Prize Bonds

Degag

Anyone have them or has anyone won anything on them? Thinking of buying some just for the sheer novelty of it.

tony007

I once won a lucky bag.

I got 50 quid a few weeks ago.

3ndahalfof6

I have 6 for the last 25 yrs, not a jot, nado, squat, tupence, zilto, nope nothing.

12gauge dave

Youll need around 25,000 euro worth to be winning anything reguraly but at that rate ur aswell to have in a high interest account.
Theres a thread on boards about this i think.

I personally had 3000euro in for 6months didnt win anything

I now have 225euro worth for over a year and have won nothing

Tisserand

I bought 100 euro worth in 2001. Won 50 euro a while back, first time ever. My niece won 75 euro back in the summer and coincidentally my nephew in a different part of the country won 75 the same week. Somebody had given their parents a few bonds each for them when they were born. So it is possible to win even if you only have a few.

kowloon

How do they compare with the Lotto as an investment?

Technoprisoner

here is a good read for you http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=72650993

Seachmall

kowloon wrote: »

How do they compare with the Lotto as an investment?

From what I understand they're infinitely better.

kowloon

Seachmall wrote: »

From what I understand they're infinitely better.

Really? I've always considered the lotto as the yardstick method of losing all your money, but I never considered Prize Bonds as anything other than a gift idea along the same lines as a strip of scratch cards.

Peregrine

I've had 200 euro in it for 3 years, got nothing so far

HeidiHeidi

kowloon wrote: »

Really? I've always considered the lotto as the yardstick method of losing all your money, but I never considered Prize Bonds as anything other than a gift idea along the same lines as a strip of scratch cards.

The difference is that when you've scratched the cards and won nothing (surprise surprise) you can't hand them back to the shop and ask for your money back.

With prize bonds you can

They'll cost you the rate of inflation for whatever length of time you keep them. Plus whatever interest you could have earned in a bank etc. But you can write both off against whatever prizes you win along the way (my brother won 15 grand a lot of years ago, the lucky sod).

cold case

A strip of scratch cards as a gift, once scratched, if you win nothing is now worthless.

The prize bonds are entered in the draw every week, and can be cashed at any stage if preferred.

Seachmall

kowloon wrote: »

Really? I've always considered the lotto as the yardstick method of losing all your money, but I never considered Prize Bonds as anything other than a gift idea along the same lines as a strip of scratch cards.

Well you can sell them back for what you bought them for so you can't lose your initial investment, and you can win money.

Whereas with the Lotto you're so unlikely to win that every ticket you buy you're losing money.

caycro

The percentage paid out has been reduced from about 3.5% to about 2% so expect to get even less 'winners' cheques in the post in the future.

dxhound2005

The draw appears every Friday at 12.30pm.

http://www.prizebonds.ie/livedraw/drawresults.asp?0

A few things to understand. There is only one big prize every week, €20,000 or on the last Friday of the month €1,000,000. Out of the 9000 odd prizes the vast majority are €50 (was €75 until a recent restructuring).

Dublin and Cork between them get around half of the prizes every week. Other counties are within a certain range e.g. Louth is 120 to 140. Every serial letter group is represented but since a lot of the older ones have been redeemed there is a preponderance of the newer ones. An examination of the winners shows that someone could hold €1m or more and win nothing on a particular week whereas someone with a few hundred could win twice. I think that this proves the draw is random.

I'm lucky enough to have a substantial holding for the last few years as a sort of experiment. On average I would win €50 (was €75) three times a month. I won €1000 once about three years ago. Overall the return is probably about 75% of what I could have earned on other State Savings products like Savings Certificates.

The odds of a single bond winning the top prize are probably a lot longer than a single line on the Lotto winning the jackpot.

Larianne

My mother bought us for kids an amount each for Christmas a few years back. I haven't won a penny. My brother has won 3 times! Last time won €75, the fecker! :mad:

3ndahalfof6

Larianne wrote: »

My mother bought us for kids an amount each for Christmas a few years back. I haven't won a penny. My brother has won 3 times! Last time won €75, the fecker! :mad:

Swap, swap, swap, say nothing till you hear more.;)

Larianne

3ndahalfof6 wrote: »

Swap, swap, swap, say nothing till you hear more.;)

I'm guessing our names and addresses are registered as he got his winnings in the post. :mad:

Turtyturd

caycro wrote: »

The percentage paid out has been reduced from about 3.5% to about 2% so expect to get even less 'winners' cheques in the post in the future.

I have won nothing since the late 80's (had some bought for me as a kid)....do I have to start paying them money now?

3ndahalfof6

Larianne wrote: »

I'm guessing our names and addresses are registered as he got his winnings in the post. :mad:

You need to move his ass outa that house and move in, as he is leaving tell him you luub him, then focus on the post.:)

Speedsie

My grandmother insisted that my mother buy some Prize Bonds in 1965 as a way of saving money.

Over a couple of years she bought 30 pounds worth of prize bonds. She earned 8 pounds a week at the time. So, it was a substantial investment.

She still has them, and has NEVER won anything. Ever.

Larianne

3ndahalfof6 wrote: »

You need to move his ass outa that house and move in, as he is leaving tell him you luub him, then focus on the post.:)

Well he IS currently abroad... hmmm.....

3ndahalfof6

Speedsie wrote: »

My grandmother insisted that my mother buy some Prize Bonds in 1965 as a way of saving money.

Over a couple of years she bought 30 pounds worth of prize bonds. She earned 8 pounds a week at the time. So, it was a substantial investment.

She still has them, and has NEVER won anything. Ever.

If you get the prize bond numbers and input them into the database you could check for unclaimed prizes, if she moved address this would come into play.

3ndahalfof6

Larianne wrote: »

Well he IS currently abroad... hmmm.....

Do it ninja style.:D

Speedsie

3ndahalfof6 wrote: »

If you get the prize bond numbers and input them into the database you could check for unclaimed prizes, if she moved address this would come into play.

I did this a couple of years ago and registered with the Bond Tracker online. Nowt!!!!

She's only moved house once (in 1970) when she married my dad.

Anyone else interested in using the tracker, the link is here:-
www.prizebonds.ie

Degag

I must ask my mother if she has any actually. I have a vague memory of her saying she got some for some celebration years ago. Have never moved home though, so probably pointless as would have been sent the cheque.

For Forks Sake

Had some for years since I was a kid, never won a cent on them

When my daughter was born, a family member got her some as a present, within a month she'd won 100. Poxy kid.

Darkglasses

I've had about a thousand euro in Prize bonds for 12 months now, haven't won anything yet.

petersburg2002

I got €3000 worth a few years ago. I won €75 twice in the first 3 months. But nothing since.