> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.rafflex.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.rafflex.io/create-your-first-raffle/add-instant-wins.md). # Add Instant Wins Instant Wins make raffles more exciting and increase ticket sales by letting players know straight away if they have won. Here is how to add, manage and edit them on your competition. An **Instant Win** is a prize hidden inside your competition's tickets. When you create one, the system picks a set of winning ticket numbers for it at random. Any customer who is given one of those numbers when they buy tickets wins that prize on the spot, without waiting for the main draw. You can offer physical prizes, cash, [site credit](/additional-settings/site-credit-and-wallets.md) that is paid automatically, or free tickets in another competition (called a **Winlink**). You can mix as many different prizes as you like on one competition. {% embed url="" %} *** ### Before you start Run through this quick checklist so your Instant Wins work exactly as you expect. 1. **Save the competition first.** The Instant Wins page belongs to a saved competition, so the button only appears once you have created the competition and clicked save at least once. 2. **Pick the right Game Type.** Instant Wins work with **Standard** and with every [game mode](/instant-win-games/instant-win-games.md). They are not supported with **Sequential Tickets**. 3. **Set your Price and Max Tickets.** The Instant Wins page uses both to show your budget and how many tickets you have to work with. Once a competition has Instant Wins, you cannot lower its Max Tickets. 4. **Add your Instant Wins before you open for sales.** Winning numbers are only ever picked from tickets that have not been sold yet, so prizes added later can never land on tickets that early buyers already hold. {% hint style="danger" %} Instant Wins are not supported on competitions that use the **Sequential Tickets** game type. Choose **Standard** or one of the game modes if you want Instant Wins. {% endhint %} {% hint style="warning" %} **Add your Instant Wins before you open for sales.** Any prize you add after sales start cannot be won by anyone who has already bought. See [why this happens and how to avoid catching early buyers out](/create-your-first-raffle/add-instant-wins/instant-wins-and-sold-tickets.md). {% endhint %} *** ### 1. Open the Create Instant Wins page There are two ways in. Both take you to the same **Create Instant Wins** page. **From the top of the competition** 1. In the **admin panel**, click **Competitions** in the left-hand menu. 2. Click the competition you want to add Instant Wins to. 3. At the top of the competition page, click the purple **Instant Wins** button. **From the Instant Wins tab** 1. Open the competition as above. 2. Scroll down below the competition form to the tabs and open the **Instant Wins** tab. 3. Click **Create Instant Wins**. When you are finished, click **Back to Competition** in the top right corner to return to the competition. *** ### 2. Check the competition summary The top of the page gives you everything you need to plan your prizes. #### Competition details The first card shows the competition's image and title, along with: * **Price**: the current ticket price. * **Max Tickets**: the total number of tickets in the competition. * **Ends**: the date and time the competition closes. * **Type**: the Game Type the competition uses (for example Standard, Spins or Slots). If any of these look wrong, click **Back to Competition** and fix them before you add prizes. #### The budget bar (paid competitions only) On a paid competition, four boxes show how your site credit prizes compare with what the competition can earn: | Box | What it shows | | -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | **Max Revenue** | Price × max tickets. What you would take if every ticket sold at the normal price. | | **Existing Payouts** | Site credit from the Instant Wins already on this competition. | | **New Payouts** | Site credit from the Instant Wins you are adding right now. It updates as you type. | | **Remaining Budget** | Revenue remaining after all payouts. This box turns **red** if your payouts are more than Max Revenue. | Free competitions do not show the budget bar. {% hint style="info" %} **Want to understand the budget bar in detail?** See [The Instant Win Budget Bar](/create-your-first-raffle/add-instant-wins/instant-win-budget-explained.md) for what counts towards it, the messages you may see when payouts are too high, and the quickest ways to fix a red budget. {% endhint %} #### Available Tickets Below the budget bar, a smaller row shows: * **Available Tickets**: how many ticket numbers are still free to become winning numbers. This is your Max Tickets, minus tickets already sold, minus numbers already used by your existing Instant Wins. * **Max Tickets**: the full size of the competition, for comparison. If the competition uses the **Slots** game, you will also see the reminder **Slots game: max 9 instant wins**. The slot reels only have nine prize symbols, so keep Slots competitions to nine different prizes in total. See [Slots](/instant-win-games/slots.md) for more. {% hint style="info" %} If **Available Tickets** is lower than you expected, it is simply counting tickets that have already sold or are already winning numbers. [Here is why that matters](/create-your-first-raffle/add-instant-wins/instant-wins-and-sold-tickets.md). {% endhint %} *** ### 3. Add your prizes Each prize you add is one row in the builder. If the competition has no Instant Wins yet, you will see a dashed box with the heading **Add Instant Wins**. 1. Click **Add Instant Win** to add a new row. 2. Fill in the fields described below. 3. Click **Add Instant Win** again for each extra prize you want to add. 4. When you are happy, click **Create Instant Wins** at the bottom of the page (see step 4). #### The fields on each row | Field | What to enter | | ---------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Image** | A picture of the prize. PNG or JPG, up to 872 KB. Optional, but it is shown to customers on your competition page, so it is well worth adding. | | **Prize** | The prize name customers will see, for example "£50 Cash" or "Apple AirPods". Required. | | **Tickets** | How many winning tickets this prize has, in other words how many times it can be won. Must be at least 1. | | **Site Credit** | Switch this on if the prize is paid as site credit. A **Payout** box appears for the amount each winner receives (at least 10p, or the equivalent in your currency). | | **Winlink** | Switch this on to give the winner free tickets in another live competition. Choose the competition in **Link to** and enter how many **Free tickets** to award (from 1 to 5,000). | | **Leaderboard Points** | Only shown if the competition has a [leaderboard](/additional-settings/leaderboards.md#configure-instant-win-points) switched on. Turn it on and enter the **Points** (1 to 10,000) the winner earns. | A few things worth knowing about these options: * **Leave Site Credit and Winlink off for physical prizes and cash you pay by hand.** Those wins appear in your Instant Winners list for you to fulfil. * **Site credit and Winlink prizes are paid automatically.** You never need to pay them by hand. * **You can combine options.** For example, a prize can award site credit and Winlink tickets at the same time, and the winner receives both. * **The Link to list** only shows your other live competitions, with their end date in brackets, for example "Dream Car (24 Oct)". The competition you are editing and any Sequential Tickets competitions are not offered. {% hint style="info" %} **Choosing a Winlink competition?** Pick one that closes well after this one. If the linked competition has ended, sold out, or the winner has hit its ticket limit, the winner receives site credit instead of tickets. See [What Happens to a Winlink Prize](/create-your-first-raffle/add-instant-wins/winlink-explained.md) for the full details, and [Site Credit Instant Win Payouts](/drawing-winners/managing-payouts/instant-win-site-credit-payouts.md) for how automatic credit payouts work. {% endhint %} #### The live totals As you type, the builder adds up your prizes for you: * Under each row, a small chip shows the number of winning tickets (for example **25 tickets**). For site credit prizes, a green chip shows the sum, for example **£5.00 × 25 = £125.00 payout**. * Below the builder, a summary table lists every new prize with its **Prize** name and **Tickets**. If any of the new prizes pay site credit, it also shows **Per Win** and **Total Payout** columns. * The **Total** row at the bottom adds everything up. If the total number of tickets is more than your **Available Tickets**, the figure turns red so you can fix it before saving. #### How many you can add at once * You can add up to **100** prize rows in one go (**9** on a Slots competition). * Each row can have up to **99,999** winning tickets. * Need more? Save what you have, then add the rest in another batch. New prizes are added after the existing ones. {% hint style="success" %} **Tip:** Instead of one prize with a huge number of tickets, think about a spread. A few big headline prizes plus lots of smaller site credit prizes keeps customers winning regularly and makes the competition feel lively. {% endhint %} *** ### 4. Save with Create Instant Wins 1. Check the summary table and, on paid competitions, the **Remaining Budget** box. 2. Click **Create Instant Wins**. 3. You will see a green message such as **3 Instant Wins Created!** and the page reloads. Your new prizes now appear in the **Existing Instant Wins** list at the top of the page. Their winning numbers have been chosen at random from tickets that have not yet been sold, and from that moment customers can win them. #### If the builder will not save If one of these messages appears, read it, make the change, and click **Create Instant Wins** again. Apart from **Invalid ticket count** (see the warning below the table), nothing is saved when you see one of them. | Message | What it means and how to fix it | | ---------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **No instant wins added** | You clicked save without any rows. Click **Add Instant Win** first. | | **Not enough tickets left** | Your prizes need more winning tickets than there are available numbers. Lower the **Tickets** on one or more rows. See [Instant Wins and Already Sold Tickets](/create-your-first-raffle/add-instant-wins/instant-wins-and-sold-tickets.md). | | **Invalid ticket count** | A prize has 0 (or fewer) tickets. Every prize needs at least 1. | | **Site credit payouts exceed maximum revenue** | The competition is Active and your site credit prizes would cost more than the competition can earn. See [The Instant Win Budget Bar](/create-your-first-raffle/add-instant-wins/instant-win-budget-explained.md) for ways to fix it. | Required fields that are empty (such as **Prize**, **Tickets**, **Payout**, **Link to** or **Free tickets**) are highlighted in red on the row itself. {% hint style="warning" %} **Seen "Invalid ticket count"?** Before you click **Create Instant Wins** again, look at the **Existing Instant Wins** list. Prizes on rows above the faulty one may already have been created. Remove those rows from the builder (or delete the duplicates afterwards) so you do not end up with two copies. {% endhint %} *** ### 5. Manage your existing Instant Wins Once a competition has Instant Wins, a collapsible list called **Existing Instant Wins** appears above the builder, with the number of prizes in brackets, for example **Existing Instant Wins (6)**. Click the heading to fold it away or open it again. Each prize in the list shows: * **The prize name** and how many winning tickets it has. * **£x/win**: the payout each winner receives, for site credit prizes. * **A purple percentage**: hover over it (or tap it on a phone) to see **Chance of Winning**. This is the chance that any single ticket wins this prize, based on its winning tickets compared with Max Tickets. * **A green amount**: the **Total Site Credit Payout** for that prize (payout × winning tickets). * **A pencil icon** to open the prize and edit it (see step 6). * **A bin icon** to delete it. You will be asked to confirm, with the warning **This will permanently delete this instant win and all its tickets.** #### Change the order Grab the up and down arrows on the left of a prize and drag it to a new position. The order saves as soon as you let go. The order matters. It is the order prizes are listed in on your competition page, and on a Slots competition it decides which reel symbol each prize uses. #### The Instant Wins tab on the competition You can also manage prizes without opening the builder. On the competition page, open the **Instant Wins** tab to see a table with the prize image, **Prize**, **Tickets**, **Won** (how many have been found so far), **Credit**, **Payout**, **Winlink** and **#** (the position). From here you can: * Click a prize, or its **Edit** button, to edit it. * Click **Delete** to remove it. * Reorder prizes using the reorder button above the table. * Click **Create Instant Wins** to open the builder. {% hint style="danger" %} **Think twice before deleting a prize that has already been won.** Deleting a prize removes all of its winning tickets, including the record of who won it. If a prize has been found, it is usually better to leave it in place. {% endhint %} *** ### 6. Edit an Instant Win To change a prize after it has been created: 1. Open the competition and click the purple **Instant Wins** button (or open the **Instant Wins** tab). 2. Click the **pencil** icon next to the prize (or its **Edit** button in the tab). 3. Make your changes. 4. Click **Save changes** at the bottom of the form. The page is titled **Edit:** followed by the prize name. Underneath, a summary line shows how many winning tickets the prize has, how many have been won, and the payout per win for site credit prizes. The buttons at the top of the page are: * **Back to Competition**: returns to the competition. * **Manage Instant Wins**: opens the Create Instant Wins page for this competition. * **Delete**: deletes this prize and all of its winning tickets, after you confirm. #### What you can change * **Featured Image**: replace or remove the prize picture. * **Prize Details**: change the **Prize** name, switch **Site Credit** on or off, and change the **Payout**. * **Winlink**: a collapsible section (**Award the winner free tickets to another competition.**). Switch on **Enable Winlink**, then choose the **Competition** and enter the **Free tickets to award** (1 to 5,000). * **Award Leaderboard Points** and **Points Value**: only shown on competitions with a leaderboard. Switching **Site Credit** off clears the payout amount, and switching **Enable Winlink** off clears the linked competition and number of free tickets when you save. Switch them back on and fill them in again if you change your mind. {% hint style="info" %} **Changes only affect future wins.** Anyone who has already won this prize keeps what they were given. For example, raising the payout from £5 to £10 only affects wins that happen after you save. {% endhint %} {% hint style="warning" %} **You cannot change the number of winning tickets on this page.** To offer more of the same prize, go back to the Create Instant Wins page and add it again as a new prize. To offer fewer, delete individual winning numbers in the **Instant Win Tickets** list below. {% endhint %} #### The Instant Win Tickets list At the bottom of the edit page, the **Instant Win Tickets** list shows every winning number for this prize: * **Ticket number**: the winning number. * **Won?**: a tick once a customer has been given that number. * **Winner Name**, **Winner Email** and **Winner Phone**: filled in once the number has been won. For numbers that have been won, you will also see **View Winner** (opens the customer's record in your admin panel) and **View Order** (opens the order). Both open in a new tab. You can **Delete** a winning number, either one at a time or by ticking several and using the bulk delete option. Deleted numbers stop being winners and become normal tickets again. You cannot add your own numbers here. New winning numbers are always chosen at random by the builder. *** ### 7. What happens when someone wins As soon as a customer's order is complete, their tickets are checked against your winning numbers. * **The customer finds out straight away.** They see their result on the order complete page (or by playing the game, if you use a game mode), and they receive an Instant Win email. * **A note is added to the order** showing the winning ticket number and the prize, so you can always see it in the order history. * **Site credit prizes are paid automatically** into the winner's wallet and marked as paid. There is nothing for you to do. See [Site Credit Instant Win Payouts](/drawing-winners/managing-payouts/instant-win-site-credit-payouts.md). * **Winlink prizes are delivered automatically.** The free tickets are added to the linked competition (or site credit is given instead if they cannot be). See [What Happens to a Winlink Prize](/create-your-first-raffle/add-instant-wins/winlink-explained.md). * **Physical prizes and cash prizes** appear in your Instant Winners list as unpaid, ready for you to post the prize or send the payment. See [Managing Instant Winners](/drawing-winners/managing-instant-winners.md). * **Leaderboard points**, if set, are added to the winner's score. Your competition page also shows an **Instant Wins** section, listing each prize with its image and name and how many of each have been found so far. This is a big part of the excitement for customers, so it is worth giving every prize a clear name and a good picture. *** ### 8. Game Modes (Optional)
* If you choose one of our [**Game Modes**](/instant-win-games/instant-win-games.md) as the **Game Type** when setting up the competition, Instant Wins are revealed in a more interactive way. * Instead of seeing their result straight away, customers spin a wheel, play a slot machine, scratch a card and more to reveal whether they have won. * This adds an extra layer of excitement and keeps players engaged. * Want to see it in action first? See [Test a Game Type](/instant-win-games/test-a-game-type.md). *** ### Reusing Instant Wins on a new competition If you run similar competitions often, you do not need to rebuild your prizes each time. When you [duplicate a competition](/create-your-first-raffle/managing-competitions/duplicate-a-competition.md), tick **Include Instant Wins**. The prizes, images and settings are copied across, and brand new winning numbers are picked for the new competition. Open the new competition's Instant Wins afterwards to check the prizes, payouts and any Winlink competitions still make sense. *** ### Quick tips * **Plan first, then launch.** Add every prize before the competition goes Active so every ticket has a fair chance. * **Keep an eye on Remaining Budget** for site credit prizes, and remember physical prizes and Winlink tickets cost you money too. * **Use clear prize names and good images.** They appear on your competition page and in winner emails. * **Set the order deliberately**, putting your headline prizes where you want customers to see them. * **Link Winlinks to competitions that close later**, so winners usually get their tickets rather than credit. *** {% content-ref url="/pages/oQGhFbfiF5FbsLvXtpni" %} [The Instant Win Budget Bar](/create-your-first-raffle/add-instant-wins/instant-win-budget-explained.md) {% endcontent-ref %} {% content-ref url="/pages/P1qxAppHjWc8DQNV765t" %} [Winlink Prize Fallbacks](/create-your-first-raffle/add-instant-wins/winlink-explained.md) {% endcontent-ref %} {% content-ref url="/pages/5XgZSb5N5Jdquv8G7CRM" %} [Instant Wins and Already Sold Tickets](/create-your-first-raffle/add-instant-wins/instant-wins-and-sold-tickets.md) {% endcontent-ref %}