Ah, that’s a trick question! All contests are paid up-front and 99designs pays the winning designer.

When you are selected as the winning designer and have finished uploading the final design files (in Design Handover), we automatically credit your account with the prize money.

If, for whatever reason, you are contacted privately by a contest holder (perhaps you won a secondary prize), you should know you are under no obligation to send final design files without first receiving payment. You don’t need to accept payment less than the listed prize either. It’s up to you, if you do.