Interest in a Forum Raffle for a BGS 9.5 86 Michael Jordan 57 Rookie for the Pat Tillman Foundation?
HighGradeLegends
Posts: 1,693 ✭✭✭✭
I suspect sports card raffles/razzes may be taboo to some folks on this board, so based on the advice given to me from some of the long time forum members, I have posted this idea here vice the main sports memorabilia forum as my proposal crosses the lines a bit.
I am simply looking to gauge interest at this point; I have no intention to go live until I have all of the details ironed out.
I own several different mid to high end graded rookie cards of michael jordan and like-legends from all sports. After seeing Slum22's very successful set break last month and in honor of Veterans Day, I got the idea of razzing off a single BGS 9.5 1986-87 Fleet #57 Michael Jordan rookie card and donating part of the proceeds to a highly rated veteran/military themed charity. I am partial to the Pat Tillman Foundation, so I thought that organization may be good for this event given Pat Tillman's strong connection to sports, military service, and education. The recent "A Football Life" episode on Pat Tillman is a great primer assuming you do not know much about his full and true story/legacy. See the below links for info on this speicifc charity/foundation.
pattillmanfoundation.org/
https://charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=13188
An important note up front: I have never run a live break or razz before. I can figure out the mechanics in the short term. If the razz was successful in the eyes of the forum members, I would like to offer up other cards for future events with part of the proceeds going to the Semper Fi Fund, Navy Seal Foundation, and similar organizations.
I have many different BGS 9.5 1986-87 Fleet #57 Michael Jordan rookie cards, all with sub grades 9.5 or greater (i.e. nothing below 9.5 in any sub). I will post some pics and scans in the future once I decide which of these cards to offer up, to include a date/time stamp "proof of life" to ensure everyone knows I own and possess the given card. If I had enough cards to run a set break, I would just do that, like Slum22 did, so everyone gets something. However, I mainly have a niche batch of high end graded sports card items, not enough to give everyone something unless we wanted to make the entry fee ridiculously high.
I would like to generate a total in the range of $18-25K, with $5-10K of that going to the Pat Tillman foundation. Obviously I would come up with specific numbers (exact total and donation amounts) once I have a better idea on interest from the forum, but these ranges I have proposed seem workable to me. Once the numbers are declared, I will not change them in any form or at anytime. However, I will not execute the event until all spots are filled to ensure the agreed total and donation amounts are met.
Since this event is for a single card, I would pick up the shipping costs to the winner's door; the shipping method will be via USPS registered mail (fully insured + adult signature required). If the winner prefers an overnight method, like FedEx, then the winner would be responsible for paying all these costs associated with this additional level of service.
As the event manager, I shall not enter the razz in any way, to include obtaining a free spot or a paid spot of anykind. I also will not include any family members, co-workers, etc. Each entrant will be assigned a numbered spot (1 through 300, for example) for each entry. Once all spots fill up (i.e. members commit via a thread), I will solicit for payment. The payment period would be 7-10 days following declaration of 100% spots committed, to include payment reminders from me. Once all parties have paid, I will post a "going live" date/time and I will stream the event live on the internet. For this event, I thought about targeting a streaming date of just before Christmas or may be on new years eve? Or just soonest once all spots are paid? I am open to ideas. I will use random.org to randomize the entrant numbers 10 times (that might be overkill, but seems random enough). I will post the results here for those who did not see the live event. The card is shipped once I have the confirmed shipping address of the winner. I will make the donation once with winner confirms he/she received the card. I will post proof of the donation for total transparency. I would also require the winner to post a picture of the card on the forum upon receipt as another step towards transparency.
I am not sure what entrant fees are palatable to the forum. 200 spots at $100 per? 400 spots at $50 per? 1000 spots at $25 per? I figure if I go with "more spots," I may have to open this up to other sports cards networks in order to ensure I fill all of the spots, of which I rather not do. I rather just keep it simple and on here to make things easier to manage. Considering 132 spots were purchased for almost $100 per for the PSA 9 86-87 Fleer basketball card recent set break, I assume 200-400 total spots likely is the target.
If the proposed entry fees are too much for forum members to spend in an event for a single card, then please let me know and may be I could find a different card to target a $5k total, with $1-3k going to the charity. Or even $1k, with $100-300 going to the charity. Or I am open an option where I offer hand full of cards (may be 5-7) targeting $5-8k in order to ensure more people get something out of the deal. I am open to reasonable ideas/modifications to my proposal in order to maximize participation, security, integrity, etc.
Let me know if you have any interest and please pass the word along to other forum members.
Thank you for your time.
HGL
Comments
Before you get too far into this you need to check the legality of online raffles. I don't think you can legally run a raffle unless it is non profit and most or all of the proceeds go to a charity. I think that since you will sell tickets in multiple states that you have to comply with the law in all states where tickets are sold. Do your research before attempting this. The difference in the set breaks and raffles is that every ticket sold wins something. In a raffle only a few win.
James
Good points. Thank you for the insight
So it looks like I may just have to find enough cards so everyone gets something...hmmmm. Back to square one.