Have a question? Have a look around here to see if you can find an answer. Still no answer? Ask any question by filling out the form below!

1. Why is my comment in moderation?
2. What is the catch? When do I have to buy something?
3. What are participation points and what can I do with them?
4. How do I know how many points I have for a given giveaway?
5. How come I didn’t get my facebook and/or twitter bonus entries?
6. I didn’t get an email confirming my entry into a giveaway after it closed?
7. I want to sponsor a prize with you guys but what do I get out of it?
8. Why do I have to use my real name?
9. Why can’t I register and create my own screen name?
10. Why can’t I enter if I am from Quebec?
11. How do you pick your winners? If I gave you $100 can you make sure I come out the winner?
12. You guys are really awesome, how can I help?

Why is my comment in moderation?
All comments must first be screened to determine if they are valid entries into the giveaway. Generally that can take up to 24 hours. If your comment is still in moderation beyond 24 hours than it is likely that your comment falls under one of these categories:

1. You didn’t leave your full name or your real name
2. You didn’t answer the question that you were supposed to in order to get your entry point
3. You already left a comment that was approved (put all your info into one comment please)
4. You don’t have sufficient participation points to participate in that giveaway (this applies only to quick giveaways and grand prize giveaways)

What is the catch? When do I have to buy something?
Honestly there is no catch. Our source of revenue comes from two places: advertising and sponsoring. Your contribution to this site is made simply by visiting and participating. The more people that visit the more businesses will want to sponsor and advertise here. It’s that simple. You will never have to buy anything from us.

What are participation points and what can I do with them?
Every time you earn an entry point into a giveaway it turns into a participation point at the end of the giveaway. We hold quick giveaways and grand giveaways that are only eligible to those that have earned enough participation points. Also, this hasn’t been unveiled yet, but we will be rewarding our participants with automatic gifts once they reach a certain number of participation points. Just our way of saying thank you for sticking around and helping us grow. More details on participation points here.

How do I know how many points I have for a given giveaway?
At the end of each giveaway we add up all the entries and send out emails to all participants with a summary of how many entry points they received and how many participation points have been accumulated to date. These emails go out within 24 hours after the contest closes and you will have approximately 12 hours to respond to dispute any missed entry points.

How come I didn’t get my facebook and/or twitter bonus entries?
When it comes to facebook and twitter we are pretty lenient when it comes to accepting entries from participants that don’t follow our rules, however, when twitter entries do not include @givingitaway we CAN’T SEE them and therefore can’t award any points. Also facebook comments that do not include a link (i.e. simply typing in “http://www.givingitaway.ca”) somewhere in the post then no points are awarded.

Other than that it could be that we missed it, sometimes it happens with computer programs spanning various social media, just send us an email and a link to your post/tweet and we’ll get you your bonus entries.

I didn’t get an email confirming my entry into a giveaway after it closed?
First check your junk mail and be sure to add support@givingitaway.ca to your safe list. Then check the website and see if your comment has been approved and is not sitting in moderation. If your comment has been approved and our email isn’t in your junk mail then send us an email. DO NOT send an email to us before 24 hours after the giveaway has closed because we may not have tabulated all the entries.

I want to sponsor a prize with you guys but what do I get out of it?
There are tonnes of benefits that you will receive by sponsoring us! First and foremost you’ll get direct traffic from our community to your site. By sponsoring us we will require all participants to visit your site before they get entered into the giveaway you sponsor.

Secondly, you’ll get three permanent links on this site (two in the main giveaway text) and one in our sidebar. This will help you in bringing in new visitors after your giveaway has expired and will also help in your sites search engine ranking.

Thirdly, you will be featured in our monthly newsletter that goes out to many of our participants.

And lastly (and perhaps most important), you increase the public image of your business/product by being so awesome and giving people the chance to win something really cool for free!

More information is given on our advertising and sponsor page here.

Why do I have to use my real name? Any way around this?
We need your real name because if you win we require you to present to us a valid piece of photo identification. The name you use on this site must match up with your ID. If you do not wish to use your real name just send us and email, let us know your name and we’ll give you an alias. Problemo solved!

Why can’t I register and create my own screen name?
In the future we might go in this direction, but for now we want to keep our site as easy to use and enter as possible. By requiring new participants to register we feel at this point it might turn people away more than it will attract them.

Why can’t I enter if I am from Quebec?
You can blame the local laws of your home province for that one. The provincial government makes us jump through so many hoops that at the end of the day it is much more trouble (and lawyer fees) than it is worth. Don’t be too discouraged, once we get bigger we really want our giveaways to be global and Quebec will be the first addition once we expand geographically.

How do you pick your winners? If I gave you $100 can you make sure I come out the winner?
Unfortunately (for you) we do not accept bribes and all our draws are handled by a third party draw service. At the end of each giveaway we submit our entries to them and they randomly select a winner from that list. Unlike most online giveaways we don’t use the free random number generator from random.org. Everybody knows that you can keep pressing the “generate” button until you get the number you want and post it as the winner.

You guys are really awesome, how can I help?
Thanks! All we can really say is to keep on spreading the word of this site to everyone you know! Facebook, twitter, digg, stumbleupon, friends, neighbours, strangers, write on bathroom stall doors, anything! That is the best help we can get from you guys and it is because of this that we are successful!