Free postal entry, explained

How it works in practice

The steps are simple on purpose, because the route has to be genuinely usable:

• Write your name, address, email and daytime phone number on a postcard, or on a sheet of paper in a sealed envelope.
• Add the name of the competition you're entering and your answer to the skill question.
• Post it to the free entry address in time to arrive before entries close.
• Your entry goes into the same draw as everyone else's, on the same odds.

Why sites offer it at all

Not out of generosity. The free route is one of the two things that keep a prize competition on the right side of gambling law. Take away both the free route and the genuine skill element and what's left is a lottery, and running an unlicensed lottery is a criminal offence.

So be wary of any site that makes its free route hard to find. The operator needs that route more than you do.

What to watch for

The most common failing in this market is a free route that exists on paper but not in practice. The signs of one:

• Odds that quietly differ from paid entry.
• An entry window that opens later or closes earlier than the paid one.
• A cap on free entries while paid entries run uncapped.
• An address buried so deep in the terms that finding it becomes the obstacle.

Common questions

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