Isn't this Dragons Den idea illegal?

[Unicorn]

Whilst its not illegal to run this kinda thing yet its morally sketchy but i must say £20 for a chance to win a 35k car (if it is legit live draw etc etc) then yeah.. I guess its worth a punt. I see the ones at airports and shopping places occasionally but assuming theyve got gambling licenses

How do you know its limited to 5 free tickets per competition? Surely that cant unravel their business if they are required to provide 5 free entrees?

Interesting first post..
Looking at your name and the directors names of the company we are talking about i do wonder if you are one of them?

 

[NooBish AbbZ]

Some of these have a value of far more than the real value of the item. That in itself shouldn't be legal tbh

Not looked at the siute but sounds similar to the things that seem to pop up on facebook. Win a 3 year old M4 worth lets say £40k(but was £80k Brand new). Page offering £60k worth of vouchers at £15 each... hmmmmm

 

[dowie]

How do you know its limited to 5 free tickets per competition?

It isn’t, you’ve misread, 5 entries per competition.

Surely that cant unravel their business if they are required to provide 5 free entrees?

They’re required to provide free entries, if lots of people take advantage of this the of course it can.

 

[mmj_uk]

There's some adverts on some of the music channels that ask something along the lines of "find the popular soap programme in the wordsearch on screen" and they don't even really try to hide it, EASTENDERS is spelled out horizontally in the middle, not backwards, vertically or diagonal. I'd be amazed if anybody doesn't get it.

 

[thenewoc]

Morally I'd say this is nothing compared to the fact we still allow pay day loan companies to operate with circa 1300% Apr.

 

[Semple]

These kind of competitions are all cons.

There's been a few high profile home auctions this way - I think someone was selling a castle where a rafle ticket was only £100. The idea being to sell 100k tickets and the owner makes a nice profit. Obviously they struggled to sell anywhere near enough tickets so the prize changes to some reward money, but substantially less than the total amount of tickets sold - the owner still generates a nice profit.

WRT the point in the OP about the obvious question being asked - I think this is to bypass some sort of gambling law and prove the person entering was of sane mind.

 

[peterwalkley]

Am I the first to notice the thread bump by a brand new poster ?

 

[Mucky_Pup]

I haven't used that one mentioned, but have been using similar ones. Have won a 65" TV, Xbox One X, PS4 Pro, and surround sound system from one, but yet to win a car/motorbike. I know someone who knows someone who won a Mk.3 Focus RS not that long ago.

 

[AhhBisto]

The biggest problem with these sites that the dragons brought up is thst they get away marginally with the gambling commission.

But that also means they dont need to encourage safe gambling and where to get help when needed. There are a lot of vulnerable people and even if it only helps 1/10000 people that's one person that wont be ruined.

 

[Sirrel Squirrel]

Just had a look at the website, state of these pictures:

https://elitecompetitions.co.uk/competition-details/-LfyvYydkGNC5H2snaFL

 

[Datamonkey]

LOL the prizes arent even new items,

For example:

620BHP Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG
2013
70k Miles with a full service history

Thats got potential to throw up massive bills lol

Hmmm goes off to check the legality of offering my house as a prize.

 

[dirtychinchilla]

Just had a look at the website, state of these pictures:

https://elitecompetitions.co.uk/competition-details/-LfyvYydkGNC5H2snaFL

That's so weird. I already have 2 arms thanks, what would I do with another one? Mine are also unblemished as is my preference. Do you think they'd give you an untattooed one?

 

[Jimjjj]

Its a scam

 

[[FnG]magnolia]

^ someone just got scammed and joined the forums to tell us.

I'm not sure it's illegal but it's certainly sketchy.

e: actually, thinking this through a bit more, I'd be very surprised if DD don't have legal review of ideas before broadcast because there's a reasonable argument to be made that they're approving or endorsing these ideas and they should probably not be illegal.

 

[dowie]

they make it impossible to enter for free in certain circumstances too.

I don't think it is a "scam" they're quite transparent re: the draws and the numbered tickets + show a history on each competition of numbers selected.

The free entires are a nice potential exploit that offer a +ev bet for the price of a stamp and in theory are verifiable as you get to pick a specific number and the draw itself is (IIRC) fair. The slight flaw to trying to exploit this is it is postal entries only for the free entry route they've set it up so these postal entries are only opened once a week, you therefore have a limited window to submit entries. There is a chance (perhaps a good chance) that the number you picked will have already been taken by the time your free entry arrives too.

I guess in theory they could get bitter re: free entires and allocate any that people pick to a friend of theirs, but again they lose out on the entry fee either way. I guess also that any free entries are hardly a priority for them but more of a nuisance.

The other slight flaw is that they require all tickets to be allocated for the draw to take place, they extend the draw by 7 days if not (and will use this rollover/extension clause a total of 4 times) if not then they carry out the draw and instead allocate a cash prize worth 70% of the prize tickets sold... essentially (unlike a casino/bookies) these guys never lose on an individual draw, their business model locks in a profit (minus any free entires) even time this is unnecessary really and frankly they could probably afford to be looser and go for a higher turnover of prizes (which in turn would incentivise more people to get involved as some bets could genuinely offer good value). (Edit misread)

In retrospect that second part isn't really a flaw, I'd misread it as 70% of cash value, but 70% of tickets sold is transparent and therefore fair enough if they chose to structure it that way.

 

[dowie]

Seems quite clear the free entry method is impossible in some cases, for example their £500 cash competition - went on sale last Wednesday (100 tickets for £5.50) sold out last Wednesday. Ditto to the Apple Watch went on sale on a Friday, sold out by the Sunday... I'd not be surprised that if potential free entries processed on the Monday wouldn't be allocated until end of day at best if it hadn't sold out.

 

[Nasher]

Looks exactly like.... a scam.

I'd tar it with the same brush as a pyramid scheme.

 

[truthandlogic]

I would say this site is definitely being ran illegally. If enough people reported it to the UK Gambling Commission, it will be shut down.

To run a competition, without the need of a gambling license/for it to be classed as gambling, there needs to be:

* A skill-based question/task
* A FREE entry route, which is AS convenient as the main entry route. NOT hidden away.

The problem with this website?

* They IGNORE free entries which are posted to them - ILLEGAL
* They HIDE the fact people can enter for free (It's HIDDEN in the Terms & Conditions, about 40 paragraphs down. Section 16)

Essentially, to shut down this company - get your friends/group/forum together and go for a competition with a low amount of entries. Everyone submit a FREE entry via post - and someone will win it, for free.

But that's not what will happen. They would never give away an expensive prize if all the entries were FREE route ones. They would either not process them, or fake a friend winning it instead.

Send in FREE entries people - tracked delivery. If you aren't put in the draw - complain to the gambling commission.

 

[Diagro]

I would say this site is definitely being ran illegally. If enough people reported it to the UK Gambling Commission, it will be shut down.

To run a competition, without the need of a gambling license/for it to be classed as gambling, there needs to be:

* A skill-based question/task
* A FREE entry route, which is AS convenient as the main entry route. NOT hidden away.

The problem with this website?

* They IGNORE free entries which are posted to them - ILLEGAL
* They HIDE the fact people can enter for free (It's HIDDEN in the Terms & Conditions, about 40 paragraphs down. Section 16)

Essentially, to shut down this company - get your friends/group/forum together and go for a competition with a low amount of entries. Everyone submit a FREE entry via post - and someone will win it, for free.

But that's not what will happen. They would never give away an expensive prize if all the entries were FREE route ones. They would either not process them, or fake a friend winning it instead.

Send in FREE entries people - tracked delivery. If you aren't put in the draw - complain to the gambling commission.

How would you know you are not in.the draw?

 

[Quinnaay]

seen this and other sites alike on facebook building a lot of traction. Ive also seen in a number of car threads elsewhere and off topic where someone has posted a car they've won from them. Its not technically a scam but they are without a doubt making a ton of cash and have people hooked on the punt of winning the prize.