Raffles?

[thelongbomber]

I joined az recently and found the raffles section to be quite dandy. Perhaps add this as a sub topic here? Would be great to purchase raffle tickets from cue makers for a custom.

thx

[Renegade_56]

This is a question I also would like some response on. I too am a member on the az billiards forum, and there is a good amount of raffles that are active there at any given time. They are a very good way for players to get a nice cue that they would likely never be able to just buy outright, of course being raffles, it is chancey. Careful though, it can be addictive. I'm really surprised you fellas haven't at least tried a few.

[jrc750]

Might be ok from a cue maker direct or from one of the mods....but someone tried to do one privately recently and it got mixed reactions....i suppose people will think its fixed or something i dunno

[Renegade_56]

Well, we use a standard format pretty much, no money collected till all spots are designated, then after all money is paid, we use the megaball on our megamillions lottery, which goes from 1-46. So there are 46 spots available. More often than not, it is not cuemakers raffling off cues, instead it is players, collectors, and often people who just flip em for a little extra money. From a seller point of view, generally you can get more for the cue than from a straight out sale. Some folks fuss about that alittle, but really, If I buy a couple spots for 25 or 30 bucks, and then win a 8 or 9 hundred dollar cue, why would I care that the guy got a few more bucks by raffling rather than selling. Actually, when someone puts up a raffle that is blatantly over priced, the members spot this right away and no one buys spots, so they really kinda are controlled by the members. The key is to always use a standard format, and post reasonable spot prices, and they can be fun, and anyone has a chance to win nice cues they may otherwise not be able to afford.

[ferret]

The problem with the raffles is as always the money, if I were to do this officially through the forum I would have to deduct a amount for tax from every payment made + a 5% transaction fee for paypal or the credit card merchant we use then after the raffle is done and the winner selected we have to collect all the money from people if we have not taken money upfront, then you get the problem of people not paying because they did not win or they seen the raffle as unfair.

[Renegade_56]

The problem with the raffles is as always the money, if I were to do this officially through the forum I would have to deduct a amount for tax from every payment made + a 5% transaction fee for paypal or the credit card merchant we use then after the raffle is done and the winner selected we have to collect all the money from people if we have not taken money upfront, then you get the problem of people not paying because they did not win or they seen the raffle as unfair.

I understand your concerns.

The way we do it is, all money is paid through paypal to the sellers ebay address/paypay account. The raffle does not go until ALL money is collected, and the seller then announces the raffle date ahead of time. All paypal fees are paid by the recipient of the money, aka, the seller, So he/she takes this into account when pricing the spots. No way to be unfair, or manipulate this format. We use a national televised lottery only after all moneies are paid.

So, honestly, the AZ site is merely a place to do it, but is not involved at all the raffles.

We do have some international participation, so the raffler states the currency required. If someone participates from another country then they are responsible for any currency exchange rates. And honestly, I can't really see myself particpating alot, being in the US, due to shipping costs being so high, unless it was a really special cue.

The other problem I see is lack of participation because over-all the Europeans are so much more finicky about specs than we in the US, such as people not buying spots because the ferrel is a half millimeter too small or the cue is a half inch longer than they normally use.

All that said, it is alot of fun, and is a great way to maybe own a cue you would never pay full price for.