A sweepstakes is a type of promotion in which the winners are randomly selected by luck. No purchase or skill is required to enter. Usually, participants just need to complete an entry form by providing basic details such as their name and email address.

The main difference between a Sweepstakes and a Contest is how the winner is chosen. In sweepstakes, the winner is drawn at random while in contests, the winner is chosen based on skill, creativity, or votes. For example, the winner of a recipe contest may be selected by a panel of judges and the winner of a photo contest may be chosen by the public, who get to vote for their favorite picture. With sweepstakes, the winner is always drawn at random.

In the United States, it is illegal to make entry into a sweepstakes conditional upon purchase of an item or service. Sometimes to enter a sweepstakes, the sponsor will make you enter a UPC code or something similar.  If you read the official rules of the sweepstakes, you will typically find an alternative method for obtaining a UPC code, such as writing the sponsor to receive a code. Often they just list a code you can use right there in the official rules.

Winner notifications can vary from sweepstakes to sweepstakes. The most common forms of notification are email, phone, and certified letter. If you enter sweepstakes, it’s important to check your email (including your spam folder) as some sweepstakes require the selected entrant to respond within a certain amount of time or else they forfeit their prize and a new winner is selected.

As the Editor of Online-Sweepstakes.com, I’ve reviewed tens of thousands of sweepstakes for inclusion on our site. Here’s what I look for when determining if a sweepstakes is legit or a scam:

1. Is the Sponsor a company I recognize? If someone is giving away a large prize like $50,000 cash, I’d expect to have heard of the sponsor before.

2. Are the site and entry form professionally designed?

3. Do the official rules look legitimate? If the rules are not complete and fleshed out, that is a big red flag. If I still have doubts, I will do a google search of the sponsor and sweepstakes to see if anyone has commented with complaints.