Sweepstakes, Contests or instant winner games

This is a rather broad question, and the answer will change from agency to agency, and possibly even promotion to promotion. I checked with Rich Kaback, DJA's Vice President of Travel & Incentives , to see how wwe would handle such a request, and here's Rich's answer:
"We frequently receive and gladly handle requests for extensions, particularly when the sweepstakes travel award is to a distant destination, but only offered for a limited duration. We engage the winner in a dialogue to determine whether they would like to extend, and clarify that we can make changes to the flight itinerary, so long as the original airfare is not exceeded. We then advise the applicable airfare cost and make every effort to rebook without any increase in airfare, or alternatively offer the winner the opportunity to subsidize the difference, in the event of an increase. We also gladly assist with land arrangements (hotel reservations, car rental, etc. - whatever is required.) However, just to insure that the accounting is crystal clear and unclouded, we typically maintain our original reservation, which we prepay in full, and then create a new, secondary reservation for any extension arrangements, which we cover with the winner's credit card. Sometimes, if the winner extends at the same hotel, we confirm a similar type of room accommodation, but with a separate confirmation number, and clarify this information to the winner in the letter which accompanies the final documents, advising that the winner should, at check-in, request that the same room be maintained or assigned to both bookings."

You lump several different types of promotions together and really don't provide enough detail for me to give you any pricing ranges that would be of any value. In general, the administrative costs of a promotion are the smallest cost. Typically you would spend much more on advertising and the cost of prizes.
The promotions you mention require a great deal of timing, detail and legal knowledge. Most companies realize that the cost of administering a promotion is well spent by letting the experts do it. The down side is too great.

Since chance is involved in which level of discount you would get, we would consider it to be a form of sweepstakes and want to include a full set of rules. However since there are no real "prizes", only discounts, we don't see the need for registration or bonding. As for the department stores doing it all the time...don't ever assume that just because someone runs a promotion one way that they are correct...maybe they just haven't gotten caught... yet!!

Both the U.S. and Canada have laws that would impact your running an Instant Win game. These laws have specific requirements that must be adhered to , but instant win games are a very popular and effective promotional technique and don't pose a problem if you know what to look out for. If you are considering running a game you should definitely contact an agency that has had experience running these types of games, such Don Jagoda Associates. Many of the isues surrounding succesful in-pack instant winner games are time critical, so be sure to leave plenty of time for planning.

We've successfully run many instant win games on the outside of products, and while there is always a risk of tampering, we've never had a client tell us it was a major problem. In fact, many of our clients find this promotion technique so effective , they have repeated it frequently.
I need to know more about your product and how it is sold to give you a more comprehensive answer, but there are many techniques that can help minimize the risk of product tampering, both in the structure of the game and in the structure of the actual game piece. Please feel free to contact me directly if you'd like to discuss further.