaways and win more prizes with our tips in this section of our guide. Let’s start with the basics, so you know how to navigate your way around the site.
Tips for winning Reddit giveaways
If you’ve never used the platform before, it’s worth getting to know the ground rules. To do that, check out Reddit’s support page, or Zendesk, and don’t miss Reddit 101 where you will find technical support.
To save you time and effort, we’ve done some of the hard work for you. Our guide will show you what you need to do right now to get started to win giveaways on Reddit.
How to enter Reddit giveaways?
Reddit giveaways are pretty straightforward to enter. First, you should find all of the giveaways you want to enter via the search bar and various subreddits.
After this step, you will notice that each giveaway has a different method of entry. That’s because each giveaway is held by different hosts and on various platforms.
In other words, Reddit giveaways are unique because they’re all held by various brands or organizations. No two giveaways are alike.
We’ll take you through how to enter a few giveaways as examples.
1. Drop Giveaway shared on r/MechanicalKeyboards
How-to: This giveaway requested its users to comment a reply to the main post and aim for it to become a “top-level comment.” If you only replied to a comment, you wouldn’t have been eligible to win.
Here are the giveaway rules. “In order to enter… please post your favorite breakfast food (or anything at all, a top-level comment is all that’s needed).”
When you comment on a giveaway post to enter it, make sure your entry is unique and fun. There is no limit to the amount you can write, but it’s best to keep things short and sweet.
In general, you should only do what the giveaway host asks you. In other words, don’t add to or subtract from what the giveaway organizer specifies.
You shouldn’t bend the giveaway rules to make sure you don’t get disqualified before you get a chance to win.
For example, if you’re asked to comment about your favorite breakfast food, as with the example above – stick to that.
By sticking to the rules and optimizing your response with something fun, you enhance your chances of winning the giveaway.
The winners of the giveaway above have down-to-earth profiles; one doesn’t even have a profile photo. When it comes to winning a comment-to-win giveaway on Reddit, luck also needs to be on your side!
Bonus tip: To swing luck in your direction, enter these giveaways as late as possible so that your entry is at the top of the comments section.
2. Gadgets Giveaway shared on r/giveaways
How-to: This giveaway contains an external link to Gleam.
When you click on the link, you’re taken to the Gleam site where there are 7 ways to enter. Tip: remember to check out our Gleam guide if you want to learn more about entering Gleam giveaways.
Bonus tip
Reddit giveaways are clearly laid out, so you can guarantee that all of the information you need is provided in the following format.
Check out the above example image. The giveaways are usually outlined like this:
1) Title of the giveaway
2) The date that the giveaway is ending
3) The region where the giveaway is available. Usually labeled as {US}, {UK}, {WW} (worldwide)
You should make note of points 2 and 3 because those will affect your eligibility to enter!
There are 7 ways to enter this giveaway, as found on Gleam:
To maximize your chances of winning these giveaways, you should follow the rules carefully.
Overall, entering these contests hosted via third-party apps are easy! Once you click on the giveaway link, you land on a page with a widget which gives you all the entry options.
The host provides a code on the widget page that allows you more entries; in this case, you get 22 entries. You can quickly and easily get the maximum number of entries like this, so don’t forget to use that code!
Bonus tip: To find out if you won, check out the giveaway link on the closing date as the host will announce winners on the page.
Don’t fret if you don’t manage that – you will receive a notification via the email you signed up with!
3. $500 Walmart Gift Card Giveaway on r/sweepstakes
How-to: here is another giveaway that contains an external link. This time the Reddit user is sharing a link to ViralSweep to win a Walmart gift card.
The link takes you to ViralSweep, where you can “spin to win”. All you have to do is click once to enter and enter your details such as an email address.
These giveaway types are the easiest to enter! All you need to do to enter this giveaway is enter your email address and spin the wheel.
The best way to maximize your chances of winning these giveaways is to follow the rules and check that you’re eligible to enter!
This giveaway is only open to US residents that are 18 and older. The odds of winning a giveaway prize are 1 in 10, with twelve winners in total.
Bonus tip: If you’d like to streamline the giveaway entry process, use a separate email address to your personal one. We recommend you start a new email account specifically for entering giveaways!
As you can see, each Reddit giveaway has its own set of rules. You should check out each giveaway’s rules before entering and ensure you’re eligible to win the prizes.
Do I have to register to use Reddit?
No, you don’t have to register to use Reddit. However, some perks come with registering. If you are an unregistered user, you cannot save any posts or join any groups.
If you’d like to get acquainted with Reddit before registering, you can engage with a subreddit beforehand. You don’t have to register to review all the subreddits that interest you.
Subreddits are like websites, so anyone can view them anytime, with or without registering. You can start browsing now at your leisure.
While it is possible to use Reddit without registering and joining any subreddits, you will notice that it’s easy to forget which groups you like with so many available. It’s a lot easier to register and join groups to save posts while navigating your way around the site.
Registered users get the most out of the site compared to unregistered users.
By registering, you can also commit to jazzing up your profile, getting good karma, and promoting yourself and your websites, if you have any. Overall, you can make your profile more attractive, which could give you an advantage when entering giveaways.
Some giveaways require good karma and upvotes before you can enter them, so it’s a good idea to register for that reason alone.
How can I find a Reddit giveaway?
When Reddit giveaways first started, you would find most free stuff on r/freebies. Nowadays, there’s plenty more to choose from. Reddit has a wide range of categories, aka subreddits, hosting free giveaways that reach a wide audience.
As you’ve seen throughout this guide, there are many communities to join and ways to search for giveaways. We will condense what we’ve discussed so far.
Start by using the search bar. You can type “giveaway” or any other topic of interest plus the term giveaway, for example, “fashion giveaway.”
You can use giveaway specific subreddits, such as r/giveaways or r/sweepstakes. You can also use the search bar within these subreddits, so you can still be specific about what you want to win in these groups.
You can also search for subreddits that are catered to what you want to win, such as PC/giveaways or even a more generic one like r/golf.
With both options, you can search for giveaways on the search bar and the subreddits with “giveaway” in their title will primarily be giveaway posts.
You will find various giveaways in subreddits; each one will rate low to high in popularity.
The difference in popularity is due to the topic, the influencers or company, and the associated promotion. We recommend you enter all of the giveaways, no matter their popularity. The least popular giveaways may mean you’re more likely to win a prize.
See below for our tips about how to find and win more giveaways.
7 tips to win Reddit giveaways
When browsing for giveaways on Reddit, there are steps you should take to find the best that the platform has to offer. Here are our 7 tips for finding Reddit giveaways and maximizing your chances of winning.
1. Create an account
First things first, you want to create an account. Reddit isn’t the easiest platform to navigate or understand. You should take your time getting to know the interface.
Creating an account takes a few minutes, so that’s simple enough. All you need to provide are your email address and a few pieces of personal information.
You can make this part of the process as fun as possible. You could use a fun profile picture and don’t forget to use a catchy username. You can also link your websites (if you have any) underneath your profile photo.
The disadvantage to not creating a Reddit account is losing all of the subreddits you were browsing. You may forget the names of communities you found, so to avoid that, you can subscribe to them with an account instead.
The “home” tab on your Reddit account will save and display your favorite subreddits. By registering, you can save all the giveaways you want to enter on your account.
2. Join giveaway groups
After you create your Reddit account, you’re given the option to subscribe to a subreddit (or community, or group, as they’re also known).
We recommend starting with r/giveaways and r/sweepstakes, as they’re the most popular giveaway hosting subreddits you can find.
From there, get creative and think outside of the box when it comes to finding giveaway subreddits. To do that, search for your favorite topic. Let’s take “steam” as an example if you’re a gaming fan.
Searching for “steam” and giveaways in the search bar brings up the community steam_giveaways. Not only can you find generic giveaway communities, but you can also find communities dedicated to your favorite topics and giveaways in one.
That leads us to our next tip.
3. Join communities of interest
At this point, you could look for any topic that interests you. This personal touch allows you to find exactly what you’re looking for in the communities that excite you the most.
With this tip, don’t worry about finding a community with “giveaway” in its title. Simply search for whatever topic you’re interested in and join that group.
Let’s take replica fashion items, for example. If you’re a fan of fashion, use fashion as a search term on Reddit. Here we found Fashion Reps dedicated to replica designer ware. Whatsmore, they’re frequently hosting giveaways.
If you love reading, another subreddit of interest might be r/freebooks or r/FreeEBOOKS. These are popular groups for people who love reading and scoring books for free.
Let’s look at maximizing your winning results with the most effective way to search on Reddit.
4. Search for prizes you want to win
Another way to maximize your results is not to waste time endlessly scrolling. Use the search bar feature to help you find what you want, and enter the giveaways that interest you.
Search for whatever item you want to win, and try your luck by being specific. For example, “MacBook pro” or “golfing irons” – anything you want to win.
It sounds easy enough, but sometimes it’s more tricky than it seems.
There is no guarantee you’ll get the right results for your search. For example, if you’re searching for a t-shirt, and you search “t-shirt giveaway” in the search bar, you may get some irrelevant stuff.
In that case, you might want to search in a subreddit or group, such as r/freebies, r/AmazonFreebies, or r/giveaways and search “T-shirt giveaway.” That way, you will hopefully find more results and items you would like to win.
5. Check the giveaway rules
Once you’re accustomed to using the platform, we recommend you start saving the giveaways you want to enter. Use the “save” function to save a bunch of giveaways you can enter at once.
When entering Reddit giveaways, it pays to check the rules and know each giveaway’s time limit or eligibility requirements. Checking the rules for each one will maximize your opportunities to win.
The giveaway duration depends on the giveaway holder. To ensure you don’t miss out, note the giveaway expiry date.
There is a smart option to “hide expired” giveaways on the platform. This button will help you to browse efficiently and only view freebies that are currently available.
But if you want to see what past freebies were available, you can use the “show expired” button. Don’t get FOMO while doing that, as plenty of giveaways are still on offer.
Here are some factors to consider when entering a giveaway. You must factor these in when you look for free stuff on Reddit.
- How old do you have to be? Check the age restrictions to enter the giveaway.
- When does the giveaway close? Check out the timeframe to ensure you enter on time.
- Where in the world must you be to enter the giveaway? Check if there are any exclusions.
- Is this giveaway a regular occurrence? Make note if the prizes will be available again.
- How many giveaway items are available? This will affect your chances of winning. The higher the number, the higher the chances you’ll win a prize.
6. Avoid scams
While Reddit giveaways can be awesome, you will find a few fraudulent accounts trying to ruin it for everyone.
If you want to check whether the giveaway is a scam, we recommend you check out the comments section. You will notice Redditors are quick to suss out scams. Also, you can check the credibility of the comment and the number of people commenting.
You might wait before entering the giveaway if there are few comments. You can also ask questions on the giveaway page to determine if the giveaway is trustworthy.
Just because there aren’t many comments on a giveaway doesn’t mean it’s a scam, but use caution. If you can see the distributor’s genuine expression of feelings when responding to others, it’s usually safe to proceed.
7. Use our database
When it comes to winning Reddit giveaways and all things giveaway related, we suggest you start here. Not only do we create giveaway guides like this one to help you win more prizes, but we also have live feeds of giveaways on our website and social media.
You will find the most popular giveaways on Giveaway Listing and more advice and knowledge from us about what it takes to be a pro-Redditor.
Using our Reddit giveaway tips will raise your chances of getting a prize. More so, combining our guides and what you find on our database will maximize your chances of winning.
With all that said, from subreddits and tips to avoid scams, let’s find out your most frequently asked questions about Reddit giveaways.
FAQs for winning a Reddit giveaway
Here are some of the most popular FAQs about entering Reddit giveaways.
How do you get free stuff on Reddit?
Aside from searching for giveaways on Reddit, you should consider searching for free stuff. This free stuff sometimes comes in the form of giveaways but also in contests and coupons, for example.
Whether the freebies are completely free or offer you discounts, you will save money.
In addition to what we’ve covered so far, the top subreddits for free stuff on Reddit are:
- r/KindleFreebies
- r/coupons
- r/Contest
- r/FreeStuff
- r/FREE
- r/freebies
Are giveaways allowed on Reddit?
In short, yes, giveaways are allowed on Reddit, but Reddit’s terms and conditions state that they do not tolerate spamming and fraudulent activity.
If someone is found to be running giveaways but participating against the terms and conditions as laid out by Reddit, they will be banned from the site.
Across the board, companies use Reddit as a marketing tool to promote their products and build brand awareness. Generally, they do that by offering free samples to people or by running promotional giveaways.
Are Reddit giveaways legit?
It’s important to understand if Reddit giveaways are allowed and, ultimately, if they’re safe to enter. As noted above, giveaways are allowed on Reddit, although there are scammers out there you need to be mindful of.
With any luck, Reddit will take down any fraudulent accounts before you’ve had a chance to see them.
You need to be very mindful of the giveaways shared on the platform that contain links to outside sources. The question is whether the external link is legit and whether the giveaway holder is trustworthy.
Where can I find Amazon freebies on Reddit?
You will find free things regularly being given away on Reddit, and some of that will be specific to Amazon.
You will find a multitude of free Amazon stuff listed in Reddit groups and subreddits. Each post about Amazon freebies will be part of its title, from giveaways to discount codes or offers.
We recommend you use Amazon as a search term in the search bar and follow subreddits related to Amazon, for example, r/amazonfreebies.
That leads us to the next frequently asked question about Reddit giveaways. If you don’t know the details about Amazon freebies, we’ve covered it next.
What is r/amazonfreebies?
r/AmazonFreebies is a subreddit community on Reddit which features the current and best Amazon freebies on offer. You will find Amazon giveaways here.
The subreddit was created on May 24, 2013, and has over 4K members. This community was formed to benefit Amazon shoppers looking for free stuff and discounts on Amazon.com.
You will find discounts that Amazon currently has to offer, including discounts on clothes, home appliances, electronics, games, books, and more.
Summary of Reddit giveaways
Whether you’re entering giveaways or holding your own – we hope our guide to Reddit giveaways has satiated your needs.
If you want to know more about winning more giveaway prizes, or how to promote them, we recommend you check back with us at giveawaylisting.com.
You can find a host of Reddit giveaways over on our live feeds, which are updated daily. And remember to check out our social media accounts for more giveaways: Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.
