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Selling a bike by raffle

woodsguy

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In the last week or so I've seen friends buy/sell bikes by rifle on Facebook. One did 2 at a time and picked 2 winners. First name got first choice. They sell tickets at 100 bucks each. So odds are "good" but entry point high. I'm curious if this is "legal" in the long run. And if you don't know seller there is all sorts of questions obviously. The 2 I noticed so far sold out quick and were done straight up as far as I can tell. My local riding partner won the 2nd one and had already picked bike up. For those that don't do Facebook there is a feature where they do the drawing live, which helps a little. Mainly curious if this is gambling in authorities eyes, might be repercussions eventually??
 
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I see this all the time for firearms. No clue is it's legal so maybe some LEO's can fill us in but I think motorcycles are pretty harmless in the grand scheme of things. It would probably slide for a long time.
 
I will say however that at work we do these $5 buckets around the holidays. Everyone adds their name and drops it in the bucket. The winner takes all. Since the "house" does not take anything it is not considered gambling.
 
Another forum I have been on has done this a few times. One instance in particular a member passed away and the admin of the site collected donations then held the drawing with all the money deposited in an account for the childs college fund over 10K was raised for a bike that would have brought $3K on the open market
 
Under the Occupations Code, only raffles held according to the terms of the Charitable Raffle Enabling Act are authorized raffles. An unauthorized raffle is considered gambling under the Texas Penal Code. Conducting such a raffle is a Class A misdemeanor.

Found this doing a search, I think I'll stay out of them. Also saw that Facebook shuts them down if found. Not worth the risk to me.
 
It is not legal. Texas is VERY restrictive on who can run a raffle. IF you get busted for it, it can include jail time. This is why I have never run raffles on TWT.

That said, LOTS of people do raffles and get away with it. I just wasn't willing to take the chance that I might be the one that did not get away with it!

When it comes to running a gambling operation, the state doesn't like competition ;-)
 
Most of these are technically scams but are popping up all over Facebook. I've seen them for RVs as well.
 
I just bought Miata tickets benefiting the Humane Society.
 
Sounds like Ebay to me

The difference from the perspective of the new owner is that the winner of a raffle has only put out the price of a ticket (or a few) compared to the full cost of the bike if you win the bidding war on Ebay. For the seller, there might not be that much difference in final cost... unless they end up in jail for doing an illegal raffle :-P
 
The one I was involved in was run by someone in the banking industry in another state and my contribution was to a scholarship fund that was set up for the daughter of the deceased.
 
The 2 I referenced had nothing to do with benefit other than an unique way for seller to move the bike. Both worked perfect for sellers. They only sold what the bike was posted for sale at. 100$ per pop and till predetermined amount was reached.
 
Most of these are technically scams but are popping up all over Facebook. I've seen them for RVs as well.
The ones I referenced were not scams, known sellers but I'm sure the door is open for mischief.
 
The 2 I referenced had nothing to do with benefit other than an unique way for seller to move the bike. Both worked perfect for sellers. They only sold what the bike was posted for sale at. 100$ per pop and till predetermined amount was reached.

If they were in Tx, they were still technically illegal most likely. It is a shame though, because that is a great way to get your asking price without the hassle if you can sell enough tickets. Problems could arise though if someone made an allegation that the drawing was fixed and decided to call the authorities... :wary: There are all kinds of rules about how raffles are supposed to be done.
 
The problem with a raffle of that sort goes to exactly what Scott just said. Allegations. You can be the most honest person in the world. But if your raffle isn't set up with appropriate and verifiable oversight, you're leaving yourself wide open for whatever allegations anyone wants to make. And in any population of 100 or so people - however many join in the raffle - the law of averages says there's at least one sorehead in the bunch who likes to make trouble for others.
 
The friend who actually won the raffle, talked to him yesterday, this raffle was 200 bucks a ticket, YIKES! I forget the number it shut off at but had to me few, so your odds were better. And he bought 4 tickets, 800 dollars worth. But he won and sold bike within 3 days for 4500. Pretty good deal, but my results would have not been that good!
 
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With my luck, if I'd held that raffle, the police bunko squad would have broken down my door. And while they were at it, they'd probably have checked my pillows to see if I removed that little tag. :giveup:
 
With my luck, if I'd held that raffle, the police bunko squad would have broken down my door. And while they were at it, they'd probably have checked my pillows to see if I removed that little tag. :giveup:
My fear and luck.
 
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