If you read my post about entering giveaways this is just a extension of that post.
When I first started entering giveaways in November 2010 the Rafflecopter (a way to enter giveaways) was not invented yet, so to enter you had to leave comments for each entry. This method was time consuming for both parties. When the Rafflecopter was invented it made it easier to enter and easier to keep up with entries. Rafflecopter has lots of great benefits, you can launch giveaways in minutes, pick a winner quickly, and checking for cheaters is easier.
But, there is one problem I have with Rafflecopter, they seem to think if someone enters from the same IP Address that is cheating. I don't think that is always the case. There can be many people living in a house with a router and limiting entries to per house is not fair. If someone has there own identity which means their own email, Twitter, and FB that is not cheating. I have read on Rafflecopter's page about people living in the same house but having totally different blogs, emails, and other accounts but do not have a different IP. What about people that enter on public computers? This is unlikely but it is possible. So just because you see the same IP DOES NOT mean the person is cheating. I think other things need to be considered.
I know for me personally we have a router with 5 computers, my husband sometimes likes to enter giveaways and he doesn't tell me what he enters just like I do not tell him every giveaway I enter so it might show up under the same IP but we are two totally different people with different accounts.
I have NEVER cheated on any giveaway because I do not want to be known as the cheater since I enter alot I do not want to to mess that up.
I would hope that if a blogger thinks someone is cheating due to the IP Address being the same they would actually ask the person entering or look at the entries and if they have their own email, Twitter and other accounts they take that in consideration. I have talked to some bloggers about this and some of them are ok with my husband and I entering the same giveaways but some are not. I don't know how I am suppose to know if they are ok with it or not.
Another issue with Rafflecopter is the Tweet per day entry. Most of them will not even allow it but every day but some will allow it more. My problem is without seeing the exact time I entered I don't know when I tweeted exactly. Plus I do not do it at exactly the same time each day. So I might tweet at 10am one day but the next day it might be at 5am so it would be like 18 hrs apart but on different day. Twitter is not going to allow you to tweet the same tweet more than once a day anyway. So I don't think that is cheating either.
As a person that enters ALOT of giveaways I can not keep up with everything so I rely on the rafflecopter to keep up with it for me which is a benefit as long as the blogger has set it up correctly. I would hate to think someone thought I cheated because I work really hard entering giveaways, I don't use a bunch of different names or emails and I try to follow the rules. If I do make a mistake or miss something I will contact the blogger and let them know. I believe the for the most part everyone does the right thing.
A word of advise to bloggers that post giveaways is don't assume someone is trying to cheat just because of what they see on Rafflecopter, someone will just end up with hurt feelings. Ask the person doing the entries or check into it a little first. Things are not always what the seem and you might not know the situation.
I would love to hear others opinion about this issue, both from bloggers that enter and bloggers that post giveaways.
