McKinney Competitions — An Honest Review
McKinney Competitions started back in March 2020, operating from Dungannon in Northern Ireland under Top Gear Autos NI LTD. At the time, they were a fairly unknown raffle-style competition site. Their first big draw was a Belfast apartment, and it sold almost 7,000 tickets in just a few days.
Since then, they’ve grown massively. Today, they describe themselves as one of the leading online competition companies in the UK and Ireland — and to be fair, the numbers do back that up.
They’ve now got more than 35,000 Trustpilot reviews, over 50,000 winners, and more than £100 million in prizes paid out. That’s no small operation. They also have offices in London and Dublin, as well as their original Northern Ireland base, which shows just how much they’ve expanded since launching.
What Can You Win?
McKinney is probably best known for its property competitions. That seems to be their main thing, and it’s where a lot of the excitement comes from.
They’ve run more than 30 house and property draws since launching, including Belfast apartments, luxury homes on Malone Road valued at £775,000, villas in Spain, and apartments in Portugal. Most of these also come with a cash alternative, which gives winners the option to take the money instead of the property.
It’s not just houses, though. They also run competitions for cars, cash prizes, tech, tools, and lifestyle items. So if a big property ticket feels like too much of a stretch, there are usually cheaper draws available too.
The entry process is straightforward. You choose the competition, buy your tickets, answer a skill-based question, and then you’re entered if your answer is correct. They send confirmation by email and, importantly, they tell you whether your answer was right or wrong. Not every competition site makes that clear, so it’s a good touch.
Each competition also has a capped number of entries, meaning you can see the maximum odds before you decide whether to enter. They also offer 2% cashback on every order, which isn’t huge, but it’s a nice bonus if you enter regularly.
What Are Customers Saying?
I spent some time looking through their Trustpilot reviews, including both the positive ones and the complaints. A few things came up again and again.
The most common positive comment is that the site is easy to use. People mention the simple layout, clear instructions, and smooth payment process. Apple Pay is also available, which makes entering quick and convenient.
A lot of reviewers also seem to like the live draws. That’s something McKinney does well. Instead of just announcing winners quietly in the background, they build up the draw, stream it live, and make an event out of it. For many customers, that adds to the excitement and makes the whole thing feel more transparent.
One reviewer said they liked the fact that the competitions are shown live because it makes everything feel fair. Another described McKinney as feeling “like an extended family”. That might sound a bit over the top, but when you see similar comments from lots of different people, it does suggest they’ve built a pretty loyal community.
There are also plenty of regular entrants who haven’t won anything yet but still keep coming back. That says quite a lot. One person said they regularly buy tickets and still hope for the Sunday night call telling them they’ve won a house or villa. Another said they’d been entering for two years without a win but still rated the company highly because of the prizes and reasonable prices.
Of course, it’s not all perfect. The negative reviews are a small minority, but there are a few recurring complaints worth mentioning.
Some people say they receive too many marketing texts or messages after entering. Others mention pricing changes and regular discounts, which can make it a bit confusing if one price appears on the homepage and another shows on the competition page.
A few people also point out that property winners sometimes choose the cash alternative instead of taking the house. That’s not really a problem, as the option is clearly there, but if your dream is to see someone actually win the property itself, it’s worth knowing that winners don’t always take that route.
Another thing to be aware of is the no-refund policy. If you enter and then change your mind, or if you answer the question incorrectly, you don’t get your money back. That’s fairly standard for this type of competition, but it’s still something to keep in mind before buying tickets.
One positive thing I did notice is that McKinney seems to respond to most negative reviews on Trustpilot, usually within a week. A lot of companies ignore criticism, so it’s good to see them at least engaging with people when issues come up.
Charity and Community
Another part of McKinney’s appeal is the charity side. They say they’ve donated more than £1 million to charity, and that clearly matters to a lot of their customers.
One first-time entrant said they liked knowing that even if they didn’t win, some of their money was still going towards a good cause. That seems to be part of what keeps people coming back — it feels like there’s a bit more to it than just buying a ticket and hoping for the best.
They’ve also built a big following on social media, with more than 700,000 followers across their platforms. Their content is quite informal and down-to-earth. They do live draws, behind-the-scenes videos, winner updates, and general competition build-up without making it feel too corporate.
Is McKinney Competitions Worth It?
Overall, McKinney comes across as one of the more established and trustworthy competition platforms in the UK and Ireland.
The live draws, capped entries, visible winners, strong Trustpilot score, and large number of past winners all help give the company credibility. It’s not some tiny site with no track record — they’ve clearly been around long enough and paid out enough prizes to be taken seriously.
That said, it’s still a competition site. You should treat it as entertainment, not as a serious financial plan or a way to try and make money. The odds are still odds, and most people won’t win. So it’s best to only spend what you’re comfortable losing.
McKinney is probably best suited to people who enjoy the excitement of entering, like following the live draws, and want the chance of winning something genuinely life-changing without spending huge amounts.
Go in with realistic expectations, enjoy it for what it is, and you never know — you might end up being the one getting that Sunday night phone call.
McKinney Competitions feels like one of the better-run and more established competition platforms out there. It’s not perfect, but it does seem legitimate, transparent, with a real community feel that most competitors in this space simply don’t have.