When is a giveaway a sweepstakes?

[Guest.Visitor]

When is a giveaway a sweepstakes?

How funny is it that the first response from Midrange-L was "Well, you could have emailed them and asked..."?

[Guest.Visitor]

When is a giveaway a sweepstakes?

Joel, You're describing the difference between a door prize and a lottery. A lottery is one where you can enter without being present but costs money to enter. A door prize, technically, is one where you must be present to enter. I realize there's a fine line there but I'm not a lawyer so I can't explain the details. For example, if you were at COMMON and stopped at a vendor's booth and they said that you could be entered into a drawing if you bought some of their products then that'd be illegal. chuck Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of my employer. "Joel Klebanoff" wrote in message news:6b2078d0.13@WebX.WawyahGHajS... > What about trade show booth contests? If you go to COMMON, for example, a lot of vendors have contests in their booths. Some of the prizes are even cool. You have to go by their booth to drop your business card into the jar or to have your conference badge scanned (now the more common, no pun intended, method). Some require that you not only be there to enter the contest, but you also have to be there when they select the winner. To get to their booth you have to buy at least a one-day show pass or have someone buy it for you, so a purchase is necessary. Is this an illegal practice? > > Does the law say anything about the size of the prize? Would a cheap T-shirt be OK, but a million dollar prize be illegal or are they both equally illegal?

[TonyT]

When is a giveaway a sweepstakes?

Chuck said: "I just received an invitation to the "iSeries & AS/400 Connection Conference" in Naples, Florida put on by The Barsa Group. On it there is a drawing for four IBM ThinkPad's. However, to be eligible to win the ThinkPad one must register and pay for the conference. Under federal law this constitutes a sweepstakes and is highly illegal. In order for it to qualify for a giveaway then there must be no purchase required" My two cents: This is a raffle not a sweepstakes which is within the bounds of the law, A raffle is ok, since they provide a service( a seminar for this argument ), and as a token of appreciation ( a gravy a.k.a. enticements ) they will have some giveaways to be raffled for QUALIFIED PARTICIPANTS ( those who pay dues for the seminar ). However, in a SWWEPSTAKES no service whatsoever is being done, which is illegal like gambling if not sactioned by the FED...

[Guest.Visitor]

When is a giveaway a sweepstakes?

Tony, A raffle is NOT ok, except for charities. A drawing IS ok for those that are present. That is, if you arrive at a location that charges for entry you can then enter into a drawing. That makes it a door prize. They could NOT charge a raffle fee, say, a dollar per ticket like your local church does. And there's the rub. The flyer I received said nothing about the ThinkPad's being a door prize. It implied that all of those who registered and paid for the conference were eligible to win the ThinkPad's whether they show up or not. This would make it a lottery, and not a door prize, since I didn't show up and enter into the drawing. chuck Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of my employer. "TonyT" wrote in message news:6b2078d0.17@WebX.WawyahGHajS... > Chuck said: > "I just received an invitation to the "iSeries & AS/400 Connection Conference" in Naples, Florida put on by The Barsa Group. On it there is a drawing for four IBM ThinkPad's. However, to be eligible to win the ThinkPad one must register and pay for the conference. > Under federal law this constitutes a sweepstakes and is highly illegal. In order for it to qualify for a giveaway then there must be no purchase required" > > My two cents: This is a raffle not a sweepstakes which is within the bounds of the law, A raffle is ok, since they provide a service( a seminar for this argument ), and as a token of appreciation ( a gravy a.k.a. enticements ) they will have some giveaways to be raffled for QUALIFIED PARTICIPANTS ( those who pay dues for the seminar ). However, in a SWWEPSTAKES no service whatsoever is being done, which is illegal like gambling if not sactioned by the FED...

[Guest.Visitor]

When is a giveaway a sweepstakes?

I just received an invitation to the "iSeries & AS/400 Connection Conference" in Naples, Florida put on by The Barsa Group. On it there is a drawing for four IBM ThinkPad's. However, to be eligible to win the ThinkPad one must register and pay for the conference. Under federal law this constitutes a sweepstakes and is highly illegal. In order for it to qualify for a giveaway then there must be no purchase required. I have worked for many companies that have had giveaways and drawings and know of this first hand. I wonder if the guys at Barsa Consulting Group really thought this through! chuck Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of my employer.

[J.Klebanoff]

When is a giveaway a sweepstakes?

Chuck said:

A lottery is one where you can enter without being present but costs money to enter. A door prize, technically, is one where you must be present to enter.

So, in your opinion (I recognize that you're not a lawyer, neither am I), would Al's offer have been legal if he had said, "if you show up you'll be eligible for Thinkpad door prize draw. You don't have to buy a ticket, but you do have to be there and, oh, by the way, you can only come if you buy a ticket."? That sounds about the same as a contest at a trade show. However, I find it difficult to believe that the law would allow one and not the other simply because you changed the wording, but not the substance.

[Guest.Visitor]

When is a giveaway a sweepstakes?

Joel asked: "would Al's offer have been legal if he had said, "if you show up you'll be eligible for Thinkpad door prize draw." Yes, IMO, that would have been proper wording. Joel asked: "However, I find it difficult to believe that the law would allow one and not the other simply because you changed the wording, but not the substance." Ooh, the FTC has fined companies BIG TIME, just because of the wording. In fact, you can easily search on the subject and see that even though companies have placed "no purchase necessary" in the fine print they've been fined big bucks because there was an IMPLICATION in the wording on the ad that a purchase was necessary. The FTC doesn't haggle on this point they come down like a sledge hammer. chuck Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of my employer.