Prizeology Managing Director, Sarah Burns, talks property raffles in this month’s issue of Moneywise magazine. Property raffles are on the rise, even celebs such as Formula One boss Eddie Jordan , and Derrick Evans, aka ‘Mr Motivator,’ have previously attempted to provide the public with the chance to win one of their properties.
These types of competitions often seem too good to be true, and that’s because most of the time – they are. In order to cover the market value of a property, thousands of tickets must be sold – which does not happen in most cases. An investigation launched by Moneywise found that competition website, Loquax, listed 50 property raffles in the past 18 months and only 2 of them had resulted in anyone actually winning the property.
But why do they fail? Moneywise also explains the legal complications of running a property raffle. The Gambling Commission has clamped down on raffles, taking action against 42 competitions in 2017 and 2018 after they failed to meet regulations. The Advertising Standards Authority also found many raffles in breach of the Committees of Advertising Practice code for changing closing dates, adjusting Ts&Cs, withholding the prize advertised or offering significantly lower-value cash prizes.
Sarah explains that consumers aren’t always aware of what they are getting themselves into. She says that they “must ask themselves why the property is being raffled in the first place.” warning that, “It’s an easy way to get money out of people without offering anything at all. There could be no house.”
To read the article in full, click here. Or, for any other prize promotions advice, get in touch here.
