What Is A Competition Website?

What is a competition website/business?

Maybe you’re aware of competition websites or have seen ads for them, but don’t know how it all works or if they’re genuine – or maybe you’re interested in starting one yourself and want to find out more. You might also know them as raffles, skill-based competition sites, giveaway websites and so-on, but the premise is the same.

Competition websites host regular, time-sensitive prize draws that people pay to enter in exchange for a virtual ticket with a unique number. Some sites might also require you to correctly answer a question when you purchase a ticket. Using a random number generator, the winning ticket numbers are announced when the competition ends, typically via a live-streamed video draw on the company’s social media pages.

Are they trustworthy?

Competition websites provide a fair, legitimate chance for people to win phenomenal prizes, from big-name tech bundles and tax-free cash to cars, holidays and beyond. With these draws often having ticket prices for as low as 99p, you might be wondering if it’s too good to be true.

Fortunately, it’s relatively easy to assess the legitimacy of these kinds of sites. Here’s four questions to ask when using a new competition platform or some things to consider if you’re thinking about starting your own:

• Do they have a positive presence on Trustpilot.com?
• Can you easily find their contact details?
• Do they have active, up-to-date social media pages?
• Do they openly display their customer reviews?

Additionally, competition companies wanting to promote their draws on social media sites have to obtain something called an RMG (Online Real Money Gaming) licence. In short, this is a form of special permission from Facebook and Instagram that confirms if a competition site is compliant with UK gambling laws and the platforms’ own guidelines.

If the site attempts to promote their draws without holding an RMG licence, they’re promptly found out and banned from posting as this is a breach of Meta’s rules & puts their users’ online safety at risk.

Check out our article here for more information on RMG licences, the application process and how we can help.