How it works
The lowest bid nobody else picked wins
A prize competition with one simple rule. Here is everything that happens, from choosing a prize to the result.
Choose a prize
Open a competition to see its prize, what it is worth, the price per bid, the most bids one person can place, and the closing time.
Answer the question
Each competition has a qualifying question. You answer it when you enter, as set out in the competition rules.
Pick bids and pay
Choose one or more amounts from £0.01, in 1p steps, and pay for them: from your credit or points a bid at a time, or by card for the total. A bid is registered once it is paid for (at once from credit or points, or when your card payment is confirmed), and then it cannot be changed.
See the result
When the competition closes, the lowest amount picked by exactly one person wins. The result is recorded and shown on the website.
A worked example
Seven people, one winner
Imagine seven customers each placed one bid. Amounts chosen by more than one person are out. The lowest of the rest wins.
Customer E wins with £0.03, the lowest amount only one person chose. Customers F and G also chose amounts nobody else did, but theirs are higher, so they do not win.
The winning amount is not a price. Each competition page says whether a winner has to pay anything, and what.
| Bid | Chosen by | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| £0.01 | Customers A and B | Chosen twice: out |
| £0.02 | Customers C and D | Chosen twice: out |
| £0.03 | Customer E | Lowest unique bid: wins |
| £0.04 | Customer F | Unique, but not the lowest |
| £0.05 | Customer G | Unique, but not the lowest |
- £0.07
- £0.12
- £0.31
- £0.33
- £0.58
Five bids from one person. You can choose any five different amounts. If someone else also chooses £0.31, that bid is out, and the other four still count.
Your bids
Spread them out
- Each amount you choose is a separate bid and a separate chance
- You cannot pick the same amount twice in one competition
- Each competition sets the most bids one person can place, and it includes postal entries
- A bid is registered once it is paid for: at once from your credit or points, or when your card payment is confirmed
Credit and points. You can add credit to your account with a card and spend it a bid at a time, and you earn a few points on every bid you pay for with money. Points are worth 1p each towards a bid. You can ask for unspent credit back to your card at any time. When you place a bid it is checked, and then you are told how it stands (winning, unique but not the lowest, or also chosen by someone else), and only you can see that.
At closing time
What happens when it closes
- No more bids are accepted.
- Every valid online bid and every valid postal bid is included.
- The system counts how many times each amount was chosen.
- Any amount chosen more than once is out.
- The lowest amount chosen exactly once is found. The customer who placed it is the winner.
- The result is recorded and shown on the website.
If no amount is unique, each competition says what happens before it opens. The result always comes from the bids that were really placed; nobody makes up a winning amount.
If the winner cannot or does not take the prize (they do not claim it in time, do not meet the rules or do not want it), it passes to the person who chose the next lowest amount that was chosen by exactly one person. The system works that out from the bids counted at the draw; nobody chooses who gets it, and it never passes to the same person twice.
Questions
Still wondering?
What does "lowest unique bid" mean?
You choose amounts from £0.01 upwards, in steps of 1p. Lots of people can choose the same amount. When the competition closes, any amount that more than one person chose is thrown out. The lowest amount left, chosen by exactly one person, wins.
How much does a bid cost?
Each competition sets its own price per bid and says so on its page, before you enter. The amount you choose to bid is just a number used to decide the winner. It is not what you pay.
How many bids can I place?
Each competition has a limit on how many bids one person can place, shown on its page. You cannot choose the same amount twice in one competition. The limit includes any postal entries you send.
Do I pay anything more if I win?
Each competition page says what, if anything, a winner has to pay. Read it before you enter.
Can I enter without paying?
Yes. Every competition has a free postal entry route. Postal entries go into the same competition and are treated in exactly the same way as online ones. See the free postal entry page for how.
What if nobody picks a unique amount?
Each competition says what happens in that case before it opens. The result is always worked out from the bids that were actually placed: nobody makes up a winning amount.
Ready to try it?
Create a free account and have a look at the competitions that are open.
18+ only. Please take part responsibly.