There really isn’t a way. It’s an unregulated market. PayPal already does not allow raffles but clearly that hasn’t been a deterrent
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I agree raffles are usually scammy, but nobody is forced to participate in them. If you don’t like the price or the odds to win, don’t play. If the participants don’t do the proper due diligence thats on them. Doesn’t mean it should all be banned or illegal.
I’m not trying to be the pokepolice but Raffles are illegal. It’s inherent, not a matter of opinion or if people participate.
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Are other hobbies also infested with raffles like this? How about non-collectibles?
I see more and more Ebay rafflers and some are pretty terrible as far as what they are doing. They photograph really valuable cards that are mostly graded and auction off the “chance” to get these along with a promise of certain amount of bottom feeders. When I have checked the feedback on one seller in particular there are some negatives and quite a few neutrals left by customers. It’s very strange indeed.
I’ve done a couple Lego raffles on Reddit. Was always very transparent as far as the number of participants and total cost being equal to retail. Run by a 3rd party for escrow so it was all legit. Not really a big gambler personally so I lost interest after not winning once or twice lol
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I would suspect that if someone wins one of these raffles they would be much more likely to enter another raffle. But the strange thing about these is that there is no way to know if anyone ever gets a truly prized card as advertised. The seller can say that they have pre-packaged the merch and that 1 in 1,000 of them has a crystal lugia. This is an example taken directly from ebay auctions I have seen from this person. They just keep doing these listings but there is no accountability for the odds they are claiming or if anyone has ever received the top tier items. Lack of excessively negative feedback is the only information we have. But the buyer was never truly expecting to receive a crystal card… sooo they don’t leave minus feedback.
Thinking about getting into the waffle game myself. Here’s my first practice run
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Is that how they all really do it? I’ve seen some live “random drawings” on random.org I mean, it’d be really easy to make a few IG accounts and take some of those spots yourself just to make it look like people are participate while sometimes letting a few buyers or other influencers win something for real…still must maintain a reputation right?
With those live feeds of “random” selections, many people will believe it’s totally legit…and there’s not feedback system on IG to warn others.
I’m pretty sure raffles/lotteries or any drawings where you have to pay into are illegal in Instagram. Only way to stop them is to report the ones that are found and i’m sure they’ll be banned.
I’m 100% sure that’s how these work. If you start looking into a few of these, or a few of the more popular rafflers, you’ll notice a few people that enter most if not all of a given person’s raffles without ever winning, or winning… too often? It’s all a bit weird and fluid but clearly there’s some collusion going on. It’s sad. Cheating people out of their money by exploiting them like this is awful. At the same time- STOP ENTERING WAFFLES PEOPLE.
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Instagram could not care less about what happens on their platform and reporting does not get their posts removed/accounts banned. Youtube probably regulates their comments better than instagram regulates their content lol
I literally unfollow EVERY SINGLE instagrammer that raflles something… cancer of the community.
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I find it a bit hilarious that people are willing to throw so much money at this card without looking at sales history for themselves.
Like the card is worth whatever people are willing to pay for it (even if that is an uniformed flipper)
Obviously illegal, and I feel bad for people with gambling problems, but it just seems like such a meme to post an OBO sold price pic like that and have people fall for it
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Recently i’ve noticed that the people who were doing raffles are now doing massive flash claim sales or whatever they like to call them…
I literally see a post “mail day! look at my 3x base set booster” then the next day they post “Flash sale! 1st claim gets to buy my 3 x base set booster box break fresh” whats even stranger is they are selling them for normal light pack prices…
any wotc pack that i get never sees another human again xD maybe i’m just old
Remember these guys are pretty new to the hobby but they have so much enthusiasm. They have stopped by my place twice now and I have really enjoyed it.
Naturally, you are going to explore the community and some of these big raffle guys have a lot of product - a lot of product. I made a few purchases myself and only found out recently how they were moving so much product in and out, while I had never even heard of them outside of IG. The purchases went smooth and I had no fuss with it. They even reach out time to time to see if I want to buy some boxes. I know of at least 1 instance where 1 of my own mystery boxes ended up in a raffle on IG, for all I know there could have been more. I would still give a honest positive review for the transaction I had if need be.
You also have the other side of the coin where places like this, while truly invaluable for the community, can poke fun and even trash newbies to the hobby. Obviously this has been an issue n E4 or there wouldn’t be the avatar telling people to be nice. Im not saying this a theme, but it does happen and can drive people away. For a place with so many dedicated collectors and knowledge it doesnt give an accurate taste for the community that is here.
There is a ridiculous amount of illegal profiting going on with the raffles. No fees, no taxes, and higher prices - even if everything is legit on the selection from random.org. Awareness just doesn’t always cut it. It would be great if I could just cut out IG (the most limited and frustrating platform I have ever seen), but it is so popular I would be losing an asset to my business. I would love to see IG(or the IRS) take care of raffle-ers but they cant even get links, messages, searching, tags, and more fixed, so I doubt they would put any real effort into that.
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The problem with a public illegal enterprise is you will eventually be caught.
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My intent was not to throw Lootbox TV under the bus or anything, which is why I had initially avoided naming them. I personally wish they had done more research on the matter before sponsoring the raffle-r because they do have an influence on the larger community despite being new to the hobby. That said, I do enjoy watching their collecting journey and their enthusiasm. I do not think Lootbox TV should be ostracized, ridiculed etc for advertising this person. Perhaps they could be clued in? That, I am not sure. Overall, great guys and I think they are worthy of watching. It is more that I want to caution people about this one individual they have supported.
I, too, have noticed that many rafflers have a ton of product that they do not raffle off. I’ve also heard of rafflers who have very good reputations. For instance, the person Lootbox TV bought from does have a fantastic seller reputation. It is a shame, really. I wish they only dealt with selling their high end product instead of raffling it. Maybe that does not bring in enough business, though. I know that IG does not crack down on rafflers, but it still feels like the risk is so high to engage in illegal business practices.
Not a fan of it. I don’t know how those people drop $1000+ on raffles to lose, multiple times. At that point I’d just buy the damn box/card 
@thecharizardauthorty, The avatar on E4 is a layered meme.
As for “trashing newbies”, I go out of my way (when I can find the time) to encourage anyone new to the hobby, whether that is on E4 or elsewhere. I see other regular members doing the same. The growing problem is the “get rich quick” attitude, embodied in the question that is now a meme, “whatshouldibuy”. This attitude & entitlement is exacerbated by raffles, loot boxes, and all of that impatient fast money culture.
The “whatshouldibuy” questions do receive some sarcasm, mostly out of impatience. Some predict the future threads do go sour, mainly because they are impossible to answer. I don’t know what utopia exists where people constantly answer ridiculous questions. E4, myself, or any group isn’t infallible and am always open to suggestions. I simply don’t know any platform of this size that is anywhere near as patient, while also keeping the toxic/illegal activity off the platform.
With that said, I always try to focus on the positive, even in negative moments. I try to like and comment on new collectors getting into the hobby. Positive behavior deserves positive encouragement. The loud minority of “predict the future” questions gets in the way of that positive flow. Hopefully its a phase that fades with time.
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I’m one of these newbies @smpratte and yes I wont lie I have asked a predict the future question of sorts and yes it did recieve some slight negativity but if anything it’s just a way of learning that some questions cant be answered.
From that experience newbies like myself will begin to follow there own path based on their own ideas/speculation/inner wisdom whatever you want to call it and that will generate experience which can in turn help others.
But E4 is a place where I feel like ive found a home when it comes to pokemon collecting and its something that can only be praised!
In terms of the raffles I personally dont agree as it changes the market but like all markets these days it has its place and we cant ignore that we just shouldnt promote it.
It’s probably best to remember that speculating and gambling are completely different things if we want to get more people into a currently organic market then it’s best that gambling isnt their entry into it
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