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Penny auctions

If you are organising a penny auction it is your responsibility to ensure you are compliant with the law. If in doubt, you should seek legal advice.

In a penny auction players pay a fee to place small bids on items they want. Once the auction has ended the last player to have placed a bid wins the item and pays the final bid price.

You can run a penny auction website without a licence from the Gambling Commission as we do not consider it gambling under the Gambling Act 2005 (opens in a new tab).

As penny auction sites continue to evolve, we will continue to check the way that they operate to ensure those providing facilities to gamble are properly licensed.

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Last updated: 16 June 2021

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