WheelJarWhat order should everyone go in?
Going alphabetically means the same person is always first. Random order, drawn once and published, ends the discussion.
Sealed draw for a giveaway
One-offTell us the draw date. We seal a random seed now and publish its fingerprint straight away, then send you the seed itself on the day — so nobody can claim you picked the winner.
Try also
How this works
Everything on the list gets drawn, without replacement, into a full running order. Because the whole order comes from one seed, publishing the seed lets anyone confirm the order was not adjusted afterwards.
How many orders are possible
Why a published order cannot plausibly be a coincidence.
| People | Possible orders |
|---|---|
| 3 | 6 |
| 5 | 120 |
| 8 | 40,320 |
| 10 | 3,628,800 |
| 15 | 1,307,674,368,000 |
With ten people there are over three and a half million possible orders, which is why reproducing one from a published seed is meaningful.
Frequently asked questions
Can I draw fewer than everyone?
Set how many to draw and it stops there, keeping the order of those drawn.
Is this the same as shuffling?
Yes — a draw without replacement is a shuffle. The difference here is that it is verifiable.
How the randomness works
Repeated weighted selection without replacement over the full list, which for equal weights is a uniform random permutation.