How to pick a giveaway winner fairly
- Collect the entries in one list. Export them from your form, competition tool or spreadsheet. If people entered by commenting, copy the usernames.
- Clean the list. Remove entries that break your rules, such as employees, people outside the allowed countries or entries after the closing date.
- Remove duplicates. One entry per person is the norm, and the picker removes exact duplicates for you. Spot variations like extra dots in an email address yourself.
- Draw and document it. Pick the winners and save a screenshot with the date and time. Draw a few reserve winners in case someone doesn't reply.
- Contact and announce. Tell the winners how and by when to claim the prize, and only share names publicly if your terms say so.
Read the full guide: how to pick a giveaway winner fairly.
Running the giveaway in the comments? Our free comment pickers work the same way for Instagram comments, Facebook comments, TikTok comments and YouTube comments. For a draw people can watch on screen, use the wheel spinner.
When a list is not enough
A picker is fine for a one-off draw from a short list. For campaigns with hundreds or thousands of entries, it is easier when the draw is part of the competition itself. In Scratcher, people enter through a game or a form on your own page, duplicates and throwaway email addresses are stopped at the door, and prize draws run automatically: daily, weekly or at the end of the campaign. See how to run an online competition.
