How to run a fair giveaway online
A fair giveaway is decided before the draw: publish clear rules, collect one entry per person, clean the list, then draw on camera with a tool nobody can influence and contact the winner privately. This guide covers each step, plus backup winners and the platform rules that trip people up.
What rules should a giveaway have before it starts?
Write the rules first and post them with the announcement, because every later argument is settled by them. Changing the rules after entries arrive is the fastest way to lose trust. At a minimum, cover:
- Who can enter: minimum age, countries or regions, and whether staff, family or previous winners are excluded.
- How to enter: one clear action, such as a comment or a form, and how many entries each person gets. One per person is simplest and easiest to police.
- The deadline: a date, a time and a time zone. "Friday night" means different things in Sydney and Seattle.
- The prize: exactly what it is, its approximate value, who pays for shipping, and whether it can be swapped for cash.
- How the winner is chosen and told: a random draw, when and where it happens, and how long the winner has to reply before a backup is drawn.
Decide the awkward cases now. What happens if the winner does not reply, turns out to be ineligible, or entered twice? Writing "the entry is removed and the draw is repeated" into the rules means you never have to improvise on camera.
How do you collect entries you can check?
The best entry method is the one that leaves a list you can export or copy. A form that records a name and a contact detail is the tidiest, because it gives you one row per entry and a timestamp. Comment-based entries are popular on social media but need more cleaning, since people comment several times, reply to each other and edit their comments.
Close entries at the stated time and take a copy of the list straight away, so nothing added later sneaks in. Note how many valid entries there are; that number is useful when you announce the draw.
Collect only the personal data you need to pick and reach a winner, and delete it when the giveaway is over. If you will show the list on screen, use first names or public handles rather than email addresses.
How do you clean the list and remove duplicates?
Paste the list into a spreadsheet or a plain text file and work through it once, with the rules beside you:
- Remove entries that arrived after the deadline.
- Remove anyone your rules exclude.
- Merge duplicates so each eligible person appears exactly once, unless your rules allow extra entries.
A quick way to spot duplicates is to sort the list alphabetically so repeats sit next to each other. SpinDecide's Sort A–Z button does this on the wheel itself, which helps when you paste the list in with Edit as text. The wheel does not remove duplicates automatically, because some rules allow them, so check by eye before you spin.
If your rules give bonus entries, for example two entries for people who also filled in a survey, you can list those names twice, or switch on weights and give them a weight of 2. Either way, say so in the rules, because a weighted draw is fair only if everyone knew the terms.
How do you draw the winner so people trust it?
People trust what they can watch. The strongest draw is live, or recorded in one unedited take, and follows the same script every time:
- Show the cleaned entry list and the entry count.
- Load the list into the giveaway picker wheel with Edit as text, one name per line. Check that the count badge matches your number.
- Say out loud that the first spin counts.
- Switch to full screen and spin once.
The wheel picks its winner with your browser's cryptographic random generator before the animation starts, so nothing you do during the spin can steer it. The details are in is a spin wheel really random?
A wheel holds up to 200 names. For bigger giveaways, number the cleaned list in your spreadsheet and draw a number with the random number generator, which handles huge ranges and can draw several unique numbers at once. Show the spreadsheet on screen so viewers can match the number to a name.
After the draw, you can post a share link to the exact wheel you used, so anyone can see the list of entries. Remember that the link contains every name on it, so share it only if entrants agreed to their names being public.
How do you draw several prizes and backup winners?
For more than one prize, open Settings and tick Remove the winner after each spin. Each winner leaves the wheel before the next spin, so nobody can win twice. Announce beforehand which spin is for which prize; drawing the smallest prize first and the main prize last keeps the audience watching.
Draw backup winners in the same session, while the camera is still rolling. If you need one winner and two reserves, spin three times with remove-the-winner on: the first name wins, the second and third are reserves in that order. The Results list records every name in the order drawn, and Copy gives you a numbered list for your notes.
For raffles with numbered tickets instead of names, the raffle wheel works the same way with remove-the-winner switched on.
How should you announce and contact the winner?
Contact the winner privately first, through the channel your rules named, and give them the reply window you set, such as 48 hours or a week. Announce publicly once they have confirmed, or at the time your rules said you would.
Be alert to impersonators. Scammers often create look-alike accounts and message entrants claiming they have won, then ask for payment or card details "for shipping". Say in your rules and your announcement that you will never ask a winner to pay or to share passwords, and message winners only from your official account.
If the winner does not reply in time, move to the first reserve and say so publicly. Keep your recording and the cleaned list for a while after the giveaway, in case anyone asks how the result was reached.
What do Instagram, Facebook and YouTube require?
Each platform has its own promotion rules, and they change, so read the current version before you post. Meta's promotion guidelines for Instagram say, among other things, that the person running the promotion is responsible for running it lawfully, should publish official rules and eligibility terms, must acknowledge that the promotion is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by Instagram, and must not encourage people to tag content inaccurately, such as tagging themselves in photos they are not in. Facebook Pages follow similar Meta terms.
YouTube's contest policies ask for official rules, a statement that YouTube is not a sponsor, and compliance with local laws, and they restrict how contests can be run. For picking a winner from Instagram comments specifically, see how to pick a random winner on Instagram.
Is your giveaway legal where you live?
This guide is practical advice, not legal advice. Laws on prize promotions differ a great deal between countries, and in the United States between states. A common line in many places is between a free prize draw and a lottery: a draw decided purely by chance can become an unlicensed lottery if people have to pay or buy something to enter. That is why many promotions offer a free way to enter. Some places also require registration, specific wording in the rules, or tax reporting for valuable prizes.
In the UK, for example, promotions are covered by section 8 of the CAP Code. If the prize is valuable, you are running the giveaway for a business, or entrants come from several countries, check the rules for each place or ask a lawyer before you launch.
Giveaway checklist
| Stage | Done when |
|---|---|
| Rules | Eligibility, entry method, deadline with time zone, prize and winner process are posted |
| Entries | List copied at the deadline, late and ineligible entries removed, duplicates merged |
| Draw | List and count shown, first spin counts, recorded in one take |
| Backups | Reserves drawn in the same session with remove-the-winner on |
| Winner | Contacted privately, reply window stated, announced after confirming |
| Afterwards | Recording kept for a while, personal data deleted when no longer needed |
Frequently asked questions
Can I re-spin if I do not like the winner?
No. Once you have said the first spin counts, re-spinning without a reason written in your rules undermines the whole giveaway. The only fair reasons to draw again are the ones you published in advance, such as an ineligible winner or no reply in time.
How do I stop people entering more than once?
State one entry per person in the rules, collect entries in a form or list you can export, and sort it alphabetically before the draw so repeat names sit together. Remove duplicates by hand, because the wheel keeps every line you paste.
How many names can the giveaway wheel hold?
Up to 200 names. For larger giveaways, number the cleaned entry list in a spreadsheet and draw the winning number with the random number generator, showing the spreadsheet on screen so viewers can match the number to the entrant.
Should I draw backup winners at the same time?
Yes. Drawing reserves in the same recorded session, with remove the winner switched on, means nobody can accuse you of choosing a replacement later. Keep the order of the draw, which the results list records for you.
Do I need a lawyer to run a giveaway?
For a small giveaway among friends, usually not. For valuable prizes, business promotions, paid entry or entrants in several countries, the rules can be strict and vary by place, so it is worth checking local law or getting professional advice.