Here's the latest from their site. If you thought it was confusing before, don't bother now (*4* different kinds of points, double & triple clicks, some are entries, some disappear every day, bleah...)
No answer yet on what people w/ less than $25 in their account should do.
Getting Points
You will automatically earn points each time you click on a link and for each dollar you spend making a purchase on the site (not including shipping, gift wrapping). Each point gives you one entry into the sweepstakes drawing. Each link on the site will have two numbers next to it, the first number will be points for surfing and the second number will be points for each dollar spent on a purchase. It will look like this:
exampleonlinestore.com 15 100
All points collected from clicking on links will be reflected on the clicker ticker on the top of your screen. All points collected from purchases made will reflected on the clicker ticker when the purchase has been validated through PointClick. (Expect a two to five day delay.)
You can also get points for each of the daily, monthly and quarterly sweepstakes by mail.
A member may accrue up to 1000 points per 24-hour period from surfing, beginning at 12:00 a.m. Mountain Time.
Each link will give a member one set of entries per 24-hour period beginning at 12:00 a.m. Mountain Time. For example: exampleonlinestore.com 15 100 - provides 15 points per 24-hour period for clicking on the link and provides unlimited entries for purchases made on the site.
From time to time links will provide double, triple, quadruple, etc. the value of the entries for an unspecified period of time. For example: exampleonlinestore.com 15 DOUBLE 100 TRIPLE - provides 30 points a click and 300 points per dollar purchased.
Viewing Your Entries
As you click from page to page, the clicker ticker will automatically update to reflect the new points you have collected towards the daily, monthly, and quarterly Sweepstakes drawings. When you make a purchase and validate your purchase through PointClick the clicker ticker will reflect the points you've received. (Expect a two to five day delay.) From time to time links will provide multiple entries for clicking and purchasing on sites. You may also get entries in each of the sweepstakes using the alternative "mail-in" method of entry. As a result, the points in your clicker ticker may not be the same as your total number of points, including regular points, purchasing points, multiple points and offline points. We've hired an independent sweepstakes execution company to help us make sure that all of your points - online or off - get counted in each sweepstakes drawing.
We sometimes provide host sites with the ability to provide points to their customers on their site to be used in the Shopping Network sweepstakes. Click on the Shopping Home link to get back to the shopping home page that displays your clicker ticker to view any points you may have accrued on a host site. These points will be included on the daily, monthly, and quarterly sections of your clicker ticker.
At 12:00 a.m. Mountain Time each day, your daily points will reset to zero. Don't worry. Your points for the previous day did not disappear - they were transferred to an independent sweepstakes execution company for the daily sweepstakes drawing and points into the monthly and quarterly sweepstakes drawing.
Similarly, at the end of each month and each quarter your number of points in each of these sweepstake drawings will reset to zero. Again, these points have not disappeared; they have just been transferred to an independent sweepstakes execution company for the monthly and quarterly prize drawings, respectively.
Entry Limits
No entry limit exists for the sweepstake drawings. Each link will give you one set of points per 24 hours. Points accrued for purchases are limited only by your purchasing, the more you buy the more points you get.
Odds of Winning
The more points you get, the greater your chances of winning.
To be eligible to win, you should only have one account on the Shopping Network. If you have signed up with the Shopping Network at home, at work, or anywhere else, you should not register again in a different place. Instead, you should click on any link labeled "Sign in." You will then be asked for your member name and password.
Odds of winning in each of the daily, monthly, and quarterly prizes will vary depending upon the number of points you collect and overall membership, site usage, and offline points.
Prizes and Prize Give-away
Each daily sweepstakes winner will be able to select one of various prizes displayed on the daily sweepstakes prize page. These prizes have a retail value of approximately $5,000.
Each monthly sweepstakes prizes will be given away on or around the first business day of the month starting November 1, 2000. The $50,000 monthly prize will be given away to one lucky winner each month and will be paid out in one lump sum.
Each quarterly sweepstakes prize will be given away on or around the first business day of the quarter starting January 1, 2001. The $100,000 quarterly prize will be given away to one lucky winner each quarter and will be paid out in one lump sum.
Each winner will be notified by e-mail or by the United States Postal Service of winning the sweepstakes within five (5) business days after the sweepstakes drawing. A winner must claim the prize by e-mail or by the United States Postal Service within 10 business days of the sweepstakes drawing.
Winner Selection Process
Each day a winner of the daily sweepstakes will be chosen at random from all points collected during the previous day. The winner will select the prize of their choice from one of the various prizes displayed on the daily sweepstakes prize page. (For purposes of the sweepstakes, each day starts at 12:00 a.m. Mountain Time and ends at 11:59 p.m. Mountain Time.)
Around the first business day of the month during the Sweepstakes period, a monthly prizes winner will be chosen at random from all points collected from 12:00 a.m. Mountain Time on the first day of the previous month through 11:59 p.m. Mountain Time on the last day of the previous month.
Around the first business day of the quarter starting January 2001, the quarterly prize winner will be chosen at random from all points collected from 12:00 a.m. Mountain Time on the first day of the previous quarter through 11:59 p.m. Mountain Time on the last day of the previous quarter.
Odds of winning in each of the daily, monthly, and quarterly sweepstake drawings will vary depending upon the number of points you have collected (both online and offline), and the number of points collected by other participants in the Sweepstakes.
The more points you have in connection with each daily, monthly, and quarterly sweepstakes, the greater your chances of winning.
Winner Announcement
Each daily sweepstakes winner will be announced on the shopping web site approximately 7 days after being selected.
Each monthly $50,000 sweepstakes winner will be announced on the shopping web site approximately 7 days after being selected.
Each quarterly $100,000 sweepstakes winner will be announced on the shopping web site approximately 7 days after being selected.
All announced winners are featured on the winners web page section.