Is iPodSweepstakes a Scam?

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iPodSweepstakes.com was started by a company called Gulfstream Internet Group, which is run by Philip Nadel and William Diamond out of Boca Raton, Fl.

The website gives away a free Apple iPod® daily to one person. They also have an exclusive Win It or Earn It feature, where every member has the chance to get a free iPod® even if they don't win in the daily sweepstakes. The options range from an iPod Shuffle, or an iTunes Gift Card, all the way up to an iPod Touch.

Yeah, it sounds too good to be true, right? Well, it's not. I have earned my very own iPod Shuffle from iPodSweepstakes.com!

Keep reading for my experiences with the site.

There are two ways you can get an iPod, and I'll explain both methods below.

The first way you can get an iPod is to earn one.

On your Personal Page at iPodSweepstakes.com, there are two long columns of ads. Each ad will have a small note next to it, letting you know what the requirements are for that offer, and how many points you'll earn if you complete that offer.

Most offers are totally free and give small amounts of points simply for signing up for a mailing list, or completing a short consumer survey. Other offers will give you even more pod points for signing up for a free trial of something. Yet others will give you loads of points if you subscribe to something, or buy something.

Offers can consist of entering a sweepstakes, requesting free info about a product, printing a coupon, trying new products and services, signing up for mailing lists, setting an appointment for consultation of some sort, and more.

If you're familiar with GPT sites, iPodSweepstakes.com is pretty much the same type of thing, except instead of spare change, you get points towards your very own iPod.

When you click any of the ads on your iPodSweepstakes.com Personal Page, a new window will open at the sponsor site. After you've completed the requirements of that specific offer, you can close the page. Remember to confirm your email if required.

The other way to get an iPod, is to win one.

Back on your Personal Page at iPodSweepstakes.com, each time you click an ad, it will open in a new window (or tab if you have it set that way in your browser). After a second or two, you'll notice that your personal page will refresh. When it does that, you've been credited with one entry into that day's sweepstakes. You can then close the ad, unless you're planing to complete that offer.

Yup it's that easy. I can spend about 15 minutes, and click through them while I'm watching a tv show, and get 60 to 80 entries. I'm not concerned too much with what the ads are, because when I feel like completing offers, I can go back and look at each one individually. Just because you click an ad for a iPodSweepstakes.com entry, does not exclude you from completing that same offer at a later day, (unless the offer expires).

Now that you've entered into the daily drawing, you can just sit back and wait for you email of the daily drawing results. The more ads you click in a day, the more entries you will have in that day's drawing.

Most of the time, iPodSweepstakes.com credit your points within a day or sooner of completing an offer. Sometimes, however, it can take a while. Don't pull your hair out, give it a little time. After being on the site for a while, you'll get to know which types of offers will credit quickly, and which kinds take several days every time. Any offers done on the weekend, might take until the following Monday to credit.

If, for whatever reason, iPodSweepstakes.com does not credit your points for an offer that you have completed, just shoot them a support ticket about the issue. In a year and a half, I've only had to do that twice, and both times they were really cool about it.

Here's one of the replies I received about this type of situation. After I replied back with the proper confirmation info, my account was credited almost immediately.

Mike,

We always want to make sure that you get credited with the Pod Points that you have earned. Please attach the actual confirmation email(s)/welcome letter(s) that you received from the advertiser(s) upon fulfilling the ad(s) to helpdesk@iPodSweepstakes.com, and we will make sure that your iPod account gets credited the Pod Points that you have earned.

Thank you,
iPod Support

How many points you need to earn at iPodSweepstakes.com, totally depends on what kind of iPod you want (or how impatient you are).

Yup, they give you a choice, and they even update the models so you aren't stuck with last decade's ugly old granny iPods. You'll get a nice new shiny modern iPod.

Here's what you'll need to get what you want.

800 Pod Points to get a free 1GB iPod Shuffle
1000 Pod Points to get a free $75 iTunes Gift Card!
1500 Pod Points to get a free 2GB iPod Shuffle!
2000 Pod Points to get a free iPod Nano!
3000 Pod Points to get a free iPod Classic or 8GB iPhone!
4000 Pod Points to get a free iPod Touch!

OK, when I first signed up with iPodSweepstakes.com around September of 07, I was very skeptical, and didn't really think this was going to pay out at all. I had seen some articles on the web, but they were written like an advertisement, and didn't offer any real content.

I didn't really pay the site much mind, and clicked a few offers here and there. Several weeks went by when I didn't click anything at all.

Eventually, I started to get into it, and made it a daily habit for a while. Even on the days that I didn't have time to complete an offer or two, I would click a few ads so that I would be entered into that day's drawing.

In December, our daughter was born, and everything in our lives shifted. Many of our interests were put on hold for our new arrival, including my interest in this site.

Fast forward nearly a year and a half, to May of 09.

I find myself working the greatest job I've ever had. I get to be a stay at home dad, and raise my little girl. After a few months in our new place, I decided that I would try to earn a little money from home, so I went back online and started to research my opportunities.

Well, for whatever reason, I was drawn back to iPodSweepstakes.com

Surely my old account wasn't still active, was it?

YES!! Hooray!

In anxious anticipation, I waited for my Personal Page to load. I was certain that my points had expired, or the price had gone up, or some other fate that would prevent me from getting an iPod.

Well, lo and behold, all of my points were there, and I was ONLY 17 POINTS FROM AN iPod!!

Could that be right? I was certain that I was several hundred points away when I last logged in Why would I leave it at such a close margin? I mean, 17 points is really easy to get!

I was actually skeptical again. I thought that it was almost too good to be true, and that this was just another way to sucker me in. So, I wrote them a support ticket. In it, I asked them if, after being inactive for so long, my points were still good.

Here's what they said:

Mike,

You can absolutely continue with your existing account. We never delete anyone's account. The only thing that may happen from inactivity is that you get unsubscribed from our daily emails.

Thank you,
iPod Support

Now I was REALLY excited!

I quickly went and completed 17 points worth of free offers, and redeemed my 800 points.

Several days later, I received word that my order had been received and that it was being processed. They said that it would take 6 to 8 weeks.

I was really elated. I was still pretty skeptical, but I was jumping up and down on the inside.

Yesterday, I received an email that my iPod was ready to ship. It was shipped through Amazon, and Today it came in the mail!

Below are some pictures of my new iPod. I've also included a photo of the bill of lading that was included with the iPod. That shows that the billing address is for Philip Nadel in Boca Raton Florida, and he is the president of iPodSweepstakes.com. For those that are REALLY skeptical; here is a link to a Google map of the billing address on the shipping paper that came with my iPod. Check out the list of businesses that are at that address, and you'll see Gulfstream Internet Group.

Well, I hope you enjoyed reading about my experiences with iPodSweepstakes.com, and I really hope I've set your mind at ease about the scam issue. The gavel has dropped, the fat lady has sung, the curtain is closing on this myth:
iPodSweepstakes.com is not a scam.

Thank you very much.

It's really easy to earn your own iPod. If I can do it, anyone can do it.

So sign up today, and go check it out. You won't regret it.

Click here to sign up!

There. It's final. I have an iPod in my hands. An iPod that I earned from iPodsweepstakes.com. Pretty darn cool, if you ask me.

I think that anyone who has a minute or two a day, to log in and click on an ad, should sign up, and throw their hat in the ring for a daily iPod.

If you have the time, I highly recommend completing an offer or two. You'll have your iPod in no time.

Think I'm done with the site now that I have my iPod? Heck no! I'm working on getting the $75 iTunes Gift Card. That will really be cool!