IDEA: The Bass Lottery

ggvicviper · #1 01-16-2013, 11:20 AM

So I had an idea just now.

What if we contributed a drawing ever so often just for us bass players?

Say, we have a featured bass to give away every month or three months or something.
People who want to participate pay a dollar through PayPal or the like, and provide ~~their TB username~~ an email address.
At the end of the period, the winner is announced, and contacted for shipping info.
The money collected goes to pay off the bass, and whatever is left is split between ~~funding Talkbass~~ paying the site and charity donations.

What do you think?

thisSNsucks · #2 01-16-2013, 11:22 AM

I like it.

echoSE7EN · #3 01-16-2013, 11:27 AM

You need to be very careful with PayPal in such arrangements, as they can consider it to be a gambling activity and confiscate all funds. A couple of years ago some of the guys over at The Gear Page had a slightly similar thing. I don't remember the guy's name, but he is the owner/maker of SkinPimp pedals. Anyway, his mother was ill and someone caught wind that he was closing operations to take care of her, and possibly take her to Alaska (a dream of the family).

Some of TGP guys decided to pool together a couple of rare-ish pedals and "sell" raffle/chances via PayPal. You'd toss in x-amount of money and have a chance to "win" one of the pedals. They drew usernames out of a hat in a YouTube video, and those folks were sent the pedals.

ALL of the money was then sent (PayPal) to the SkinPimp guy, or it was supposed to be, I don't know.... It wound up being a couple thousand dollars (maybe even more) if I recall. Anyway, PayPal stepped in and confiscated the funds. I didn't follow up on the whole thing. I lost $50.00, but it was just poor of PayPal to do it (IMHO). I think they presented their case to PayPal, but again...I never followed up.

Just saying...be careful with "lottery/raffle" type of things.

**baba** · #4 01-16-2013, 11:30 AM

The history of money collections on Talkbass hasn't gone very well to say the least. Interesting idea, but I don't think it will fly...at least within the confines of this board.

EDIT: Checked the Rules and apparently Charity donation threads are the only thing prohibited. Again, this is due to a bad history, not due to a black heart in Paul's chest.

ggvicviper · #5 01-16-2013, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by echoSE7EN

You need to be very careful with PayPal in such arrangements, as they can consider it to be a gambling activity and confiscate all funds. A couple of years ago some of the guys over at The Gear Page had a slightly similar thing. I don't remember the guy's name, but he is the owner/maker of SkinPimp pedals. Anyway, his mother was ill and someone caught wind that he was closing operations to take care of her, and possibly take her to Alaska (a dream of the family).

Some of TGP guys decided to pool together a couple of rare-ish pedals and "sell" raffle/chances via PayPal. You'd toss in x-amount of money and have a chance to "win" one of the pedals. They drew usernames out of a hat in a YouTube video, and those folks were sent the pedals.

ALL of the money was then sent (PayPal) to the SkinPimp guy, or it was supposed to be, I don't know.... It wound up being a couple thousand dollars (maybe even more) if I recall. Anyway, PayPal stepped in and confiscated the funds. I didn't follow up on the whole thing. I lost $50.00, but it was just poor of PayPal to do it (IMHO). I think they presented their case to PayPal, but again...I never followed up.

Just saying...be careful with "lottery/raffle" type of things.

Interesting - that really sucks that PayPal decided they would confiscate the money (rather than return it) - very greedy and ridiculous.

Maybe PayPal could be left out of it?

Indiana Mike · #6 01-16-2013, 11:32 AM

Sounds great

However...

After seeing some problems with this kind of thing in the past I don't ever see it happening as I believe it to be a banned practice . People are greedy or irresponsible and screw it up for those who aren't.

**logans59** · #7 01-16-2013, 11:33 AM

I would love that if we could figure out a easy way to do it

**MostlyBass** · #8 01-16-2013, 11:34 AM

Interesting idea!

echoSE7EN · #9 01-16-2013, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by echoSE7EN

You need to be very careful with PayPal in such arrangements, as they can consider it to be a gambling activity and confiscate all funds. A couple of years ago some of the guys over at The Gear Page had a slightly similar thing. I don't remember the guy's name, but he is the owner/maker of SkinPimp pedals. Anyway, his mother was ill and someone caught wind that he was closing operations to take care of her, and possibly take her to Alaska (a dream of the family).

Some of TGP guys decided to pool together a couple of rare-ish pedals and "sell" raffle/chances via PayPal. You'd toss in x-amount of money and have a chance to "win" one of the pedals. They drew usernames out of a hat in a YouTube video, and those folks were sent the pedals.

ALL of the money was then sent (PayPal) to the SkinPimp guy, or it was supposed to be, I don't know.... It wound up being a couple thousand dollars (maybe even more) if I recall. Anyway, PayPal stepped in and confiscated the funds. I didn't follow up on the whole thing. I lost $50.00, but it was just poor of PayPal to do it (IMHO). I think they presented their case to PayPal, but again...I never followed up.

Just saying...be careful with "lottery/raffle" type of things.

Update: I did a quick search. The guy's name was Ryan Kirkland. He apparently is no longer affiliated with SkinPimp pedals, and sadly, his mother did pass away in 2010.

ggvicviper · #10 01-16-2013, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by echoSE7EN

Update: I did a quick search. The guy's name was Ryan Kirkland. He apparently is no longer affiliated with SkinPimp pedals, and sadly, his mother did pass away in 2010.

Raffles are forbidden in the PayPal usage agreement, so there would need to be another way.

Remember, this is all just fun thinking.

slobake · #11 01-16-2013, 11:42 AM

I like it too. Don't know if we can do it though. Even beyond Paypal, is it legal?

**Bryan R. Tyler** · #12 01-16-2013, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Indiana Mike

Sounds great

However...

After seeing some problems with this kind of thing in the past I don't ever see it happening as I believe it to be a banned practice . People are greedy or irresponsible and screw it up for those who aren't.

Yeah- not happening here. It would be an off-the-forum activity if it happened, and you're almost guaranteed that someone will end up getting screwed at some point. We couldn't even pass around a $200 Wishbass without someone stealing it along the way.

ggvicviper · #13 01-16-2013, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryan R. Tyler

Yeah- not happening here. It would be an off-the-forum activity if it happened, and you're almost guaranteed that someone will end up getting screwed at some point. We couldn't even pass around a $200 Wishbass without someone stealing it along the way.

Shame. I dunno why people do these things. Off forum would be pretty cool. Maybe we could start something and have the forum link to it?

The legality aspect of it also concerns me a bit - it is technically income, so how would it be taxed?

EDIT: Updated the thread name and TB references.

ffutterman · #14 01-16-2013, 12:04 PM

It sounds like a really cool idea, but I think there'd be legal issues. Since most states are strapped for cash, they've been focusing on one or two issues to crack down on in order to get more money (like a shake-down for parking tickets). Recently, one of those big issues has been gambling activities. I work for a non-profit, and it was recommended that we even stop doing raffles since the states see that as gambling, which means they want you to pay for gambling and licensing fees.

ggvicviper · #15 01-16-2013, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ffutterman

It sounds like a really cool idea, but I think there'd be legal issues. Since most states are strapped for cash, they've been focusing on one or two issues to crack down on in order to get more money (like a shake-down for parking tickets). Recently, one of those big issues has been gambling activities. I work for a non-profit, and it was recommended that we even stop doing raffles since the states see that as gambling, which means they want you to pay for gambling and licensing fees.

Well, I guess that's the end of that. Phooey.

TolerancEJ · #16 01-16-2013, 02:14 PM

Didn't TB members organize some sort of "Lottery" over who would own the Mothman? I don't recall who won in that case.

Solarmist · #17 01-16-2013, 02:28 PM

Back 5 years ago I suggested having a TB raffle with a nice bass for the prize, and funded by the purchase of tickets. It went nowhere, but I'm still big fan of the idea.

A-Step-Towards · #18 01-16-2013, 02:35 PM

You would need 1 person you could trust with the money, elected by Tb members.

FunkMetalBass · #19 01-16-2013, 02:35 PM

As I was quite interested of assisting with this (outside of TB, of course), I started looking into this further, and it appears as though it would be hard to pull off from a legal standpoint.

Interesting, related discussion:
http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=226493

There are online raffle sites (like http://www.rafflemate.com/), but the person in charge would have to set themselves up as a nonprofit organization, or already be one.

In fact, it might be easier to find an NPO that currently exists and have them host the raffle.

TolerancEJ · #20 01-16-2013, 03:22 PM

Now, I'm no longer thinking about raffles/lotteries. Consider this standpoint...

TalkBass, to some extent, must have at least a little influence on the Bass world. We give praise when something is done right and offer constructive criticism when justified. So, why not an instrument manufacturer offer an instrument for random monthly draws among TalkBass users? It could be a different company each month.

Warwick has already been doing these types of weekly and monthly draws via their Facebook page. Just saying some other companies could participate in a similar manner, but specifically directed toward TalkBass users. What do you folks think?