How it works

The short version

1. Pick a competition. Every one shows the prize, the ticket price, and the total number of tickets that will ever exist.
2. Choose how many tickets you want, up to the per-person cap.
3. Answer one multiple choice question correctly. This is a real condition of entry.
4. Pay, or enter free by post. Both routes go into the same draw.
5. We draw a random number on camera on the published date, or sooner if every ticket sells.

Why there is a question

Under the Gambling Act 2005, a prize draw where you pay to enter and win purely by chance is a lottery, and running one without a licence is a criminal offence. A prize competition is different: it is lawful without a gambling licence when winning depends to a material degree on skill, judgement or knowledge, or when there is a genuinely free route in on equal terms.

We do both. Every competition has a question you must answer correctly, and every competition has a free postal entry route. If you get the question wrong, your entry is not valid and we refund your payment. It is not a formality and we do not wave people through.

How draws are run

When a competition closes, every valid ticket number goes into the draw. We use Google's random number generator with the range set from 1 to the total number of tickets, and we film it from the moment the range is set to the moment the number appears. The video goes on the winners page.

Unsold tickets stay in the draw. That matters, and some sites are vague about it, so to be direct: if a competition does not sell out, the draw still happens on the published date and an unsold number can come out. If it does, the prize rolls into a cash alternative draw among ticket holders. This is set out in full in the terms.

What your odds actually are

One ticket in a 5,000 ticket competition is a 1 in 5,000 chance, and it stays a 1 in 5,000 chance no matter how many other people enter. That is the point of a fixed ticket count. Buying ten tickets makes it 10 in 5,000. There is no bonus, no multiplier and no loyalty tier that changes this.

If you win

• We call and email you on the day of the draw, using the details on your order.
• You have 21 days to respond before we redraw. We will try hard to reach you first.
• Cars and bikes are delivered free to any mainland UK address, or you can collect.
• Where a cash alternative is listed, you can take that instead. It is your choice, not ours.
• We will never ask you to pay a fee, a tax or a "release charge" to collect a prize. Anyone who does is not us.

Entering for free

You can enter any competition by post at no cost, and your entry goes into the same draw with the same odds as a paid ticket. There is no limit on how often you can do it, one entry per postcard. The full method is on the free entry page.