2025 has been a rollercoaster year for sweepstakes casinos – a make-or-break year, even. As momentum builds towards either a mass shuttering of sweepstakes casinos as we know them or a fully regulated and legalized industry, several changes have emerged recently.
Do Sweepstakes Casinos Charge Fees for Purchases & Redemptions?
Better operator transparency and recent shifts towards greater compliance with state laws, coupled with landmark legislative decisions, are now prompting sweepstakes casinos to disclose or, in some cases, add purchase fees.
SweepsKings treats readers like royalty. Our team works around-the-clock to source you with honest and in-depth information on sweepstakes casinos. Our reviews, guides, bonuses, and coverage are based on hands-on testing and 100+ years of combined industry experience.
We may receive financial compensation if you play at the legal sweepstakes gaming sites we advertise. Still, our content remains impartial to financial or outside influence and is guided solely by our ethos, research, and industry knowledge.
Why Fees Are Becoming More Common at Sweepstakes Casinos
Times are changing, and the sweepstakes casino sector is seemingly faced with a choice: regulate or face closure. That’s the primary reason we’re seeing the introduction of fees. First, a bit of recent history.
Since 2025, California, Connecticut, Montana, Nevada, and New Jersey have passed anti-sweepstakes bills, effectively shutting down sweepstakes casinos. Moreover, New York is (almost certainly) about to adopt a similar bill, while Minnesota has expressed interest in following suit and legalizing online gambling instead.
Meanwhile, Louisiana is engaged in lawsuits with two of the largest operators, VGW (which owns Chumba) and MW Services (behind WOW Vegas and Rolla). The Louisiana Department of Revenue’s lawsuit focuses intently on revenue combined losses of up to $44 million across both operators, in unpaid taxes, penalties, and interest. Clearly, changes are afoot, but why the sudden interest in fees?
Much of the issue stems from the location of these businesses. Operators like VGW and MW Services are headquartered abroad, in Australia, Gibraltar, and Malta. As a result, they haven’t taken US corporate income tax seriously until now. However, by purchasing Gold Coins, these businesses do have a financial connection to the US market, and charging fees for coin purchases effectively allows for the taxation of digital goods.
In response to a flurry of legal challenges, the Social Gaming Leadership Alliance (SGLA), of which VGW is one of several founding members, has recently reiterated its willingness to be regulated. They claim that between $200 million – $300 million worth of taxable revenue could be raised through proper regulation, hoping that the financial incentive will convince lawmakers to approve a licensed industry, rather than forcing the closure of sites.
As a result of this tug of war, expect to see new terms and conditions (such as fees) at sites such as Chumba, Rolla, WOW Vegas, and others. Over at WOW Vegas, they claim that they “may” charge a fee for purchases and that customers are informed of the cost before checkout. Chumba goes the other way, simply stating that they “reserve the right to charge fees” for processing redemptions. Even these terms will need to be more transparent going forward, if the SGLA hopes to get its way.
State Regulations and Their Impact on GC Purchases
Currently, sweepstakes casinos are either unregulated (and thus legal) or illegal if a state has passed a bill prohibiting them. The argument many state lawmakers are presently having hinges on whether the dual-currency model is legal. Many people want to shut down the market. In response to the headwinds they are facing, many operators are taking action.
Incorporating fees into purchases or redemptions provides operators with a means to fulfill corporate income tax obligations. Moreover, the charging of voluntary sales taxes shows that Chumba (which started in July 2025), WOW Vegas, and other sites are taking a step in good faith towards regulation. This goodwill gesture, if you will, shows that the industry is willing to engage in change. Having lost as much as 17.5% of its revenue due to the closure of sweepstakes casinos in California, sweepstakes casino operators are seemingly willing to do what it takes to change lawmakers’ opinions of the industry.
Naturally, any fees applied to either purchases or redemptions hit you in the pocket. But like sweepstakes operators, you’re more likely to take the hit than lose out on playing altogether. When social casinos collapse, some operators stay in the space, offering pure GC-only gameplay, but that’s not what you want.
SC Redemption Fees and the Role of Banking Methods
The overwhelming majority of social casinos don’t implement redemption fees. That said, you may still incur surcharges based on your chosen banking method. For instance, crypto users can expect gas fees; it’s unavoidable. Credit cards also like to take a cut. E-wallets seldom hit you directly upon redemption. Instead, they’ll often wait until you move money from your e-wallet to your bank before applying a fee. These charges are, regrettably, beyond the sweepstake casinos’ control.
Instant vs Standard Sweeps Coins Redemptions: Are You Paying for Speed?
The notion of being charged for faster redemptions is often brought up. Sadly, this is becoming a more regular occurrence, an emerging trend, if you will. By coughing up a little extra, players can expect so-called instant transfers and “priority processing times”. In short, this means, barring the usual KYC checks, the social casino won’t hold up your redemption with red tape. They’ll get on with it immediately, sometimes using cryptocurrencies as their preferred payment method to ensure speedy transactions.
While we’re not fans of paying extra to get hold of prizes faster, such fees are as old as the hills and have been around since the early days of online casinos.
How to Minimize or Avoid Fees at Sweepstakes Casinos
Is there a way to alleviate or avoid fees altogether? We have a few ideas. For starters, you can choose a sweepstakes casino that doesn’t charge purchase fees or have redemption rates.
Outside of the obvious, it may be worth looking at coin packages of greater value. The more valuable the package, the better the deal you’ll get, and subsequently, the less any purchase charges will sting. Of course, you need to ensure that coin packages offer you progressively more value the more you spend, for this to be a worthwhile workaround.
For redemptions, first contact customer support to inquire about any redemption rates. Opting for debit card withdrawals (which can take two to five days) might not seem super-fast, but they may be devoid of redemption rates associated with instant payout options, saving you a few bucks in the process.
Conclusion
The presence of added fees is a double-edged sword. It hits your wallet as a player, but it also represents social casino operators’ best chance of offering their services to you legally in the long term. We certainly don’t have issues with a fully regulated and legitimate industry, so if it keeps us able to play, we’ll take the hit. However, for redemptions, the inclusion of fees appears to be tied to faster transaction times, which is not a new development and ultimately, not necessary.
What it also means is that the state of play at many sweepstakes casino sites is currently in flux, specifically those at Chumba, Rolla, WOW Vegas, and others associated with operators like MW Services and VGW. The best thing you can do right now is to stay alert for changing terms and conditions at your favorite sites, check SweepsKings for the latest news on legislative changes, and always check fees associated with any purchases or redemptions you intend to make.
Author: Mike F.
Updated:
Mike is SweepsKings’ SEO wizard and uses his skills to produce content that answers questions you haven’t even thought of yet! He personally fact-checks all articles posted on SweepsKings and leverages his vast iGaming marketing experience to keep the site feeling fresh.
Mike is SweepsKings’ SEO wizard and uses his skills to produce content that answers questions you haven’t even thought of yet! He personally fact-checks all articles posted on SweepsKings and leverages his vast iGaming marketing experience to keep the site feeling fresh.
