> Car competitions nearly all offer a cash alternative, and most winners take it. What a cash prize draw does differently, what it costs, and why a published ticket cap matters. Source: https://granddraws.co.uk/botb-alternatives-uk --- # If you would take the cash anyway **BOTB state on their own site that every car prize comes with a cash alternative, with the figure shown on the prize before you enter.** Which raises a fair question: if the money is what you are really playing for, why enter for a car first? We do not run car competitions and never will. We run the cash. ## The route most people are actually taking 1. 1 You enter for a car Pick the car, play the skill game, buy a ticket or enter free. Nothing unusual, and nothing wrong with it. 2. 2 You win, and you are offered the money The cash figure was on the prize all along. Most people who think it through take it: a car you did not choose, in a colour you did not pick, with insurance and road tax attached, is a different proposition from the same value in your bank. 3. 3 Or you skip the middle step A cash competition is that outcome without the detour. The prize is money from the start, so there is no conversion, no valuation to argue about and no choice to make under pressure. The cash-alternative statement is BOTB s own, from [their cash prizes page](https://www.botb.com/cash-prizes), checked 30 October 2026. It is a description of what they offer, not a criticism of it: publishing the cash figure up front is a good thing to do. Terms change, so check the competition s own rules before entering. ## What we are not We are not a car competition and this is not a page pretending we secretly are one. If you want to drive the thing, go and enter for the car; nothing here substitutes for that, and an operator telling you otherwise would be selling you something it does not have. What we are is the other half of that transaction, without the first half. The prize is cash from the outset, so there is no conversion rate to accept, no valuation to take on trust and no decision to make in the week you win. ## The one number to compare Not the ticket price. The ticket cap. Your chance is your tickets divided by the total number in the draw, so a 50p ticket in a vast draw can be a longer shot than a £5 ticket in a small one. Every competition here publishes its cap before entry opens, which is what makes [the sum](https://granddraws.co.uk/chances-of-winning) possible at all, and the [calculator](https://granddraws.co.uk/odds-calculator) works on any draw s numbers, not only ours. The rest of what is worth checking before you enter anywhere, including here, is in [the seven-question checklist](https://granddraws.co.uk/how-to-check-a-competition-is-genuine). ## What entering here costs Tickets are 9p each in minimum orders of 25, so £2.25 is the smallest order you can place. Or nothing at all: [the free postal route](https://granddraws.co.uk/free-entry) carries the same chance as a paid ticket, and [our free draw](https://granddraws.co.uk/launch-draw) has no ticket to buy. Every winner is [published](https://granddraws.co.uk/winners), and every draw can be recomputed from the numbers we publish with the result. ## Common questions ### Does BOTB give a cash alternative instead of the car? Yes. BOTB state on their own site that every car prize has a cash alternative, that the cash figure is given on each prize so entrants can see it in advance, and that the money is transferred to the winner’s account within days. It is worth knowing before you enter, because it changes what you are really playing for. Checked 30 October 2026. ### What is a good alternative to BOTB? If you want the car itself, a car competition is the only thing that gives you one and we are not going to pretend otherwise. If you would take the cash, a cash draw gives you that directly, usually for a much smaller outlay, and on a capped draw you can work out your chance before you pay anything. ### Is a cash competition cheaper to enter? The per-ticket price here is 9p, sold in minimum orders of 25, so £2.25 is the smallest order. But price per ticket is the wrong comparison on its own: a cheap ticket in an enormous draw can be worse value than a dearer one in a small draw. Compare the price of a given chance, which needs the ticket cap, and that is the figure to look for. ### Why does the ticket cap matter so much? Because it is the denominator. Your chance is your tickets divided by the total in the draw, so without a published total there is no sum to do and any odds figure you are quoted is an estimate. A capped draw fixes the total before it opens, which means your chance is a fact you can check rather than a claim you have to accept. ### Can I enter without paying? Yes. Every paid competition here carries a free postal route with exactly the same chance as a paid ticket, and Grand Draws also runs an outright free draw with nothing to buy.