Instagram raffles - scam or good fun?

[tem4elf]

Don’t be a degenerate gambler or support shady practices.

[KingPokemon]

@tem4elf

Don’t be a degenerate gambler or support shady practices.

Very very well put…

[surfnsnow]

One of the known scammers from the E4 Blacklist runs tons of these raffles. That should tell you all you need to know.

[chrispy]

What if you’re raffling shout outs based on donations and the winner gets a free card?

[thefiddler]

@surfnsnow

One of the known scammers from the E4 Blacklist runs tons of these raffles. That should tell you all you need to know.

I believe I know who you’re talking about and I actually had a relatively good experience entering into raffles hosted by him. Granted, I was very skeptical but I had heard he came through on his end by a few friends and I waited to test it out after many previous raffles had been completed.

After coming out with more than I put in I decided to quit entering into the raffles as I saw how toxic and morally depriving it can be. This was my first true experience gambling per se, and while some people are lucky, there are always people that lose, which absolutely sucks.

I just wanted to make this post to say I actually had a positive experience. My point is that even despite having a positive experience, I don’t condone raffles from the raffler-side (profiting against collector values) or the rafflee side.

[kkthxbai]

In Aus I think it’s legal so long as the tickets sold equal the value of the item.
But I agree most raffles are pretty lame… 90-99% of people get nothing. and screwed over. Alot of sellers are overpricing cards in their raffles as well. So it’s crap.

The only raffle I do in shop, is the licensed japanese banpresto ichiban kuji. If people don’t know this, in some Japanese stores (like 7/11 or Pokemon center) you can pay 620 yen, and get a random prize from a lucky dip box. All tickets are sealed, and random from about 50 total. So every ticket wins, and every body gets something of the value or higher. Sometimes jumbo plushes or towels, keychains, Handbags, etc. Just for $6.
Pretty fun and everyone gets the value they pay, and the store will only profit a max maybe 15-30% on the raffle.

Here is the official site showcasing an older one.

bpnavi.jp/s/kuji/sp/medias/show_by_key/eievui_antique

Mostly girl orientated. But awesome.

[way2slowbro]

Don’t understand it. Much rather save up for something then try to gamble to get it. Guess people will always try to cut corners. Clutters up my feed so much, hope this fad dies quickly.

[nuttun]

Legality aside, even if you are an honest lottery host, you’re just creating a situation where only 1 person becomes happy with the outcome while the rest would either feel like they have been scammed or feel really bummed out, especially with such a high ticket cost. The charge-back and the dissatisfied customers alone make this something illogical to do, and seem to give a more favorable outcome to lottery hosts who are probably out to scam someone.

[prochaos]

99% of raffles on IG are pure bullshit

[way2slowbro]

@prochaos

99% of raffles on IG are pure bullshit

70% are Instagramer’s are dumb dumbs. The amount of dumb crap that goes down there is amusing. Probably should be renamed Rafflegram/Flexagram/Shadygram. Take your pick.

[churlocker]

I think raffles take advantage of the hopes of people with limited resources. The best thing we can do as mature collectors is encourage people to collect in a way that maximizes the resources of the individual collector and the return they experience. Smart buying, defined goals, saving up for valuable cards: these are the methods that will bring people the most joy for their resources over time. A quick high and a 90%+ chance of a sinking feeling in your stomach is not what collecting is about.

We can’t stop raffles from existing, but I think we can all do our part to discourage young, poor, or otherwise unaware collectors from participating in them.

[KingPokemon]

@churlocker

I think raffles take advantage of the hopes of people with limited resources. The best thing we can do as mature collectors is encourage people to collect in a way that maximizes the resources of the individual collector and the return they experience. Smart buying, defined goals, saving up for valuable cards: these are the methods that will bring people the most joy for their resources over time. A quick high and a 90%+ chance of a sinking feeling in your stomach is not what collecting is about.

We can’t stop raffles from existing, but I think we can all do our part to discourage young, poor, or otherwise unaware collectors from participating in them.

This is spot on. I would add the ignorant. They are a part of the victim pool too.
These scams are much like lottery’s. Mainly the poor and naive participate.

[churlocker]

@KingPokemon

@churlocker

I think raffles take advantage of the hopes of people with limited resources. The best thing we can do as mature collectors is encourage people to collect in a way that maximizes the resources of the individual collector and the return they experience. Smart buying, defined goals, saving up for valuable cards: these are the methods that will bring people the most joy for their resources over time. A quick high and a 90%+ chance of a sinking feeling in your stomach is not what collecting is about.

We can’t stop raffles from existing, but I think we can all do our part to discourage young, poor, or otherwise unaware collectors from participating in them.

This is spot on. I would add the ignorant. They are a part of the victim pool too.
These scams are much like lottery’s. Mainly the poor and naive participate.

I originally wrote ignorant instead of unaware, but changed it just because I know some people take particular offense to the word ignorant.

We’ve all been there, though. It’s easy to overlook how little stuff like these can be harmful in the long run.

[charizandrew]

@churlocker

I think raffles take advantage of the hopes of people with limited resources. The best thing we can do as mature collectors is encourage people to collect in a way that maximizes the resources of the individual collector and the return they experience. Smart buying, defined goals, saving up for valuable cards: these are the methods that will bring people the most joy for their resources over time. A quick high and a 90%+ chance of a sinking feeling in your stomach is not what collecting is about.

We can’t stop raffles from existing, but I think we can all do our part to discourage young, poor, or otherwise unaware collectors from participating in them.

I agree, this is completely spot on.

[KingPokemon]

@churlocker

@KingPokemon

This is spot on. I would add the ignorant. They are a part of the victim pool too.
These scams are much like lottery’s. Mainly the poor and naive participate.

I originally wrote ignorant instead of unaware, but changed it just because I know some people take particular offense to the word ignorant.

We’ve all been there, though. It’s easy to overlook how little stuff like these can be harmful in the long run.

Actually, at first I wrote ‘stupid’ but thought I should tone it down lol.

[pfm]

@pumpkins

While I’m 99.99999% sure these are illegal people have figured out ways to make them more legitimate than others. For instance, now with the “Live” feature people are going live and doing the draw eliminating your exact hypothetical scenario (raffling to a friend) from being a possibility. Now on the other hand, the prices people are getting are crazy! But some are willing to pay it so to each their own I suppose.

FYI I could make a site identical to random.org that produces whatever number I wanted to. Probably would only take a few hours.

In regards to raffling in general, I don’t give money to people on the internet that have no reputation to lose.

[churlocker]

@KingPokemon

@churlocker

I originally wrote ignorant instead of unaware, but changed it just because I know some people take particular offense to the word ignorant.

We’ve all been there, though. It’s easy to overlook how little stuff like these can be harmful in the long run.

Actually, at first I wrote ‘stupid’ but thought I should tone it down lol.

Hahaha. And there you have the shades of collectors. Thats really funny.

[chrispy]

I’ve won a nice Omega off EDC raffles. Say what yall want about pokemon instagrams but not all raffles are bogus/bad.

[KingPokemon]

ALL are bad. ALL are gambling. ALL are crooked. Only the host wins.

So if you’re a new or young collector visiting E4 take it from the hobby’s experts. Don’t get suckered in by these scams. There’s no easy way. No shortcuts. Save that money until you can buy that great new item for your collection.

[chrispy]

b…but…I won