In the UK, a paid prize competition is lawful (and not an unlicensed lottery) only if it either requires genuine skill, knowledge or judgement to enter (for example, a question that meaningfully limits who can take part), or offers a real free entry route into the same draw on equal terms. That's why you'll almost always see a multiple-choice question and a "free postal entry" option. We cover the legal side in detail in our guide on whether UK prize competitions are legal. (This page is general information, not legal advice.)
What a prize competition is
A prize competition is a paid contest where you buy one or more tickets for the chance to win a specific prize, typically a car, a cash sum, a holiday, tech or a house. Unlike a high-street raffle or the National Lottery, these are usually run by independent operators on their own websites, with a new prize launching every few days.
How entry works
There are usually three steps, and they're the same on most sites.
Buy a ticket (or several)
You pick how many entries you want and pay by card or wallet. Each ticket is one chance in the draw. Many sites cap how many entries any one person can buy.
Answer the question
To qualify, you answer a skill question, usually multiple choice. This is the "competition" element that keeps the contest lawful as a skill-based prize competition rather than a lottery. Get it wrong and your entry is normally void, so read it carefully.
Or take the free route
Every compliant operator must offer a genuine free way in, usually a postcard sent to a stated UK address, that goes into the same draw, for the same prize, on equal terms. It must be a real alternative, not a token gesture. Our free postal entry guide explains how to use it.
Once you've entered, your ticket numbers are recorded and you wait for the draw.
How the draw happens
When the competition closes, the operator selects a winning ticket at random. Reputable operators use a method you can independently verify, such as a certified random number generator, and many livestream the draw on Facebook or YouTube so entrants can watch the number being generated in real time. Bear in mind that a livestream is not proof of fairness on its own: an on-screen "random" tool can be set up or edited to land on a pre-chosen number, so what matters is an independently verifiable method, not the show around it.
The closing date and time are set in advance and published before you enter. After the draw, a trustworthy operator announces the winning ticket number, contacts the winner, and publishes evidence: a photo, a video, or named confirmation that a real person collected a real prize. If a site runs draws but never shows any winners, that's a warning sign worth heeding.
Ticket caps and selling out
Most competitions have a ticket cap: a fixed maximum number of tickets that can ever be sold. The cap is the single most important number for understanding your real chances, because it sets the worst-case (and most likely) odds: one in the total number of tickets.
Here's the catch that trips up newcomers. The "current odds" a site shows reflect only the tickets sold so far. Early in a competition that figure looks flattering (perhaps 1 in 200) but most competitions sell many more tickets before they close. The realistic figure is the odds if every ticket sells: the cap. If the cap is 10,000, your true odds with one ticket are closer to 1 in 10,000, not the 1 in 200 on screen today. Always treat current odds as provisional. Our guide on how competition odds work walks through this in full.
What happens if it doesn't sell out
Not every competition reaches its cap before closing. What happens next varies by operator, and this is a genuine risk to check in the terms before you enter. The common outcomes are:
Draw anyway
The operator runs the draw on the closing date regardless of how many tickets sold. This is good for you: fewer entries means better odds than the cap implied.
Extend the closing date
The operator pushes the deadline back to sell more tickets. Some terms allow this to happen repeatedly, which can leave your entry in limbo. The right to extend indefinitely is one of the clauses we flag in our guide to hostile terms and conditions.
Switch to a cash alternative
If too few tickets sell to cover the prize, some operators draw a winner but award a smaller cash sum instead of the headline item. The terms should say exactly how that figure is calculated.
None of these is automatically unfair, but you should know which one applies before you spend, because they affect both your odds and what you can actually win.
The cash alternative
Many competitions offer a cash alternative: instead of taking the car or the holiday, the winner can choose a cash sum. This matters for two reasons. First, it's a useful escape hatch if the physical prize doesn't suit you. Second, and this is the honest part, the cash alternative is usually the true value of the prize, because it's what the operator is genuinely willing to pay out. A "£40,000 car" with a £30,000 cash alternative is, realistically, a £30,000 prize. Because of this, CompWatch treats a cash alternative set below the advertised prize value as a hostile clause and marks the operator down for it, as explained in our guide to hostile terms and conditions.
That's the figure to use when you're weighing up whether an entry is worth it. The rough sum is: prize value divided by the total number of entries (use the cap, not today's sales), minus the ticket price. Using the cash alternative keeps that calculation honest. Be warned: on most paid competitions the result is still slightly negative. Entering costs a little more, on average, than you'd expect to win back. That's normal, and worth entering with eyes open. (None of this is investment advice.)
Instant wins versus end-of-competition draws
Two formats sit side by side on many sites, and it's worth knowing the difference:
- End-of-competition draw. The main prize is drawn once, after the competition closes. Everyone with a valid entry waits for the single closing-date draw described above.
- Instant or auto wins. Some tickets are pre-loaded with smaller prizes that you find out about the moment you buy: a "reveal" that tells you instantly whether that ticket holds a cash boost, a gadget or nothing. These run alongside the main draw, so a ticket can win an instant prize and still go into the end draw.
Instant wins add excitement, but the main prize is still decided by the end draw. When you compare competitions, focus on the headline prize, the ticket cap and the cash alternative. Those are what determine genuine value.
Where CompWatch fits in
CompWatch is a free, independent directory that tracks the moving parts above across the 418 sites we follow, so you don't have to piece them together yourself. For each competition we show:
- The ticket price and how many tickets have sold against the cap.
- Both the current odds and the realistic "if sold out" odds.
- The closing date and time, so you know when the draw lands.
- The cash alternative, where one is offered.
- A per-site trust grade, scored on weighted indicators and company longevity.
Each site is scored against weighted trust indicators and given a letter grade, so you can see at a glance how an operator stacks up:
You can browse every live competition on the competitions page, see how the whole thing works on our how it works page, and, if you decide to play, do so within your budget. Prize competitions are entertainment, not income; our play responsibly page is there if you ever want it.
See it for yourself
Browse live UK competitions with the ticket price, realistic if-sold-out odds, closing time, cash alternative and a per-site trust grade, all in one place.
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