Terms of Service

1. Platform Disclaimer

A raffle is a jar on a counter, a hat passed round a break room, a bowl of folded slips at a stand. geRaff ("the Platform") is the software that runs one: a Host sets up a draw, people enter it, and the Platform picks a winner at random. It replaces the paper and the hand in the hat. It does not replace the Host.

The Host runs the raffle. geRaff runs the draw. A Host decides what the prize is, who their raffle is for, and how the winner gets it. The people who enter ("Entrants") are entering that Host's raffle, not geRaff's. geRaff is not the operator, promoter, or sponsor of any raffle run on the Platform, and does not choose who wins.

Most raffles here are not public, and these Terms are written knowing that. A Room Mode or School/Group raffle is closed to a group the Host already has in front of them, and geRaff publishes, lists and advertises none of them. A General Raffle is the open case: anyone with the link may enter, strangers included, and it carries obligations the other two do not. Section 2 says which are which, and it is the difference the rest of this document turns on.

These Terms govern geRaff's raffle products: Group Mode, Room Mode, General Raffle, and Quick Draw. Showtime is a presentation feature used with these products and is governed by these Terms. Other geRaff products are governed by their own terms.

2. Host Obligations

These apply to every raffle, in every mode. Hosts are solely responsible for:

• The accuracy of the prize description
• Getting the prize to the winner — handed over in the room, collected, or shipped — and doing so at the Host's own expense
• Never passing any cost of any kind to the winner
• Their own tax obligations arising from giving a prize away, including any information-reporting or filing obligations that may apply to them

These apply to a General Raffle, which is open to anyone with the link and is therefore a public promotion:

• Compliance with the federal, state, and local laws that govern raffles, sweepstakes, and giveaways in their jurisdiction, including confirming the raffle is permitted in their state
• Any duties, customs charges, or fees required to deliver the prize to the winner

A contained raffle is not exempt from the law; it is a different thing under it. A draw among the people in one room, or among a group a Host already has, is not a public promotion, and the promotion obligations above were not written for it. A Host running one is responsible for their own participants and for anything their own workplace, school or organisation requires — which is what they confirm when they create it.

Prize taxes are the winner's responsibility. Federal, state, and local taxes on the value of a prize are the sole responsibility of the winner, regardless of whether any tax form is issued. This is stated in each General Raffle's Official Rules and is not altered by anything in this Section. Hosts remain responsible for their own reporting obligations as described above. Nothing in these Terms shifts a winner's tax liability to a Host, or a Host's filing obligation to geRaff.

geRaff may contact Hosts directly using the email address provided at raffle creation for support, questions about an active raffle, or other operational purposes related to use of the Platform.

3. Host Responsibilities Policy

Hosts agree to comply with geRaff's Host Responsibilities policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference. Raffles that violate this policy are subject to immediate suspension or removal. geRaff reserves the right to update the Host Responsibilities policy at any time.

4. Platform Liability

geRaff is not liable for:

• Non-fulfillment of prizes by Hosts
• Inaccurate prize descriptions
• Shipping delays, damages, or losses
• Any disputes between Hosts and Entrants
• Any losses incurred by Entrants or Hosts

5. Eligibility

Hosts. Anyone who creates a geRaff account must be 18 years or older and a legal resident of the United States. A Host confirms this the first time they use a Host tool, whether that is creating a raffle or drawing with Quick Draw.

Entrants in a General Raffle must be 18 years or older and legal residents of the United States. A General Raffle is open to anyone with the link, its Official Rules state this as an eligibility condition, and the entry form asks the entrant to confirm it before they enter.

Entrants in Room Mode and School/Group raffles. geRaff sets no age requirement for these and does not ask. They are closed to a group the Host already has — a break room, a stand at a show, a classroom — and the Host decides who takes part. The Host is responsible for their participants being appropriate for the raffle they are running, including for the prize being given away and for anything their own organisation requires. A School/Group raffle run for children is an ordinary use of the mode, not an exception to these Terms.

6. Prize Images

Images uploaded by Hosts are stored securely on GeRaff's platform for the duration of the raffle and for 30 days following the selection of a winner. After this period, prize images are automatically deleted from GeRaff's servers. Hosts are responsible for retaining their own copies of uploaded images. GeRaff is not responsible for image loss after the 30-day retention period.

All images are automatically compressed and optimized upon upload. GeRaff does not guarantee the preservation of original image resolution or file size.

7. No Purchase Necessary

No purchase is necessary to enter any raffle on geRaff. All entries are submitted through the standard entry form, and entering is always free; no purchase is required to enter or win.

8. Raffle Fulfillment & Winner Process

Winners pay nothing. A winner is never required to pay any amount (including shipping, handling, processing, insurance, or any other fee or charge) to claim, receive, or use a prize. Delivery or pickup is arranged at the Host's expense. The Platform does not permit a Host to condition delivery of a prize on any payment by the winner. Any Host who attempts to do so is in breach of these Terms and the raffle is subject to suspension or removal under Section 3.

1. 1. Winner Selection - Winners are selected using geRaff's cryptographically secure random draw engine. All draws are final and cannot be influenced by the host or geRaff.
2. 2. Winner Notification - In a General Raffle the winner is emailed at the moment the host draws. geRaff does not draw on a schedule, so the time between entry closing and that draw is the host's. In Room Mode the winner is emailed at the moment the host draws, because the draw happens in front of the people who entered and there is nothing to wait for. For School/Group raffles no entrant email is collected at all, and the host announces the winner directly. Hosts receive winner details at the same time.
3. 3. Fulfillment Window - Hosts are expected to contact the winner and arrange delivery promptly after the draw. In General Raffles that window is 7 days. Room Mode and School/Group raffles carry no fixed window, because the draw happens in front of the people who entered and the host is present to them. If a winner cannot be reached or fulfillment cannot be completed, the host may request a re-draw once the redraw window described in item 5 below has opened.
4. 4. Mark as Shipped or Picked Up - Once the prize has reached the winner, the host must mark it in their dashboard — shipped where it was sent, picked up where it was handed over. This records the date and, in a General Raffle, notifies the winner that their prize is on the way. In Room Mode and School/Group raffles no such notification is sent, because the people who entered were present for the draw and the handover is itself the confirmation. Marking a raffle as shipped is a fulfillment confirmation and is tracked separately from the raffle's overall status.
5. 5. Re-Draw Policy - If a host is unable to complete fulfillment with the selected winner they may cancel the winner and draw the next entrant. In General Raffles this becomes available 72 hours after the original draw date; in Room Mode and School/Group raffles it is available immediately, as there is no absent entrant waiting on a notification. This re-draw option is available once per winner position, not once per raffle: a raffle with several winners carries an independent re-draw for each position, and using one does not consume the others. A substitute winner is not themselves subject to further substitution - once a position has been re-drawn it has no re-draw left, and if that substitute also cannot be fulfilled the host must arrange fulfillment directly or create a new raffle.
6. 6. Fulfillment Costs - Hosts are solely responsible for prize fulfillment, for every cost of getting the prize to the winner whether it is shipped or handed over, and for delivery timelines. These costs may not be passed to the winner in whole or in part. geRaff is not responsible for lost, damaged, or undelivered prizes.
7. 7. Support - Winners who have not heard from their host may contact us for assistance: after 7 days from the draw in a General Raffle, or at any point in Room Mode and School/Group raffles, where no fulfillment window applies. This right does not depend on the mode; only the point at which it becomes useful does. geRaff will make reasonable efforts to help resolve fulfillment disputes but is not liable for host non-performance.
8. 8. Cancellation - If a winner selection is cancelled due to fulfillment failure the original winner will be notified by email in a General Raffle. In Room Mode and School/Group raffles the host tells them directly, for the same reason the draw needs no announcement there. A substitute winner is notified wherever an entrant email was collected. geRaff is not liable for any inconvenience caused by a cancelled selection.

9. Other Products

Drop Mode is a separate geRaff product and is not currently available. Where a waitlist or interest form is offered, joining it is free, creates no obligation, and does not enter you into anything. Drop Mode will be governed by its own terms, published before it launches.

10. Indemnification

By using geRaff, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless geRaff, its owners, officers, and employees from any claims arising from your use of the Platform.

11. Governing Law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas.

12. Changes to Terms

geRaff reserves the right to update these terms at any time. Continued use of the Platform constitutes acceptance of updated terms.

13. Contact

These Terms should be read together with our Privacy Policy, which describes what information geRaff collects and how it is used.

Questions? Contact us

14. Entry Eligibility, Disqualification & Draw Integrity

Automatic ineligibility. Certain entries are ineligible for a draw automatically, by operation of the Platform, without any decision by geRaff or the Host. An entry is not included in a draw if:

• it was never confirmed, where confirmation is required: General Raffles are confirmed by the Entrant via their own email link. A Group entry is confirmed the moment it is made, whether the Entrant entered themselves from the raffle's own page or the Host added them, and a Room Mode entry is confirmed when the Entrant submits it, so neither mode has an unconfirmed state. An unconfirmed entry never becomes draw-eligible;
• the entrant withdrew it before the entry period closed;
• it duplicates an entry already submitted by the same person for the same raffle, in violation of the one-entry-per-person rule;
• it was submitted after the stated close of the entry period;
• it was identified by the Platform's automated abuse and bot-detection controls as not having been submitted by a person entering on their own behalf;
• the raffle it belongs to was suspended, cancelled, or removed; or
• it was submitted using the same email address as the raffle's own Host.

These outcomes are applied uniformly by the Platform to all entries in the same condition. Neither geRaff nor a Host selects which individual entries are affected.

Official time. The close of the entry period is determined by geRaff's own server clock, not by any Entrant's or Host's local device, browser, or displayed time zone. An entry received by the Platform after that moment is late and automatically ineligible under this Section, regardless of what time any Entrant's or Host's own device shows.

A withdrawn entry is not a penalty. Withdrawing an entry does not count against the one-entry-per-person limit. An entrant who withdraws may re-enter before the entry period closes, and a re-entry following a withdrawal is not a duplicate. A Host may also add a withdrawn Entrant back on their behalf. When this happens, the Entrant is emailed and must confirm the entry themselves before it counts toward the draw; a Host cannot confirm on their behalf. They may withdraw again at any time.

Host-initiated disqualification. A Host may disqualify an Entrant or a winner only on grounds that were disclosed before the entry period opened, and never for a reason arrived at afterwards. In a General Raffle those grounds are the ones stated in that raffle's Official Rules — for example failure to complete required winner verification within the stated period, or ineligibility under the stated eligibility criteria. Room Mode and School/Group raffles carry no Official Rules, because they are not public promotions; there the grounds are whatever the Host told their group before entry opened, and the same limit applies. A Host may not disqualify anyone for a reason nobody was told.

What geRaff may remove. geRaff may render an entry or an entire raffle ineligible where it violates these Terms or the Host Responsibilities policy, or where the Platform's integrity controls indicate manipulation of a draw. geRaff does not select winners, does not influence draws, and does not remove individual entries to affect an outcome.

Draws are final. Once a draw is executed it cannot be reversed, re-run, or influenced by geRaff or by a Host, except through the re-draw process described in Section 8, which selects the next entrant at random and is available once per winner position.

15. Paid Plans & Billing

Optional. Creating an account, creating raffles, and entering raffles are free. Paid plans are optional and affect only Host-side capacity and presentation features, such as how many entrants a raffle may accept, how many winners it may have, how many raffles may run at once, and related host tools. No paid plan affects any entrant's chance of winning, and no entrant ever pays anything under any circumstance.

Recurring billing and automatic renewal. Paid plans are subscriptions billed in advance on a recurring basis at the interval you select, monthly or annual. Your subscription renews automatically at the end of each billing period, at the then-current price for your plan, and your payment method is charged automatically, until you cancel. The price, billing interval, and renewal date are disclosed to you before you complete your purchase, and are shown in your account.

Cancellation. You may cancel at any time from your account. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the billing period you have already paid for. You keep your paid plan's features until that date, after which your account returns to the free plan.

Refunds. Subscription fees are non-refundable, including for partial billing periods and for periods during which you did not use the Platform. Cancelling stops future charges. It does not refund past ones. Nothing in this paragraph limits any refund right you have under applicable law, and geRaff may issue a refund at its discretion, for example where a billing error occurred.

Price changes. geRaff may change subscription prices. Any price change applies to your next billing period after we notify you, and we will notify you by email at least 30 days before a price change takes effect. If you do not want to pay the new price, cancel before your next renewal date.

What happens when your plan changes. If you downgrade or cancel, raffles you have already created continue to run under the limits they were created with and are not cancelled, truncated, or altered. New raffles created after the change are subject to your current plan's limits. Downgrading does not delete a raffle, an entry, or a result.

Payment processing. Payments are processed by Stripe. Stripe collects your payment details directly. geRaff does not receive or store your card information. geRaff stores a customer identifier issued by Stripe and your current plan. See our Privacy Policy.

Taxes. Prices are exclusive of any sales, use, or similar taxes, which may be added where required.

Non-transferable. A paid plan is tied to the account that purchased it. Accounts are for a single person. Multi-user organizations require a separate arrangement, contact us.

Failed payments. If a payment fails, geRaff may retry the charge and may suspend paid features until payment succeeds. Suspension for non-payment does not delete your raffles or your data.

Disputes. If you believe you have been charged in error, contact us before initiating a chargeback. We will investigate and correct genuine billing errors.

16. Entrant Contact Information

A raffle is a fishbowl on a table. The people who enter one are handing their details to the Host running it, the same way they would drop a business card into a bowl at that Host's own booth. geRaff replaces the paper. It does not stand between a Host and the people who chose to enter their raffle.

The Host holds what they collect. Where a Host receives an Entrant's contact information through the Platform, that information is the Host's to hold and to use for the purpose the Entrant was shown when they entered.

The Host is the sender. A Host who contacts an Entrant is sending that message themselves. They are responsible for their own compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and any other law that applies to how they reach people — including identifying themselves accurately, honoring an opt-out promptly, and not contacting anyone who has asked them to stop. geRaff does not write a Host's messages, does not send them, and does not choose who receives them.

What a Host may not do with it. A Host may not sell, rent, or transfer Entrant contact information to anyone else, and may not use it for a purpose they did not disclose at entry. Entering a raffle is not a subscription to anything. A Host who does either of these things is in breach of these Terms, and their raffles are subject to suspension or removal under Section 3.

If you entered and want a Host to stop. Tell the Host — they hold your address and they are the one sending. If you have asked and it has not stopped, contact us. We will act on it, including by removing the Host from the Platform.

What a Host actually sees of an entry is set out in our Privacy Policy, and depends on their plan.

17. Quick Draw

Quick Draw picks a number at random from a range you choose. It is not a raffle. There is no entry page, no Entrant, no prize, and no winner to notify or deliver to. The sections of these Terms that describe raffles, Entrants, and prize fulfillment do not apply to it.

What geRaff records. Each time you draw, geRaff records that a draw happened, the size of the pool it was drawn from, and the time, linked to your account. geRaff does not record the numbers in the pool or the number you drew.

What you do with the number is yours. Any use you make of a Quick Draw result away from geRaff, including choosing a person, awarding anything, or running a promotion of your own, is yours to run and is not a geRaff raffle. These Terms do not make it one.