House Raffle

p00hsticks

Running_Horse wrote: »

I was under the impression the government was shutting these down a few years ago for breaking gaming laws. Has something changed?

My understanding is that if it is a 'game of chance' (e.g. a simple raffle) then gaming laws apply. But if it is a 'game of skill' then they don't - hence why these sort of competitions ask you to answer a question and only those who get the answer right are entered into the draw.

MegaBloc

The fact they named the raffle " Win Your Dream Home " was very misleading. The Surveyors Report would have only been a requirement if one was actually purchasing the house. Since the house was a prize the surveyors report was not legally required. I think there was a good reason they kept the report quiet !!!... It's interesting to note PayPal pulled the plug on this competition and they don't easily walk away from profit unless there is good reason. I'm assuming the " Win Your Dream House " terms & conditions alone were enough to make PayPal suspicious this raffle was not all above board. PayPal fully supported the Melling Manor raffle that concluded last week. That ran for six months. It looks to me like the raffle on Dullatur House in Scotland was not intended to be won by an outsider. These raffles can be easily fixed. You get to write your own Terms & Conditions that could create convenient legal loopholes. You get to decide how and what devices are used for the draw. You get to decide what witnesses are present, including your own solicitor. You get to decide which member of the press attends the draw and they wouldn't actually know how the draw is rigged. There is no transparency.

shortcrust

Is this maybe a bit spam flavoured?

MalcolmY

I've seen several of these advertised now. And they all seem legit till you go and dig into the T&Cs and discover they've made no commitment on transparency - no guarantee that the draw will be public, that it will be overseen by a neutral party etc. Nothing.

The modus operandi seems to be to open a limited company to act as "promoter". Create a website that looks professional and post various reassurances about it all being above board and a competition and therefore not foul of the law. Then start collecting money. If enough tickets are not sold then only 75% of the money collected is distributed as prize money. The rest is kept as an admin charge.

And do it all in the name of a limited company that has zero assets. So if everything goes pear shaped, "It wasn't me, gov".

Seems like an easy way to make money - put your house on a raffle, spend a few hundred quid on a website and a template T&C, sit back and keep 25% of all money collected. Or 100% of it if you're fiddling the draw!

pearl123

No paypal available to enter this draw.

chunkytfg

Holy Thread resurrection Batman!!!