# Is "No Purchase Necesscary" the law? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 3, 2004, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-no-purchase-necesscary-the-law/258207 "2004-08-03T22:36:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![START](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@START](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/START)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-no-purchase-necesscary-the-law/258207/1 "2004-08-03T22:36:05Z")
All contests that I have seen always have an address where you can enter the contest without buying the product…for example let’s say product x is having a contest where you can win 10’000 dollars by buying their stuff but you could also send in for a game piece without purchasing product x. Is that the law? and have you ever entered a contest without purchasing the product? ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-no-purchase-necesscary-the-law/258207/2 "2004-08-03T23:02:13Z")
Yes it has to do with gambling and lottery laws. Certain non-profits are exempt from these laws. But any kind of “buy this and you might win” games are gambling. Raffle tickets are a form of lottery ticket. If the proceeds are going to a for-profit organization, they must allow participants to enter without buying anything. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-no-purchase-necesscary-the-law/258207/3 "2004-08-04T00:59:49Z")
I help run the pledge drives for a radio show, and whenever we hold a drawing for a CD or something we have to make it clear that they don’t have to pledge to enter. As noted above, to do so would make it gambling. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-no-purchase-necesscary-the-law/258207/4 "2004-08-04T01:01:21Z")
. . . for a radio _ **station** _ ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-no-purchase-necesscary-the-law/258207/5 "2004-08-04T04:10:24Z")
In order for something to be considered gambling it has to contain 3 elements: **Chance, prize, consideration** (you have to pay to play). Eliminate any one, and the element of gambling is gone. If the contest relies on chance, and has a prize, but you don’t have to pay to play, then it’s not gambling. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Harmonix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonix)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-no-purchase-necesscary-the-law/258207/6 "2004-08-04T12:56:19Z")
er, so, if I was an asshole, could I goto charity raffles and insist I get a ticket for free? What about those carnival games? Or are those considered a game of skill? ---
**Author:** ![lemon\_martini2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3be4f8/32.png) [@lemon\_martini2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lemon_martini2)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-no-purchase-necesscary-the-law/258207/7 "2004-08-04T13:02:27Z")
And has anyone won a major prize by sending in and having a ‘carton opened for them’? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-no-purchase-necesscary-the-law/258207/8 "2004-08-04T13:02:57Z")
> [@Harmonix](#): > > er, so, if I was an asshole, could I goto charity raffles and insist I get a ticket for free? > What about those carnival games? Or are those considered a game of skill? (a) No, because those charities, if they take the proper steps under the law that applies to non-profits, are exempt. (b) Right. Games of skill. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-no-purchase-necesscary-the-law/258207/9 "2004-08-04T13:21:07Z")
To get round the law some TV stations add an element of “skill” into the game . So they insert a question such as \*" who wrote Beethoven’s 9th symphony . Was \* _it (a) Chopin , (b) Beethoven or (c ) Grieg ? "_ . Or \*" What is the \* \*capital of Italy is it ( A ) Madrid ( B ) Paris or ( C ) Rome ? "\*As you can see there is no actual skill involved but it does get round the law. Even then I expect there are a few wrong answers. Most of these contests are via a premium rate phone number and the TV channels just rake the profits in. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-no-purchase-necesscary-the-law/258207/10 "2004-08-05T05:15:55Z")
> [@Harmonix](#): > > er, so, if I was an asshole, could I goto charity raffles and insist I get a ticket for free? > What about those carnival games? Or are those considered a game of skill? If the charity has the proper paper work (in some states they get issued a permit called an “R” number) then they can legally hold gambling and you would indeed be out of line insisting on a freebie. Carnival games are supposed to be games of skill, thus not gambling. Every year my department sends a detective through the mid-way of the fair to determine if all the games meet the standard. They usually do EXCEPT one: The duck derby. This is that kiddy game where there are several rubber ducks floating on a pool of water. You pick a duck and look underneath it to see what prize you one (large or small). The problem is, this is an illegal lottery because it has all 3 elements of gambling (chance, prize, consideration). The way to subtract the gambling aspect is for the vendor to place a mirror on the bottom of the pool. That way, the player can use the submerged, backward image to try to determine which duck has a large prize. That turns it into a game of skill and viola: it’s no longer an illegal lottery. But it is a lot of legaleze for a kids game in which all you usually get is a plastic whistle!😛 ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-no-purchase-necesscary-the-law/258207/11 "2004-08-05T06:36:59Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > In order for something to be considered gambling it has to contain 3 elements: **Chance, prize, consideration** (you have to pay to play). Eliminate any one, and the element of gambling is gone. If the contest relies on chance, and has a prize, but you don’t have to pay to play, then it’s not gambling. And don’t think we didn’t doublecheck our contests and promos against the “three legs of a lottery” rule. We did once have to remind a competing station that their “prize patrol” was perfectly free to hand out prizes to people driving cars sporting the station’s (free) window sticker, but a no-no to do the same thing to people they spotted wearing their t-shirts (which the listeners had to buy). That’s been nearly 20 years ago, though, so the FCC, in it’s rush to deregulate, may have loosened things somewhat.