AD's Raffle and Merchanting Style

[AestheticDeath]

OK, so I got a complaint from an almost nameless person. Namely on how I ran my raffle.

He called me a dbag, a Tsin and shady.

He accused me of "dilberately attempting to make profit at every turn," heh oops, and "increasingly dealing with questionable business practices, etc.."

I also caught some flak during the raffle for playing with the wheel 10 minutes before hand.

Anyways, this is everyones chance to come out and say what you dislike about me, or what happened with the raffle.

If you don't call me on something I did wrong, I won't be able to fix it for next time. So by all means, say what you feel.

[Anferis]

I don't like you because I didn't win the raffle.
Wait, I didn't enter the raffle.
Carry on.


Drayal's post below is what I was getting at. Shouldn't whine just because you don't win something. Unless it's something important, which isn't a text-based game raffle using not-real-money. Well I guess it could be real money to some people, that do the whole buying and selling thing. But yeah, now I'm just rambling.

[Asha]

Who is this whining bitch you speak of?
You're a merchant. You make a profit. You don't cheat. I don't see a problem.

[Martaigne]

I don't give a crap about the raffle because I didn't participate.

But in all my dealings, this guy has been helpful, considerate, and fair, period. Of course he deliberately attempts to make a profit... that's the idea behind merchanting, isn't it?

[100% Wool]

I bet said person wouldn't be saying a word if they had won the raffle
despite you doing test runs....heh.

[Fallen]

Merchants buy low and sell high. They take advantage of other's misfortune, or the situation at hand to purchase things at the lowest possible value, then turn around and try to sell it for the absolute most it is worth. That is how it works.

As long as you do not lie about the properties of the item, I wouldn't consider any merchant shady for the above practices. Not the most glamorous way of doing business, but you're trying to make a buck, not save the world.

The specific issues against you is that you altered the rules of your raffle AFTER people had already bought tickets, right? That is rather shady if that is the case, unless you put in a well phrased disclaimer stating you had the right to do so.

[Martaigne]

I was just informed that the altercation I witnessed last night had nothing to do with what you are posting about, so I retract my statement with an apology to the intended target.

[AestheticDeath]

If anyone has the Psinet logs of him talking, I would appreciate that as well.

[Sthrockmorton]

The specific issues against you is that you altered the rules of your raffle AFTER people had already bought tickets, right? That is rather shady if that is the case, unless you put in a well phrased disclaimer stating you had the right to do so.

I've never known any auction/raffle/event/competition that has improved the opportunity of winnings for contenders and gotten heat for it. It goes against ALL logic. The purpose of entering is to try to win.

It's clear that at least 50 tickets were going to sell, and the raffle was going to be held.

By adding an item worth twice the value of the existing items if 80-99 tickets sold, he increased the value of the potential winnings at a reasonable rate. Yes, that was an incentive to purchase, but once 50 tickets were gone, it was very likely that at least 80 tickets would be sold. I say this because most people wait until the last day and a guarantee that the raffle will be held before they purchase their tickets anyways.

He clearly stated at what hour he would stop selling tickets. It is strictly a coincidence that only 99 tickets sold. Those that wanted the extra spin/opportunity to win with 100 tickets being sold, should have paid the extra bit to get to the ticket yesterday before 7 Eastern.

I spent more $$ than anyone else in the raffle, didn't win, and don't have a single problem with the way AD held it. Yes he changed the prize pool, but only in logical, fair ways.

Anytime you join a raffle or auction, you should assume the owner has complete right to change it as he sees fit, so long as the contenders have an opportunity for a refund before the auction is held if they have a problem. -- If anyone had a problem and wanted a refund before the spin, BECAUSE he changed the prize pool, I'm 100% sure AD would have given them one. That being said, I imagine no one, but Tsin, had complained once about him adding prizes, and notice Tsin didn't ask for a refund either... (Meaning he was just looking for an excuse to bash on AD for anything)

[Stretch]

He clearly stated at what hour he would stop selling tickets. It is strictly a coincidence that only 99 tickets sold.

It wasn't a coincidence.

I told AD that if he hadn't sold 100 by the deadline, I'd buy enough to take him to 99. Call it a whim.

Of course, there would have been a lot of pissed off people if the winner hadn't chosen one of the big ticket items.

[Asha]

There is of course the logic that making incentive to purchase more tickets lessens your chances of winning, after you'd bought tickets based on previous odds.
Not having a go, just saying.

[Fallen]

I thought about entering for the Raise dead staff. The rest of the crap didn't really appeal to me, and I don't buy crap for resale.

[AestheticDeath]

I did change the price pool a couple times. But only ever adding to the prizes you could choose from. I never changed the way the raffle worked.

More things to choose from can't be a bad thing.

Also, I was updating both the PCs raffle thread, and the one on the officials to keep people up to date on the ticket sales. I updated each 2-3 times or more in the last 2 hours. I never once heard someone say, make sure you sell all 100, or that they would buy the last few to get it to 100. Until the raffle was going and sales were over.

The only real problem I see, and one I won't repeat, was having two tiers of items. Or offering two winners. Next time, I will make sure all the items are based off the worth of 100 tickets, and sell accordingly with one winner. People got upset at which tier was going to be chosen, even though they weren't the winner. Though anyone who won should have just wanted to choose the highest price item possible. Resell or trade back for the item they wanted plus coin.

[Sthrockmorton]

There is of course the logic that making incentive to purchase more tickets lessens your chances of winning, after you'd bought tickets based on previous odds.
Not having a go, just saying.

Understandable, I thought about this to, but you enter the raffle with the possibility of 100 tickets being sold.

If AD really wanted to be shady, he would have hoped not all the tickets sold, and that he spun a non-selected winning number. After all, he did state he would spin the wheel to select a winning number, there's no guarantee that it would have been a number selected by a ticket purchaser. (Much like the lottery, people pay knowing their odds are 1 in x million. Entering this raffle could have been played off as a 1 in 100 chance).

***I know that's not how he really would have held it, but I'm just kind of pointing things out to show he wasn't really shady at all.

[Fallen]

Was it always known that certain items would NOT go out unless a certain number of tickets were sold?

[AestheticDeath]

Yeah
Holding a raffle for the winners choice of a 7.5x self ammo crossbow, a 7x very heavy crit weighted falchion, or a 5x a day Raise Dead staff. Possibility of an 8x exceptionally crit weighted bastard sword. Description and stats on the items are below the auction details.

Selling up to 100 tickets, at 1m a ticket. No limit on the number of tickets you can buy.

If ALL 100 tickets sell, I will spin a second time for one of the remaining items, not including the bastard sword or hauberk.

If more than 80 tickets, but less than 100 sell there will still only be one winner, but I will add into the mix the option of choosing the 8x exceptional crit weighted bastard sword, or some +47 heavy crit padded hauberk, with lightning resistance


I will use the Beldrin gaming halls wheel to spin for the winning number.

With the exception of adding the hauberk to the same rules selection of the bastard sword, none of that changed.
I wanted to sell 100 tickets because thats what the wheel supports. I wanted to do 1m a ticket, with a 50 ticket minimum. This was known. I deleted the min 50 ticket statement once 50 tickets were sold. Everyone knew there was a max of 100 tickets offered, and there was no limit to the number of tickets you could buy.

Having no limit kept people from buying tickets on the logic that someone else had a better chance to win than they would. Which I still don't understand. You buy 1 ticket from 100, it doesn't matter how many people bought the other 99, your personal odds are the same.

[Durgrimst]

I have possibly bought more stuff from AD than anyone else that plays the game. Never once have I ever felt uncomfortable or worried about a single transaction, and that includes when I was in Iraq, and paid for a few items when I couldn't play, and was able to pick them up once I was able to get into the game again. He is just as reliable and trustworthy as the guys at gsauctions.

[Asha]

I thought about entering for the Raise dead staff. The rest of the crap didn't really appeal to me, and I don't buy crap for resale.

Can't tell you didn't win.

[Fallen]

Didn't enter.

[Drisco]

Never entered either, but I can say I've never had a problem with AD.

[Emran]

I didn't enter the raffle, but I've bought from AD once or twice. He's always been straight with me.

[Izzy]

I hate AD, he scams me all the time.

[AestheticDeath]

Part of the reason this guy was upset, was because I didn't give away a second prize. Which was because of the ticket sales, not reaching 100. Two people offered to buy that 100th ticket at the raffle, and I declined since ticket sales were already over.

Everyone had their chance to buy. Changing from 99 to 100 at the end like that would have dropped the bastard sword and the hauberk from the raffle.

Anyways I am still not sure if the person who IMed me even purchased a ticket.

[Sthrockmorton]

Part of the reason this guy was upset, was because I didn't give away a second prize. Which was because of the ticket sales, not reaching 100. Two people offered to buy that 100th ticket at the raffle, and I declined since ticket sales were already over.

Everyone had their chance to buy. Changing from 99 to 100 at the end like that would have dropped the bastard sword and the hauberk from the raffle.

Anyways I am still not sure if the person who IMed me even purchased a ticket.

If AD broke his own rules and allowed that 100th ticket to be purchased. I can't even begin to imagine how fumed Siphere would be that he didn't get to take the 8x ecw blade....

[100% Wool]

I thought the clause was...

If it reached 100 tickets. The first winner had the choice of either getting the hauberk or the bastard sword.

If the 1st winner didn't choose the hauberk/sword and chose a lesser prize then AD would spin again for another small prize.

Pretty much it was the 1st winner's call to decide whether or not there was going to be a second spin and not mattering if it reached 100 or not.

Anyway. I thought the raffle was set up just fine. Great job Mase.

[Lucas]

It was foolish for the 99 people who bought tickets to NOT chip in together and throw in 10k to get that last ticket and hence another chance at the wheel. If the number rolls on 100 they can just roll themselves privately to see who gets the prize.

[Sthrockmorton]

It was foolish for the 99 people who bought tickets to NOT chip in together and throw in 10k to get that last ticket and hence another chance at the wheel. If the number rolls on 100 they can just roll themselves privately to see who gets the prize.

You should read up on what actually happened Mr. Foolish.


It wasn't a coincidence.

I told AD that if he hadn't sold 100 by the deadline, I'd buy enough to take him to 99. Call it a whim.

Of course, there would have been a lot of pissed off people if the winner hadn't chosen one of the big ticket items.

He did that, because he wanted as high a possibility as possible to win the 8x ecw blade. If 100 tickets sold, it would not be a part of the raffle.

[Sylph]

Didn't enter and have not dealed with AD before.

[Sean of the Thread]

Didn't enter and have not dealed with AD before.

Thanks for the great contribution.

[Sylph]

Thanks for the great contribution.

Hey, I do what I can.

[StJimmy]

AD would have to be one of the best merchants I've dealt with, I've done multiple sales and have never once had an issue and everything was delivered in record time. Ad is one of the few people I always look for when doing business.

As far as this raffle goes, the only people who really give a shit are the ones who are bitter they didn't win. Get over it, if buying a ticket guarentees you a prize then it isn't really a raffle, it's a flat out sale, FFS.

[Jayvn]

I'M SO PISSED AT HOW YOU RAN THAT AUCTION/AND OR RAFFLE.... Seriously...messing with the wheel like that..and all that other shady shit... you're the root of all gemstone drama and it is very clear by the way you ran that auction/and or raffle... /sarcasm
Lol I let my wife play jayvn to pick boxes and shit now... wow is way easier to just step away from and play guitar when I wanna.

[Morrff]

I didn't purchase any tickets, mainly because I didn't feel lucky in the matter...CERTAINLY not because of AD's merchanting tactics, from a side view and from what I've read/been told of the raffle. It ran with uttermost sincerest actions on AD's behalf(besides playing with the wheel).

And the fact that he starts a thread here upon himself to figure out what he himself is missing by the way of people complaining, just goes to show he is indeed a good standing merchant and wishes to remain in that standard for some time to come.

Not having dealt with AD too many times, the times I have left me feeling quite well with the purchase and a sense of ease with making any further purchases/sales with him.

4 star merchant if you ask me IMHO

Player of Morrff's many