Tacoma woman says she was overcharged on $1 lotto ticket. Here’s the law on that
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- A Tacoma woman says she was overcharged for a $1 lottery ticket.
- The extra 50 cents to pay by card went against state law.
- Washington statute prohibits retailers from charging more than a ticket’s face value.
Earlier this month, Sharon Shumpert stopped at a gas station in Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood and decided to buy only a $1 lottery ticket.
Shumpert, 68, said she became upset after learning that an electronic payment cost 50 cents extra and could be avoided by paying cash instead.
She questioned: Was it OK for her to be charged more for a lottery ticket than what it costs?
State law addresses the subject, and the answer is straight-forward.
“RCW 67.70.110 and WAC 315-06-060 prohibit the sale of lottery tickets for more than face value,” Kristi Weeks, the director of Legal Services for Washington’s Lottery, said in an email.
It’s worth noting lottery and scratch tickets aren’t subject to retail sales tax in Washington, according to the state’s Department of Revenue.
The News Tribune described Shumpert’s recent experience and asked the state Lottery to weigh in, including to clarify payment options available to retailers.
“Regarding payment, retailers can choose to accept cash, debit, and/or credit. We do not dictate that,” Weeks said. “If (retailers) do not want to pay a processing fee, they can decline to accept debit or credit for those purchases.”
Washington is one of 24 states in the country where you can buy lottery tickets with a credit card, according to a June analysis from the personal finance website, Bankrate.com.
Washington’s Lottery directly sells tickets through vending machines, but they don’t accept credit cards. The machines do take debit cards, and Washington’s Lottery absorbs those processing fees, Weeks said.
There are 3,640 licensed retailers for lottery tickets in Washington. Occasionally, one will disregard the law and sell tickets for more than face value, whether intentionally or not, according to Weeks. The Lottery responds by providing technical assistance and reminding the retailer of the rule, which Weeks said is generally effective. After an effort to educate a retailer, the Lottery can send security staff undercover into an establishment to test compliance.
“Despite this attempt to help our retailers help themselves, our ultimate responsibility is to follow the law and not allow our players to be overcharged,” Weeks said. “We will revoke the license of any retailer who fails to comply despite our efforts to educate them.”
There are reasons why Washington’s Lottery doesn’t immediately pursue revocation. Retailers perform an important role for the Lottery; they often have high staff turnover that could suggest issues might be related to employee training; and many “mom and pop” retailers might need extra technical assistance due to unfamiliarity with government regulations, according to Weeks.
Since August 2022, Washington’s Lottery has revoked four licenses, but no revocations were related to selling tickets above face value, she said.
After Shumpert purchased her ticket, she said she identified the applicable state statute and contacted the state Lottery. Shumpert said she was told that the Lottery would notify the gas station to cease charging extra for lottery tickets, but she suggested more was necessary — perhaps a financial penalty.
To Shumpert, a retired pediatric oncology social worker, the gas station was exploiting a historically Black community.
“This is the issue ... they’ve been doing it all along,” she said. “To tell them just to stop is not good enough for me.”
