A guide to ‘Purchase Necessary’ promotions

“Spend money on entering a competition? Are you kidding?”

Many compers choose to keep their hobby ‘free’, only entering online competitions and draws – and that’s fine! After all, there are thousands of free prize draws and competitions online. But venture into text, phone, postal and POP (‘proof of purchase’) required promotions and you’ll find they can be very rewarding. I’ve won a VW Beetle, a holiday to Brazil, a trip to New York and plenty of cash and voucher prizes in ‘purchase necessary’ comps – in fact I’d rather spend £2 on a stamp, a few text messages, a promotional KitKat and a newspaper than a Lottery ticket because the chance of winning a prize is so much better!

This post will give an overview of the different types of ‘purchase necessary’ promotion. You might also find these links helpful:

• Compers Shopping List – my sortable list of current purchase-necessary promotions
• Top tips for winning on-pack promotions
• If you’re a member of my Lucky Learners Facebook group you can find lots of purchase-necessary promotions featured in our photo album.

These days, promoters like to mix the formats for their on-pack promotions to give extra chances to win – so you’re likely to find lots of winning moments/prize draw combinations, or an algorithm instant win combined with guaranteed winning moments. For most purchase-necessary promotions, entry will be on a competition website, or by a standard rate text message.

On pack code promotions

For on-pack coded promotions, the code may be visible on a neck collar, or printed onto a bottle, under a label or on a sticker. The codes are usually entered online – or sometimes via text – and they are usually unique, so can only be used once. Hidden codes inside packaging offer the best chance of winning – unfortunately, when codes are freely available on neck collars or stickers, dishonest people could easily swipe extra ones in the supermarket, or even take photos of the codes to use.

There are several types of on-pack code promotions, the most common are:

Winning moment (instant win)

• For the first type of ‘winning moment’, the first entry received after the randomly generated ‘winning moment’ will bag the prize – it could be seconds afterwards, or hours afterwards. There could be one winning moment in a week, or a hundred a day! If there is no entry between one winning moment and the next, two prizes will usually be awarded after the next winning moment instead, so all prizes are awarded. Sometimes, if a prize isn’t won it will be offered in a prize draw for all losing entries at the end of the promotion.
• For the second type, you actually need to enter during the winning moment rather than afterwards – it could be a moment that’s just one second long! For these, only a small percentage of the prizes will be given away. An example is McDonald’s Monopoly where they usually have two winning moments every minute – enter during that exact second to win a prize.
• Winning moment comps usually require a code from a promotional pack, but not always.
• If you win, you’ll get the winning notification immediately, either online, by email or by text
• Current example: Doritos (ends 25.3.23)

Winning code (instant win)

• For the first type of winning code, all winning codes are pre-assigned and printed onto packs. Usually, if the winning code is never entered into the competition, the prize will not be won – although occasionally some nice promoters might offer the unclaimed prizes in a prize draw after the competition ends. These promotions will always seem overly generous – eg. a Highland Spring promotion offered 15,686 tennis sets to be won but only gave away 1,474 (9%).
• For the second type, each code on packaging has an equal chance of being a winner. Odds will be decided in advance using an ‘algorithm’ – e.g. 10,000,000 crisp packets are printed with the promotional codes on, and there are 1,000 prizes. In this example, when you input your code, a computer program will assign your entry a unique number which would have a 1-in-10,000 chance of winning. In this case, the codes on packaging may not be unique – you may be required to input the batch and time code from your pack. T&Cs usually state ‘although all prizes are available to be won, there is no guarantee they will all be won’
• There’s also a slightly different way of running an algorithmic instant win, where the odds change dependent on how many entries are received. The promoter will advertise prizes that are ‘available to be won’ but will have an idea of the exact number of prizes they want to award. They will begin the promotion with set odds (eg. 1 in 50 entries is a winner). If the promotion gets lower entry numbers than expected, they may increase the odds of winning to 1-in-20 (for example) in order to hit their prize targets. This format isn’t usually mentioned in the terms & conditions,  but entering a promotion like this towards the end can be fruitful!
• Again – if you win, you’ll get the winning notification immediately, either online, by email or by text
• Current example: 

Prize draw

• For some promotions, you enter your unique code, batch code or bar code via text or online for a prize draw rather than an instant win. There may be hourly or daily prizes, or perhaps just one draw for a big holiday prize.
• For some promotions, as well as having a chance at an instant win prize you’re also entered into a draw for a grand prize – eg. Yeo Valley had an instant win for a camper van (nobody won!), but all losing entries went into a draw for a second camper van
• For ‘Rewards Club’ promotions, codes from packs are required and can be exchanged for prize draw entries – eg. Yeo Valley
• If you win, you’ll find out either after the end of the draw window (eg. at the end of the hour), or after the final closing date of the promotion
• Current example: Worthy Farm Cheddar Glastonbury tickets (ends 1.5.23)

Winning packaging (instant win)

• Occasionally the winning message is printed or enclosed in the packaging, in which case you need to keep it to claim your prize. It might be a Gooless Creme Egg!
• Chances of winning a big prize this way are small! Companies might use ‘reverse shoplifting’ to put the winning packs on shop shelves, to ensure they are sold – so if you see someone doing this, watch carefully just in case they’re planting the prize chocolate!
• Current example: Cadbury Creme Egg (ends 9.4.23)

Proof-of-purchase (receipt and/or packaging required)

• You might be asked to upload a photo of your receipt online, or enter the numbers from it at the time of entry
• For some comps you keep the receipt and post/email it only if you’re a winner – entry is usually via a simple text message or online. This type of promotion can be open to abuse, as people will enter without having a POP (Proof Of Purchase) and then ask for one on comping forums if they win. Most compers – including me! – would prefer that receipt details were required and validated at the point of entry. NEVER give up your POP to a winner who doesn’t have one – the company may redraw prizes and pick you the next time round!
• Some promoters will ask to see receipts and/or packaging for all your losing entries when you win – so keep those too! This is usually for promotions that require a batch code rather than a unique code, just in case you’ve entered ten times with the same code/receipt, but only bought one product.
• You’ll occasionally see an old fashioned slogan competition where you need to buy the product AND complete a tiebreaker to enter – sadly these are few and far between!
• Current example: ASDA Elvive (ends 28.3.23)

Swipe to win/automatic entry

• For a Swipe-to-win, you’re entered into a prize draw when you buy a certain product and swipe/scan your loyalty card or app (Nectar, Tesco, Superdrug, BPMe, Shell etc) when you pay. It might also be hosted online, where purchase of a certain product automatically enters you into a prize draw.
• With these promotions, even people who don’t want the prize and know nothing about the competition will be in the draw, so chances of winning are minimal – there’s also the risk that a car will be awarded to someone without a driving license, or an 18 year old student will win a family holiday for 4!
• Just to prove that people DO win ‘swipe-to-win’ comps though, a Compers News member won a Vauxhall car in a Tesco/Mars promotion a few years ago!
• Read more in my blog post about swipe to win promotions

Phone and Text competitions

• Most magazines and newspapers have moved from postal entry to text entry for their prize promotions to increase their revenue – some texts can cost £2 or more, but this means that entry numbers will be low!
• For some on-pack promotions, you might have to text the last few digits from the barcode to enter – a proof of purchase (receipt) may or may not be required so check the T&Cs carefully!
• Check T&Cs for the call or message cost – sometimes it’s well hidden!
• Beware text comps advertised in local papers or on local radio – they might actually be hosted across nationwide publications, meaning a slim chance of winning.
• Tesco run a mix of no purchase necessary AND purchase necessary text-to-win comps, all charged at standard rate (approx 15p). Find the latest Tesco competitions listed here.

Scan a product or QR code

• There are also instant win promotions where you use a mobile app to ‘scan’ a product – for example a Cadbury bar, or Budweiser bottle. The technology used can detect a logo in the photo and validates the entry.
• Some products feature QR codes on the packaging, which when scanned by a mobile app will take you directly to a competition website.
• In some cases winners may need to send a photo of their proof of purchase, so hold on to that receipt!

Using a product in a photo, video or recipe competition

• In lots of promotions now, you have to feature a product in a photo, recipe or video, so you’ll need to buy it if you don’t have it hanging around at home! You’ll find lots of photo comps on social media, especially from smaller brands trying to raise brand awareness.
• Current example: Ready Brek (ends 31.5.23)

Charity competitions

• Charity promotions could be a raffle, or a competition where you make a donation for every entry. As well as having the chance to win a prize, you’ll also know that you’ve done a good deed by giving money to charity! A few years ago I won a £400 spa day in an Asda Tickled Pink promotion where almost every entrant won a prize – the minimum donation was just £1!

Postal entry competitions

• Much rarer than they used to be, entry forms in publications give you a great chance of winning. You have to buy the magazine or newspaper, AND you have to pay for a stamp to post it off. I have had success with entry forms in kids comics like Epic and Kick!
• There are still postcard entry comps listed in publications, but they are rare (you can find lots in Compers News magazine each month).

And there you have it – some options if you want to spend a little money on your hobby. Also check out my tips on winning prizes in on-pack promotions  and my blog post on how to organise your POPs, receipts and quallies!

NI ‘No Purchase Necessary’ route is being phased out

It used to be the case that every purchase-necessary promotion had to include a ‘no purchase necessary’ entry route for Northern Ireland residents, because they weren’t covered by GB’s gambling laws. But on 26 April 2022, the Betting, Gaming, Lotteries and Amusements (Amendment) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 was passed. The update finally brings Northern Ireland in line with the rest of the UK, allowing purchase-necessary prize draws and instant wins – as long as the price of a promotional product is not increased to cover the cost of running the prize promotion.

In the long term it should simplify things for promoters, who will no longer have to restrict their instant wins and prize draws to GB residents – and won’t need to spend time planning a ‘no purchase necessary’ alternative entry route to add to the terms and conditions.

Find out more in my blog post No more NPN route: a rule change for purchase necessary promotions in NI

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Do you spend much money on your hobby – and what’s the best prize you’ve won in a purchase comp?