Draw Types

Giveawayz supports 4 draw types, each suited to different competition styles. Every draw uses a provably fair algorithm with a full audit trail.

Scheduled Draw

The most common draw type. You set a specific date and time, and the platform automatically selects the winner when the deadline arrives.

How it works:

1. You set a draw date when creating the competition
2. Entries are accepted until the draw date
3. At the scheduled time, the system automatically runs the draw
4. Winners are selected and notified immediately

Best for: Standard competitions with a fixed end date — weekly draws, holiday giveaways, product launches.

Flash Draw

A flash draw triggers automatically the moment all tickets are sold. There's no fixed end date — the competition closes as soon as it sells out.

How it works:

1. You set a maximum number of tickets (no draw date needed)
2. Entries are accepted until all tickets are purchased
3. The moment the last ticket sells, the draw runs instantly
4. Winners are selected and notified

Best for: High-demand, limited-ticket competitions where you want to create urgency and scarcity.

Manual Draw

You trigger the draw yourself whenever you're ready. This gives you full control over timing — perfect for live events or competitions where you want to build anticipation.

How it works:

1. Entries are accepted indefinitely (or until an optional end date)
2. When you're ready, go to the competition in your dashboard
3. Click Run Draw to manually trigger winner selection
4. Winners are selected and notified

Best for: Live events, social media reveals, flexible-timing promotions where you want to announce the winner personally.

Instant Win

Instant win competitions determine winners at the moment of purchase. Specific ticket numbers are pre-assigned as winners, so entrants find out immediately if they've won.

How it works:

1. When creating the competition, you specify which ticket numbers are winners
2. Each ticket purchase is checked against the winning numbers
3. If a customer buys a winning ticket, they're notified instantly
4. Non-winning tickets still enter the main draw (if configured)

Best for: Engagement-focused competitions, impulse-purchase promotions, and competitions that combine instant gratification with a main prize draw.

Provably Fair Algorithm

Every draw on Giveawayz is provably fair — meaning anyone can independently verify that the winner was selected randomly and without manipulation.

How It Works

Each draw generates a complete audit trail containing:

• Cryptographic seed — A random value generated before the draw that determines the outcome
• Selection algorithm — A deterministic pseudorandom number generator (xoshiro128**) seeded with the cryptographic value
• Entrant snapshot — The complete, ordered list of all entrants at the moment the draw executes
• Timestamp — The exact time the draw was executed
• Result — The selected winner(s) and their position in the entrant list

Verification

Because the algorithm is deterministic, anyone with the seed and the entrant snapshot can re-run the selection and arrive at the same winner. This makes it mathematically impossible for the platform operator to manipulate results.

Multiple Winners

Competitions can have multiple winners. The algorithm selects winners sequentially from the seeded random number generator — the first random number picks winner 1, the second picks winner 2, and so on. Each winner is removed from the pool before the next selection.

Comparison Table

| Feature | Scheduled | Flash | Manual | Instant Win | |---------|-----------|-------|--------|-------------| | Draw timing | Set date/time | When sold out | You decide | At purchase | | End date required | Yes | No | Optional | Optional | | Auto-trigger | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | | Multiple winners | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Audit trail | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Min plan | Starter | Starter | Starter | Growth |