What Is an Online Competition Business?
Over the past decade, a lot of entertainment and leisure has made their way onto the internet. It started off as online gaming, but now we can buy lottery tickets and enter a variety of competitions on the internet. A great example of this is online raffle competitions. This is a great way to spread the word about a cause, raise funds, or even just start a business. Selling tickets online to win a prize is nothing special, but creating an online competition business has never been simpler.

What is an online competition business?
Let’s start simple; what exactly is an online competition business?
In most cases, an online competition business involves running online competitions. These typically make use of tickets and raffles, but there are a number of different ways for people to get entered into these draws. The prizes can be something simple like a gift card, but they can also be something expensive like a vehicle or even a house. The prize itself is completely up to you, but the way the competition is set up typically needs to have some structure.
Are there rules for online competition businesses?
The
Gambling Commission doesn’t help businesses set up and develop prize competition websites, but there is a list of rules that you need to follow if you want to set up this kind of service for people.
For starters, free draws and competitions can be run for both private and commercial gain. This means that it’s perfectly legal to turn this into a business idea. However, it’s important to understand the distinction between the types of draws.
Free draws
As the name implies, this is the first type of entry that an online competition business can use. As long as there are no additional charges to the person entering your draw, it can be considered free. Even if people need to phone in or send a letter in to enter your draw, the amount they pay is still considered “free” as long as they aren’t paying any extra amount to enter. With the internet, there are usually no additional fees.
Paid and free draws
According to the Gambling Commission, adding a paid entry option includes a number of rules that must be followed.
People can choose to take part without paying if they want.- Free options cannot be less convenient or more expensive.
- Free entry must be offered at normal rates if entrants are required to pay something additional like a postage fee.
- Free entry must be advertised on the same level as the paid option.
- The system that determines prizes should see both paid and free entrants as the same.
It’s important to note that an online competition business isn’t considered a form of gambling, but the money after expenses and prize costs must go to a good cause.

