Bitcoin Forum

http://www.coinraffle.com/images/coinrafflecom.jpg

http://www.coinraffle.com

Enter this raffle for a chance to win a NEW Saphire Radeon HD 7970. 1 Bitcoin gets you a 1 in 300 chance of Winning and the best part is 20% of the proceeds go directly to the Bitcointalk.org forum to help fund development of new forum software.


Rules & Terms of This Raffle
Raffle Details:

    Raffle Prize : NEW Saphire Radeon HD 7970
    Raffle Start Date: 04/02/2012
    Raffle End Date: When the last ticket of 300 has been sold
    Raffle Ticket Price: Each ticket cost 1 Bitcoin
    Raffle Tickets can be purchased here (http://www.coinraffle.com/index.php/buy-a-ticket)
    Each Raffle Ticket can only be purchased once - after it has been purchased its corresponding Order Now button will be replaced with a red X.

 
Benefit Raffle Details:

    This Raffle is a partial Benefit Raffle with 20% of the proceeds (60 BTC) going directly to the forum at Bitcointalk.org to help fund the development of new forum software.

 
Choosing a Winner:

    Each raffle ticket has a unique number 7970001-7970300
    When all 300 Tickets have been sold we will make an announcement on our thread in the Bitcointalk.org forum as well as on our web site.
    After the announcement has been made we will use the next solved block to pick the winner using the Bitcoin Block Chain Raffle Picker (created by DeepCeleron) here: http://we.lovebitco.in/raffle.html
    The Bitcoin Block Chain Raffle Picker will use the block chain to pick a winner between 1-300
    The winner will be picked and announced the same day the raffle ends

Other Details:

    Prize will be shipped to the winner on the next business day via USPS priority mail or USPS priority mail international with a tracking number provided at that time to the winner and proof of the shipment provided to the community by request
    CoinRaffle.com and the 7970 Raffle are sponsored by BTCWebHost.com
    Owners/Employees of BTCWebHost.com or any of its sister Web Sites / Businesses are prohibited from entering the raffle.
    The 20% 60 BTC benefit will be paid directly to Thymos on behalf of the Bitcointalk forum on the day the raffle ends
    CoinRaffle.com seeks to provide a transparent raffle system and encourages feed back, development suggestions and is open to quality control checks by Bitcointalk.org staff members

http://www.coinraffle.com


EDIT: 05/07/2012

This is what I am willing to do. I am reluctant to change the terms of the raffle but on the other hand I am really busy with another project right now which is why I am not on the forum much lately so I will set a deadline.

I will give this a maximum of six more weeks.

If all the tickets do not sell by June 18th - I will use the first block solved after 12:01AM UTC on June 18th to Pick a Winner from tickets 1-300, if it picks a ticket number that is not sold we will go to the second solved block after 12:01 on June 18th and continue on in that fashion until the raffle ticket number picker picks a number of a ticket that has been sold, as soon as a winner is picked I will ship the prize to the winner that same day.

If the Tickets sell out before June 18th we will pick the winner as described in the beginning

and Either way no matter how many tickets I sell I will still donate 60 BTC to the Forum.

I am sorry this was not as much of a success as I thought it would of been, I will continue to advertise the best I can and I welcome you to do the same and send me any suggestions you might have on how we can sell more tickets.

Thanks for participating, and thanks to those who have showed patience and composure.

You might want to make your order buttons (http://www.coinraffle.com/index.php/buy-a-ticket) go over to bit-pay.

thanks for pointing that out, they were working must be a closing </a> missing some place one sec

When I try to purchase a ticket, I just get redirected back to the page of where I can chose my ticket. is it just me or?
//DeaDTerra

Looks like they are wrapped in <form> without an action.

http://www.coinraffle.com/index.php/buy-a-ticket
works now

thanks for pointing this out to me so quick, something must of happened when I was polishing the site up a little bit right before the launch

have to go finish straightening things up but you can buy tickets here http://www.coinraffle.com/index.php/buy-a-ticket

or by Clicking By A Ticket from the menu

thanks!

No problems, I will purchase a ticket :)
//DeaDTerra

Did you mean to have it in a frame? (It wasn't before)
In a frame, I can't see the Bit-pay SSL stuff to be sure that it it secure. Of course, I can load the page outside of the frame, and that shows that all is well.

this was just a temporary fix so tickets can be ordered - trying to figure out why the form code was being stripped from that page now

Also, I bought ticket #42, but it doesn't show as an X and allows others to enter on the same ticket number.

The site also (still) fails for me.  I am running noscript though.

reload the site, it appears to be working for everyone else. If you are blocking iframe you wont be able to buy tickets at the moment but the rest of the site is pretty standard stuff and should not be blocked.

http://www.coinraffle.com

The site should be working fine for everyone now

To view the ticket purchase page outside of the iframe simply visit

http://www.coinraffle.com/buyaticket.html


Good Luck ! :)

235 has a /b> on it.

I'm happy to see someone making raffles automated!

Yay, Matthew is out of b& jail! The forums are whole again. ;D

I think 300 bitcoins for 100bitcoin prize is too large cut.

nice idea website looks great

Let's do some math.

300 BTC - 20% donation (60 BTC) - cost of prize (112 BTC) == 128 BTC profit (42%)

This does not include his time to make the site, setup bit-pay, deal with this thread, pick a winner, etc. So let's say that's 30 hours.

128BTC / 30 hours of work == 4.267 BTC per hour (~$20 / hr)

If you think it is wrong for someone to make $20/hr in BTC to let forum members have a fun and a chance of winning a pretty cool prize, maybe you should try to do better while taking a smaller cut.

Thank you James

and thank you everyone for being patient for these little bugs that had to be worked out, I kind of rushed this site today because I told Theymos I would be ready to launch on Saturday so he could start advertising it and was already two days behind.

Right now I think everything is working well the way it is supposed to, I will be refining things a little bit as we go and overall I think its going to be a fun raffle. 1 in 300 Chance are really pretty decent odds to win a really nice GPU while contributing to the forum at the same time!

Thanks to everyone who is participating and who has helped me so far

and thank you Matt for giving me the idea if you ever want to team up on a raffle let me know!

I would like to continue to do Bitcoin Benefit Raffles on CoinRaffle.com and this 7970 raffle is really my way of getting it all started I would love to do benefit raffles for bitcoin accepting groups and organizations to help them with fund raising.

-Tom

If this goes well, would you be willing to auction off my 7970 next?  I'd gladly accept $550 shipped for it and the remainder could be split between you and a charity, although I would like to pick the charity (ASPCA).   ;)

if you or anyone else for that matter is interested in doing a benefit raffle please go to contact us on the web site and fill out the form

thanks!

What the heck. For the forums! I would prefer to win of course.

I purchased a ticket and it doesn't show up as being sold. Does it wait until the coin arrives. I got a receipt and everything.

What are you to do in the unlikely event that tickets do not sell out ?

It would seem that this format of a raffle puts the pressure on purchasers to keep buying in order to actually have the drawing take place. It puts less risk on the person conducting the raffle.

This is a good question though and should be spelled out in the OP.

There appears to be a large delay in turning the square to an X.  What happens if two people purchase the same square at the same time?

A very large delay. I'm still waiting on my block to be x'd

What if I like the current forum software?

Are you cereal?  Even a decent search mechanism would be a huge upgrade.

This is a great idea cablepair.  I just hope we can start working new forum software soon.  Seems like it's been in the works foreverrrrrrr.

Thank you to everyone who has participated so far!

Let me answer some questions

q) What if the tickets do not sell?
a) I really cannot imagine this happening, I put a lot of thought into this and I believe 300 tickets is an easily achievable goal. We have already sold 18 tickets in under 24 hours. I am advertising this on multiple platforms and venues
if things start to slow down I will continue to push advertising until all the tickets are sold. This will be one of the benefits for future clients who want to host their raffle at CoinRaffle.com - we guarantee success and will do what it takes to complete a raffle.

q) Wheres my red x? What happens if someone else buys my ticket
a) As of right now, All the Red X are there that are supposed to be there, for those that have experienced a delay - I apologize, this is our first raffle and I have been trying to streamline this process as much as I can as we go here; Bit-Pay can only do so much so I have had to work the rest of the process out myself. I will continue to try and improve the automation of this process and if two people buy the same ticket (has not happened yet) the ticket will go to the first one that purchased the ticket and I will contact the second buyer to determine what other ticket they want.

q) Why do we need new forum software? I like things just the way they are.
a) Like it not, Bitcointalk forum has pushed SMF to its limits and its only growing bigger. New forum software has been the goal of all of the Bitcointalk.org fundraising that has taken place here for quite some time and its something that is really needed.

Thank you for your questions and suggestions - I welcome them as help to streamline this process!

Ordered a ticket and everythign went smooth. However, my nr. is still purchasable.

As of right now all purchased tickets that I have received confirmation for have been credited and tickets made UN-purchasable.

Usually Bit-Pay confirms purchases to me after 1 Bitcoin network confirmation but I cannot do anything without confirmation on your purchase from Bit-Pay

if you think the transaction has already been confirmed please email tom@coinraffle.com - thanks!

Mine shows an x now. I sent an email. I hope I am the one who did purchase ticket 001 as I paid for it. I don't want to sound overly negative either. You did good work on this website

I can confirm only one person has purchased 001 - I assume that is you :)

CoinRaffles.com is a product that will stay his possession and I guess is expected to profit him long term.

I think it is wrong to use a benevolent cause to finance the development of his venture.

If I wanted to support the forum for the same amount, I'd buy 3 HD7970 and donate the mining output of 45 day to the forum. (60btc)

Lotteries are popular among the poorest minded people, I really hope you make it through 300 tickets though.

Hint  : Once you've reached more than ~600$ + 60 btc worth of ticket, slowly buy the remainder and be done with it.

What the hell is CoinRaffles.com ?

Transisto,

Why do you get to decide who should make money and when. I said this earlier in the thread and I'll say it again, go make your own raffle if you want to make less money.

It would seems that cablepair is trying to start / build something that could be used elsewhere in the community.

Why is it so bad that he makes money for doing work?

same here, #16

Sorry I wasn't being very positive about the outcome.

I'll say it again then, I really hope he make it through 300 tickets !

You do your maths, I did my maths. ;)

Transisto:


Have you purchased a ticket?

Why are you so concerned about this? 300 Tickets is nothing we are selling at a great rate and almost everyone I have talked to is  very excited about being a part of this. I am sure we will be at 300 before you know it, again CoinRaffle.com is dedicated to making each and every raffle a success - If I have to advertise on every platform available I will - I have several advertising avenues I use on a regular basis, I know how to make this work. Relax its OK, everything is going fine.

Free market is a wonderful thing, If I wanted to make this raffle end at 1000 tickets I am in my rights to do so, if you have a problem with it just do not participate. All the rules and terms are in black and white for all to see - there are no tricks or gimmicks here.

This is a great opportunity to get a 1 in 300 chance to win a Very nice GPU for only 1 Bitcoin, those are awesome odds and well worth it, plus even if you lose you know 20% is going directly to the forum so no matter what its a win win.

You asked to be contacted via the website, but I have had no reply to my email.  Perhaps you should respond to requests via the website if that is where you prefer to have communications.

Sorry OG: I do not see any emails from you- I have others but not from you, go ahead and PM me if you wish

for the record

We have sold 31 tickets in the first 24 hours and have not even begun to advertise

I would consider that a successful first day :)

Great idea Cable! I think you offering the raffle to others will do really well as a business.

thank you! Sales are continuing to come in - dont put this off too long my friends - get your ticket soon before they are gone, this is an awesome opportunity to get a Brand new Saphire Radeon HD 7970 for only 1 BTC

1 Bitcoin Gets you a 1 in 300 Chance
those are awesome odds!

So what (purely hypothetical) if you don't sell all the tickets anytime soon, would this raffle go on forever, or is there a 'hard-stop' to it?

:)

I have already answered this more than once, feel free to read my responses above

The raffle ends when all 300 tickets have been sold, but please do not let that bother you - I am dedicated to the success of this raffle, 300 tickets is nothing - I will do what it takes to push advertising and make this a success - tickets have been selling right along and will continue to do so, I have numerous advertising avenues including many which I own my self. My game plan is to stretch out advertising and not advertise in the same place all the time and keep the momentum going.

DO NOT WORRY I GOT THIS! SO RELAX MY BROTHER!

Most raffles have no where near as good odds as this one does, on top of that its a benefit raffle for our favorite forum. Its a WIN WIN.

I bought one ticket to show the support. Really great idea!

Best regards,
Nejc

This is the nice, quiet 7970. Oh, nice.

Seriously, I have this one. It is quieter than even my Gigabyte 7970 with its custom cooler by a degree of 2, which in and of itself is supposed to be quieter than the reference ones.

{edit: looks like I was wrong. I was just judging from the box. rawr. Why would they re-use the same box art haha Oh Sapphire}

I believe it looks like this

http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-Radeon-PCI-Express-Graphics-21197-00-40G/dp/B006P88VO8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333721301&sr=8-1
$629 on Amazon

Not bad for a $5 Raffle Ticket :)

In the Philippines is raffle very popular especially on a Cruise ship where the many crew are PH

what do you do with everyones info you collect name and addresses and such?

and I bought a ticket.. no red X on my number.. and the receipt I got in email was blank.. ???

It takes a while for the X to appear.  Check back in a while.

Did you get a blank receipt from bit-pay.com ?

that's assuming that he'll never be able to use his scripts again, which is clearly not true. and 30 hours to setup a site (with bugs) is clearly an overestimate.

personally I'd prefer to buy 4 bets on the monthly BitLotto.com if win then get a higher % of the total staked & choose how I spend it & donate more to the forum, for comparison:

coinraffle:

donation = 20%
prize = 38%
rack rate (to the operator) = 42%
time limit = whenever
reliability = unproven & buggy

bitlotto

donation = x% (you choose)
prize = 99% - x%
rack rate (to the operator) = 1%
time limit = 1 month
reliability = proven to work, 1 year

an example from the last draw on 4/4

donation = 120 BTC (you choose)
prize = 280 BTC - 120 BTC = 160 BTC
rack rate (to the operator) = 2.8 BTC
so double the donation can be given while the winner still keeps 160 coins instead of just 112 worth
& the odds of winning per 1 coin bet are better than 1 in 300, they were 1 in 280

Bitcoin lottos & raffles than ape the real life stupid tax ones by raking off 62% of punter's money for good causes & operator profit (that's obviously never clearly stated upfront or ever) are just retarded imo, good luck selling those 300 'tard tickets bro

disclaimer: I have nothing what so ever to do with www.bitlotto.com - I just like to bet where the stupid tax is @ 1% & if I happen to win then I'll donate a % that I choose & to whom & when & buy what I wish with my winnings - if you reduced your operator's rake down to 1% then sure I would consider it but when you grab over twice what is donated to the good cause while pumping that it's all about the fab prize & charity then thanks but I'll pass for now

Even if its 1000 BTC - 0% Donation and took me 5 mins to set it up, I am completely in my rights to do this, there are no gimicks or tricks, If you dont agree with the Raffle dont participate, very simple. Two questions:

Grue: Are you familiar with Raffles? This raffle has the best odds of any I have ever seen

Also no disrespect but I have to ask, Do you really not have anything better to do than troll my raffle? ;)


Its very simple for 1 Bitcoin you get a good chance to win a very high end graphics card and donate a little something to the forum at the same time. If you think I am doing something wrong go start your own raffle.

"Grue: Are you familiar with Raffles? This raffle rip off has the best biggest operator's odds rake offs of any I have ever seen"

FTFY  ;D  DMI

This is coming from someone who runs a lottery site, can some one say hater?



It is so incredibly lame that you are trolling this thread.

The Rules and Terms of the raffle are in black and white for all to see, no one is tricked into this. People have an option to play or not to play. This is A free market (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_market), people are buying this tickets and if you dont like it, oh well - why not go start your own raffle today? Do it better than me and for less money and prove that I am wrong.

Either put up or shut up because otherwise you just look like a troll coming in here complaining about something that you have nothing to do with, you want to tear it down for what? For me making money? Are you serious? Your preposterous acronyms make you look like a fool, it's Friday night go out and get laid or something man and leave me alone.

No, not really, but i did remember the BFL raffle https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=67937.0 had much better odds.

No, i was simply pointing out that gigavps' calculation was flawed. i know that 20% of this is going to the forum, but that is dwarfed by the 42% that is given to the operator. mathematically, it's obviously better to simply donate to the forum directly. even from a purely "for fun" perspective, you could gamble at other places that have much lower margins.

Since you brought it up why not compare the odds? I cannot tell you for sure which raffle had better odds but I can tell you for sure that the BFL raffle certainly did not have MUCH better odds.

Also my odds are very clear and concise, 1 Bitcoin = 1 in 300 Chance. The odds from that raffle ended up being very confusing and no one even knew what the odds were until the end of the raffle.

No disrespect to Matt, he did a really good job and had some very innovative ideas about the raffle (and gave me the idea for Coinraffle) it just did not pan out as good as he had hoped.


The 20% donation serves two purposes other than helping out the forum

It makes it less of an incentive for the raffle operator to cheat, which was a concern that was brought up on the BFL raffle thread (not that anyone accused Matt of cheating but it was pointed out how easy it would be to do so)

and its a Bonus for playing this raffle.

The bottom line is this, people are not playing the raffle just out of the desire to donate to the forum, your missing the point here of course that is a nice BONUS and its great to help out the forum but the reason people are playing is to WIN A 7970!

This raffle provides excellent odds - 1 in 300 to win a Saphire Radeon HD 7970, one of the best gaming and mining GPUs in the world.

This is the reason people are playing, and I am sorry I have to reiterate this but the rules and terms are out in the open for everyone to see, people want to take a risk for 1 Bitcoin to possibly turn that into a six hundred dollar video card, I am providing that chance and getting a nice payday because of it and be able to help out my favorite forum at the same time. ( say it with me now : Free Market (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_market) )

Im going to say it again, and this is not to you grue its to anyone if you dont like it please just dont play. I am not deceiving anyone into playing this, they are adults making a decision to play and if you dont like it good, go make a better raffle.

read my previous post - I do not run any lottery site, I only answer this so that you don't slander others who do, as for the rest of your comments they are equally inaccurate & pathetic in their response

ps - fo

ya.. odd.. what if i forget what number i bought lolz

I wonder if Bit-Pay is having some issue, I have heard from a couple people they are getting blank emails from them, I will email them now.

What Number did you buy?

Let me check the site

the last raffle ticket that was confirmed was ticket #2

if that is your ticket and you do not see a red x please reload the web page and if that does not work clear your cache and reload because right now I see a red x for ticket 2

thank you for playing and good luck!

:)

I got ticket 153

the BFL raffle was "1 ticket for 0.5 BTC, ends in 1 week". at the end, not many people bought the tickets, resulting in better-than-expected odds.
apples to oranges. your odds are fixed, whereas BFL raffle was based on how many people bought tickets. in both cases, the rules were clearly stated.

LOL, you're getting a whopping 42% anyways, already a huge incentive not to cheat.

oh please, not this statement again. you're justifying your huge profit margin by making a small donation. like i said in my previous posts, it's mathematically better to simply gamble somewhere else, and donate the winnings to the forum or buy a 7970. i haven't looked around in the gambling section much, but i'm pretty sure most games don't have a 42% profit margin.

"free market" seems to be the favorite cop-out on this forum. don't like my pyramid/ponzi/drugs/slaves/guns/morally questionable practices? it's a free market! bitcoin is free market, therefore your argument is invalid.

i'm not sure what your definition of "excellent odds" are, but a 42% rake is pretty high. of course, that's just my opinion, and i'm sure you're tired of me ruining up your thread so i promise that this will be the last reply i make.

I dont have to justify anything. I am not doing anything wrong, in what world is it wrong to make money on a legal and legitimate enterprise?

Have you ever gone to college? Ever taken any business courses?

The purpose of business is to make money. Grow up and quit yer bitchin

Thank you to all who have been continuing to buy tickets and support this raffle - Have a great Easter!

Nice idea but you're to greedy... maybe you can buy 150 tickets yourself ?

Then you have 50% chance on winning and if you win, and raffle the 7970 again for 150 tickets ?

Looks like 50 are sold. 1/6 of the way there.

Yes we had lot of sales the first 3 days then only a hand full every day since then, have not had a single day without at least a couple of sale, now that things are slowing down again I am launching second wave of advertising today so expect another surge in buying!

Hope everyone had a great Easter, I took yesterday off to go to Church and spend time with family - time to get back to the grindstone

I can't believe you guys left lucky number 13 for me! I scooped it up yesterday and now can't wait for delivery of my new 7970.

None taken, it was a first attempt. I don't understand what you mean about "not panning out as good as I had hoped". That BFL Single was originally purchased for $450,  the raffle brought in over $1,200, and all it took was some photography and a google doc. If $750 for a few days of trolling the forums is "not panning out", then all I have to say is "lol wut?".

Also, greedy or not, I'm not an idiot. I knew that 0.5BTC would be way more enticing than 1BTC> etc. If you want people to appreciate something as high risk as a raffle or lottery of any kind, you have to make your barrier to entry very low to account for people's psychological rationalizations for throwing small amounts of money away.

Rule #1 of raffles: Don't let the public know how much you're actually making or they'll stop participating out of pure jealousy or awareness of the evil genius of it.

Rule #2 of raffles: When discussing terms of the raffles in a public forum, never discuss EARNINGS, only rules. Participation from a community is vital obviously (you're not making money, you're merely moving other people's money from their wallets to yours), but they should never participate in the decision of how much money you make, and for much less evil reasons than it sounds like-- because the majority of people participating will have no idea of how much anything is actually worth and will always feel cheated, especially when it's their fault.

Rule #3 of raffles: If you're going to require 400% the price of an item be met like some kind of a reserve auction, learn how to use this code:

Matt: You totally read not panned out as something it was not

I was talking about the broken referral system, and confusion about email hashing etc

I know you did very good on your raffle, thats what inspired me to do one as well.

Not sure where you get 400% from though - even if you count the 20% I am giving the forum - its only about half of that.

If you look at how raffles are done in the real world this is a very common way of doing it - you have a set number of tickets and you sell them until they are gone.

I don't need to put things in small print - that would be deceitful, I am running an honest auction with honest terms in black and white - it was either going to pass or fail, I tried it out and So far it's passing...

Bottom Line is this:

 I am making money, helping out my favorite forum and some lucky person is going to get a great GPU for only 1 Bitcoin.

You guys can keep trying to convince me I screwed up here but from where I sit - its still looking pretty sweet :)

Ah okay.

I wasn't being serious. Those points were mostly jokes to troll people who thought I was scamming them by having a raffle in the first place.

:)

I remember typing "not panned out" the first time and thinking "matt is going to destroy me for that" hahahaha

but seriously I know your raffle was a success thats why I did mine! Considering your raffle was the first one in the existence of Bitcoin (as far as I know - someone check the Guinness book of records) it went pretty smoothly and you were able to start the development of the Bitcoin block chain raffle system which is pretty cool - maybe someone will take what you started and I built on and make it even better.

Someone like Bit-Pay could really make the whole thing streamlined and take it to the next level. I am just a web designer / developer - not a full pledged programmer by any means  and I can only take it so far.

I like you Matt because you know how to make money and your not afraid to do so, what we really need to do in his Bitcoin community is stop this stigma about making a profit. It seems like everyone gets so pissed when people try to make money. Not sure where I got this from but I always thought the point of business was to make a profit but The way some people act around here you would think I was a terrorist or something.

 "Your making double your money back - how DARE YOU!" Where I come from that's just called having a good day.

I used to think it was Rule #1: when someone sees a homeless man on the street, they may give him a dollar, but when they see him open up his wallet full of $100 bills to put your dollar in, they instantly don't want to help him anymore.

Now I think it's more because people here are anti-establishmentarianists and hate "the rich" so much that anything taller than them is seen as a threat. (e.g. even if MtGox is doing everything right, some people will swear that they are evil just because of their size).

shut up and sell more raffle tickets I want to win my 7970 already!

+1  ;D ;D ;D

+1 lol  Don't worry Im on it :)

Test, 1, 2, 3, test! Is this raffle still on?
Seems you lost steam...

Looks like 56 tickets have been sold now.

This is to be expected, we are in a lull at the moment but I am gearing up for a big round of advertising. For one thing I am buying four advertising slots on this forum which will start on the 17th, that is going to be a big source of ticket sales


Also going to renew ads today at:

feedzebirdz  / twitter
CoinAd.com
Anonymous Ads

also organizing facebook campaign - and looking into a way to get bitcoin newbies into the action with easy coins

dont worry we have another surge of ticket sales coming on the horizon - thanks for being patient! :)

Time to start another push in advertising! Big CoinAD Advertisement going up today among others

3 More Days until Our Four Advertising Slots on this Forum Begin - that will be a big push

lots of tickets left

Brand new Saphire Radeon HD 7970 - win for only 1 Bitcoin!

Thanks to everyone who has participated!

Sponsored by CoinRaffle.com and BTCWebHost.com

So I've seen advertising for this raffle but no more ticket sales. Cablepair, what is you plan to finish out this raffle with no sales made in the last 3 days?

gigavps: if your concerned why not buy a ticket yourself? :)

We actually have sold three tickets today, also

You havent seen anything yet buddy, I am buying up advertising but it takes time. I am involved in two advertising auctions right now , one ends in 9 hours and my big one (buying four advertising slots on the forum) ends in 2 days.

I dont know why 3 days is so concerning, the terms are very simple and plain for everyone to see, theoretically this raffle could go on for 100 years but I am going to do my best to make sure that it ends as soon as possible.

I will not change the terms of the raffle, that would be wrong.

I will continue to push advertising and spend money on advertising until all the tickets are sold, if yours or any one elses expectations are that this raffle is going to only last a week or that if things slow down I am going to change the terms of the raffle you are mistaken and should not buy a ticket.

looks like your selling a ticket a day.. should have this wrapped up in about 8 months.. im excited!

I am looking for ways to speed things up, and I dont mind spending money to do so - if anyone has any advertising suggestions I would be happy to hear them!

Thanks for playing!

At some point you are going to spend more on advertising than receive in ticket sales. At what point does it make sense to cut your loses and call this thing done?

I will not change the terms of the raffle,  it would be dishonest. The terms I made at the beginning of this raffle will not be changed, it would be wrong to change them for better or for worse...

People who have actually purchased tickets have been contacting me and giving me ideas on how I can better advertise and I appreciate stuff like this, I will be following through with this and please keep them coming boys I have no problem spending money if it will further this raffle, I will do what it takes to make this happen.

Well, I'm not so sure about that, I would think it would be unfair to sit on people's coins forever and keep the prize, in case all tickets are not sold.
That's debatable for me, and I guess many others would agree depending on how long this is going to continue, after all BTC is about the >50%  :D

For future raffles you might want to put in an end date in case that there are not all tickets sold. Of course then you have the issue of picking a winner with a sparse set of ticket numbers, that requires additional rules (like trying the next block if a match to a valid ticket number cannot be found, or re-indexing the ticket number base to have a new smaller set of sequential numbers).

Anyways, just more than 20% sold, that's better than last time I checked.

So where is this going?

Options:

1. Add an end date.
2. Refund all btc and sell it.
3. Sell it and split the money - expenses to those who have tickets.
4. Halve the price of tickets and give every ticket holder another ticket selected at random.
5. Pay for more advertising and lose more money.
6. Do nothing.

Just ideas.

Card now worth ... ~450 $ ... going down.

It's not the ideal mining card anyways.

well ill take my bitcoin back if refunds are gonna be sent out. 

Cablepair, I believe this is the time for you to speak up...

So Cablepair, what will it be?

I suggest you define an end date, pick the block hash after that end date and use that method to determine a winner:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=77442.0 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=77442.0)
That method works even with non-continuous ticket numbers.

Otherwise I'll ask you to refund my BTC.
At this point I don't think any amount of advertising will sell all the tickets (unless you buy them yourself).

And I hope others will start to make requests to determine an end date for this and have some decision.

+1

+1

LESSONS LEARNED:
1. There is a psychological barrier to giving up whole coins at a time for most, since many are just getting started and don't have a fat wallet. Sell in smaller denominations and give bulk discounts.
2. Don't make it difficult to buy multiple tickets. What if someone wanted to buy 3 tickets in this raffle? Thay would have to pick them all out individually from the list - lame.

The silence from the OP makes me question the authenticity of this raffle.. I think its time I ask for a refund..

And the "Failure of the Year Award" goes to...

+1

I would have given him the chance to end this gracefully (by setting an END DATE), but since there's no response and "do nothing" is no the "honest" option, I second this request. This raffle is dead in the water, no positive pep talk or ad campaign will change that, sorry!

I would rather he just decide a winner from the tickets purchased so far. If not that I would like a refund of 2 btc for the two tickets I purchased (1, 297).

I already pmd and asked for a refund.. if this were your raffle wouldnt you be a little more involved in your own thread?

EDIT: and ya probably too much per ticket to have any real interest.

If you get a refund let us know here

This is insane.

Why on earth would you think I would change the terms of this raffle because you are impatient?

The terms are very clear for all to see and have been the same since day one. It CLEARLY states that the raffle ends when all 300 tickets are sold.

If you feel this is not going fast enough I apologize. Maybe this is the failure of the year, maybe not - I tried this out for the first time, we have sold a few tickets over the last few days but I admit its going much slower than I thought it would.

I repeat I will not change the terms of my raffle and there is no reason why I have to. If you want this raffle to end buy more tickets and encourage others to buy them as well.

I have been on this forum for a year and I will still be here this time next year, eventually all tickets will sell and at that time the winner will be picked using the methods described since day one.

I apologize for not answering replies on this thread sooner I have a major project ramping up and have devoted nearly 100% of my time to that. I will continue to advertise this raffle and will continue to do what it takes to make it end, but I will not change the terms I will not refund any money and you are crazy for thinking you have the right to force me to do so.

In reality all this kind of talk in this thread is just scaring others away and making this raffle go even longer.

Two people have already PMd me and demanded I change the terms of this raffle and end it early. I will not do so - so please save your keystrokes.


On the other hand I encourage participants to promote the raffle and come up with ways to sell tickets. I have no problem spending coin on advertising to make this work.

Quote from: dirtycat on April 29, 2012, 11:13:56 PM

Hello cablepair,

I see no end to the raffle you are hosting anytime soon.  There has been no end date established nor have I seen any increase in ticket sales.  There has also been a lack of responses to other members inquiries regarding the raffle in the thread and has made me severly doubt the authenticity of the raffle.  At this point I am asking for a refund of my bitcoin.

My transaction was on 2012-04-06 20:11:21
and the ID is:

74a000e599aff99dbf5bf0cf116697c73b054b1aa79e474ab622d2ed12cb2d21

good luck with all your future endeavors.

thanks

DC



on a side note.. I dont see anywhere stating.. "no refunds"
and I have been watching sales closely you havent sold one for a few days

clear your cache and refresh the page tickets have been selling I sold one today and two yesterday

slow yes but they are selling. I am sorry you are not happy with the raffle but it would be more advantageous for you to promote this raffle than tear it down if you want it to end soon.

Its not my raffle to promote.

Now I know I wont win.. im tearing down the raffle.. lol

Point taken. I think I assumed to much too quickly all the while forgetting the raffles terms.

true no biggie its only 1 btc.. in 7-8 months someone is gonna be a proud owner of a 7970! lets go guys buy more!!!!

About 60 tickets sold. So 1/5 of all tickets sold. Maybe I will buy another.

thank you for the positive attitude.

and I mean what I said if anyone has a good idea on how we can promote this raffle better please let me know, I am willing to do what it takes to push this thing and make it go faster.

Halving ticket price and issueing current ticket holders an additional ticket per ticket purchased wasn't a good idea?  I know you were looking to earn some money, but the advertising you bought didn't work out too well.  So you lose a few dollars and gain insight on how to better run a raffle.  Make a new one after this one is done to help cover the loss.

I am fairly sure, and you can verify this through a poll if you like, a set end date seems to be the consensus around here.  You seem to be the only one against it since it would be changing the rules.  How do you know that an end date won't increase ticket sales? If you do nothing, the raffle will never end and there you are sitting with all the ticket money.  It just doesn't look good.

Cablepair,

advertising alone will not do the trick, nor will just keeping a positive attitude.
I believe in both of these 'tools', but they are not the solution.
I wish you all the best for this raffle!

To anyone else following this thread:
I have 3 raffle tickets to sell for half price.
And for the advertising part of my announcement:
This is 1) a super price 50% off, 2) it improves your chances to win (since it reduces mine by 3 tickets).
The chances for profit are likely still higher than buying defaulted debts in the lending section.
PM if interested.

I am just curious how you plan to transfer ownership of the tickets?

By sending an email from the email account used for the ticket purchase (the 'identifier') to both Cablepair and the buyer requesting to change the entry. I don't mind having this email also include my Bit-Pay receipt for confirmation.

Even if that doesn't work, there's still a record of it and the new owner can make a claim based on that if anything goes wrong. Not just that, if the new owner doesn't find the SHA of his email address in the final list (we know the method of drawing a winner), then he/she can still search for the SHA of the email address I provided to both the new owner and Cablepair. I can also announce that right in this thread (of course I'd just use forum handles in the thread).

Does that satisfy your curiosity Burt?

Yep, sounds like it may work.  Will be interesting to see how many others do the same thing.

This is starting to look like the shakaru fiasco.

That is an unfair comparison.  This has not happened yet.  Shak will never happen, ever.

I was more referring to the fact that people are now selling whatever stake they had in the raffle, because it doesn't seem like it's going to go down any time soon, and that cablepair may be using the funds to generate additional profits by investing it in other ventures.

You don't know that.

OK, I put my tickets up for auction of Bitmit.net:
https://bitmit.net/en/trade/i/2416-raffle-tickets-lot-of-3-for-saphire-radeon-hd-7970/description

Yet another channel of advertising CablePair's raffle.  :)

8 tickets sold today.

terrytibbs has had it out for me for months. Its not the raffle its me.

If someone more popular was doing this raffle with the same results he would be defending them not putting them down.

Terry I'm calling you out on this one because people defend you all the time for being a straight up guy and this is complete FUD you are spreading

I set the terms of the raffle on day 1 and have not changed them, I will hold up my end of the bargain and shame on you for trying to associate this with some kind of scam.

Granted, I would kill for gigavps' mining farm, but I have no problems with his raffles because they are structured in a nice, legitimate, and easy way. There are no lower or upper limits in terms of ticket count, and the raffle ends on the date set, regardless of how many were sold.

I can even appreciate the risk gigavps is taking, because there is no guarantee that he will sell enough tickets to cover the service or product being raffled away.

The problem with your raffle is that you obviously don't care to either refund people, or buy the remaining tickets. In fact, it's such a failure that people are selling their part of the deal (thus the shakaru reference).

Edit: You say you don't want to refund people because that would be a violation of the rules set forth in the original post; to whose disadvantage would refunds be?

I don't think it's you.

For me as well as some others I noticed it's the lack of an end date on this raffle that causes discomfort.
And this effect is compounding the longer this is going on without an end in sight.

Just add an end date and pick the winner by the method Giga used (as I mentioned before it works with non-sequential ticket numbers too).
That might actually make people buy some more tickets (as they calculate their chances of winning by the number of tickets sold).

by the time this raffle is over.. that 7970 will be a collectors item!

Dirtycat, did you get your ticket refund?

nope I was DENIED! lol

One month down, 25% sold, so at least 3 more exciting months to come!


I think it would be dishonest to sit on people's funds and the prize forever.

JUST SET A PROSPECTIVE END DATE, CABLEPAIR!

In addition, this now lacks momentum, and the probable waiting time is going to scare new customers off. It's an evil cycle.

yeah I'm starting to get cold feet, too, maybe set a date for like June 1 or something.  SOme people might just be watching until it's almost done before they enter, so that they know it's not a dead raffle

Absolutely right, one more reason to define an end date just in case.

I even speculate that once there's an end date and we're approaching that date with only a low number of tickets sold, some people may recognize the great odds to win and buy extra tickets.

Cablepair, any thoughts?

I think you should get rid of the i-frame display of tickets. It's an eyesore and all of those buy buttons create information overload.

I suggest a new display called "Drive for Charity":

• At the top, a dashboard and the center guage is the percentage of tickets sold
• The Wheel of Wiz - a flashy, spinny, wheel of fortune like remaining ticket randomizer
• 300 buttons that when clicked can be tallied allowing multi-purchase (buttons require less space)
• When hovering over a button it slides out of the way of the clicker, teasing (20% of the time)

Chester the Suggester; Questions 3

• How many tickets do you want to buy?
• What are your 2 favorite numbers?
• Pick a direction: North, South, East, West

Purchasing must be fast fast fast, don't give them time to think. If it takes longer than 15 seconds to buy a ticket peoples impulse euphoria has waned and you lose a sale.

Just some fun thoughts.

Cheers

Edit: vbulletin is so much nicer. :P

I've watched the site for a while now and I for one have not even thought about buying a ticket until there were a lot more tickets sold.  I could do quite a bit with 1 BTC in the time it will likely that for all the tickets to sell.  I say set a date and the tickets will sell quickly, if they don't refund everyone on that date.

poor 7970.. just sitting in a box.. wasting away.. all lonely.. collecting dust.

Perhaps add a second prize like a small mining contract(maybe 1 to 5 GH/s for a day or two) or cheap video card like the 5770.

Thanks for chiming in randomproof.

Yes, that is a common trend in such raffles: There's a sales momentum at the beginning, and another one towards the end. By not setting an end date Cablepair set himself up to loose that wave towards the end. I PM'd him about that, and he just answered. I'll keep watching where this is going...

Note: I edited my original message here as Cablepair did respond to my last PM now and I'm eagerly awaiting where this is going  :)

This is what I am willing to do. I am reluctant to change the terms of the raffle but on the other hand I am really busy with another project right now which is why I am not on the forum much lately so I will set a deadline.

I will give this a maximum of six more weeks.

If all the tickets do not sell by June 18th - I will use the first block solved after 12:01AM on June 19th to Pick a Winner from tickets 1-300, if it picks a ticket number that is not sold we will go to the second solved block after 12:01 on June 19th and continue on in that fashion until the raffle ticket number picker picks a number of a ticket that has been sold, as soon as a winner is picked I will ship the prize to the winner that same day.

If the Tickets sell out before June 18th we will pick the winner as described in the beginning

and Either way no matter how many tickets I sell I will still donate 60 BTC to the Forum.

I am sorry this was not as much of a success as I thought it would of been, I will continue to advertise the best I can and I welcome you to do the same and send me any suggestions you might have on how we can sell more tickets.

Thanks for participating, and thanks to those who have showed patience and composure.

Good move cablepair. Much appreciated.  I have to mention that I felt the urge to buy more tickets reading that :).

You should review this thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=78304.0

ask for some tips from gigavps.. his raffles have been very very successful.. thats how you run a raffle

mmm dead line and perhaps not many competitors for the prize, all of a sudden this is interesting.

I will add the raffle to my list and give it a bump ;)

77 tickets sold. Does that sound right?

Have there been any new sales since end date has been set?

ya they are rollin in! clear your cache you will see! lol

78!

What time zone?

As you can tell the OP is completely involved with this raffle! thats why its so successful!

Did I win?

June is next month?

80!

...2/80 means I have a 2.5% chance of winning

Which is much better than almost any raffle in the real world.

And no I have not been involved in this rattle, and why would I be? Its a loss for me, an experiment that did not go right,

But why should you complain? The less tickets sold means better odds for you, and June 18th is not that far away...

It sucks the raffle did not do as well as I thought it would but oh well you cant win 'em all, This is a loss for me but its all good - this was mostly for fun as I have much bigger business to deal with these days.

giving up so easily?  I hope not cause current and future clients might see this thread and be wary of getting involved with any of your "experiments".. you never know this raffle could be a raging success in the last few days hang in there!

lol thanks for your optimism but I dont need this thread or this raffle for people to have confidence in me or my ventures

I have too many other things going on that are way more successful

*cough*cough*

Like the worlds #1 Bitcoin Web Hosting company, the worlds first and #1 Bitcoin Social Network, oh yeah and an incredibly lucrative FPGA manufacturing business

I think I'm good :)


The worst thing that happened to this raffle was when lame ass bitches who have nothing better to do came in here and starting talking shit

The problem with some people is they have nothing going on positive for themselves so they just go around looking for others who are actually doing something and try and tear them down, they did not hurt me they hurt this raffle - and the funniest thing about that is they did not even buy a ticket, some people need to learn to mind their own business..

but its all good man, I'm going to keep it moving -although its technically a loss for me, Ill still donate the 60 btc to the forum and ship the card to the winner its pocket change really does not mean a thing.


12 More days to go! :)

– Adolf Hitler

FTFY YW DMI OTOH ;)

You are one of the most pathetic people I have ever encountered on this forum , but it's quite funny to me that the only complaint you can come up with is the fact that I make you feel inferior.

Congratulations you are the first person I have ever added to my ignore list !
Which is pretty good considering I've been here for 14 months.

I'm also locking this thread and reporting you to the moderators for harassment and posting off topic

People who have purchased tickets I will announce the winner on June 18th.

Thanks for participating

TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO PARTICIPATE IN THE BITCOINTALK BENEFIT RAFFLE

FOR 1 BITCOIN YOU CAN WIN A BRAND NEW SAPPHIRE RADEON HD 7970

ENTER AT:

http://CoinRaffle.com !!!!

GOOD LUCK !!! WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED AT 12:01 AM - JUNE18th
HAPPY FATHERS DAY!

:)

WINNING TICKET ANNOUNCED!

FIRST BLOCK TO BE SOLVED AFTER 12:01 AM ON JUNE 18th: 185047

http://blockexplorer.com/block/00000000000001d8f2cb54d9cd79a2622b8f7e60eaa0ddd19f83788ce9ca9af2

Hash?: 00000000000001d8f2cb54d9cd79a2622b8f7e60eaa0ddd19f83788ce9ca9af2

Last 10 Digits of Hash: 8ce9ca9af2

using the Raffle Ticket Picker at: http://we.lovebitco.in/raffle.html

PICKS : 207 (NO WINNER FOR BLOCK 185047)


NEXT BLOCK TO BE SOLVED: 185048

http://blockexplorer.com/block/00000000000009aee66a7650e3ad47cd42b18ef24836b8c3b50fa11ec471df1f

Hash?: 00000000000009aee66a7650e3ad47cd42b18ef24836b8c3b50fa11ec471df1f

Last 10 Digits of Hash: 1ec471df1f

using the Raffle Ticket Picker at: http://we.lovebitco.in/raffle.html

PICKS: 204 (NO WINNER FOR BLOCK 185048)


NEXT BLOCK TO BE SOLVED: 185049

http://blockexplorer.com/block/00000000000005eb087c4c4d7d8dac9e7a97300fa60163ced6065b0ef1cfd02b

Hash?: 00000000000005eb087c4c4d7d8dac9e7a97300fa60163ced6065b0ef1cfd02b

Last 10 Digits of Hash: 0ef1cfd02b

using the Raffle Ticket Picker at: http://we.lovebitco.in/raffle.html

PICKS: 144 (NO WINNER FOR BLOCK 185049)


NEXT BLOCK TO BE SOLVED: 185050

http://blockexplorer.com/block/00000000000008c0761d493722b68d21d70ac9bf8dfbe46f59af1c30c7146a12

Hash?: 00000000000008c0761d493722b68d21d70ac9bf8dfbe46f59af1c30c7146a12

Last 10 Digits of Hash: 30c7146a12

using the Raffle Ticket Picker at: http://we.lovebitco.in/raffle.html

PICKS: 167 (NO WINNER FOR BLOCK 185050)


NEXT BLOCK TO BE SOLVED: 185051

http://blockexplorer.com/block/00000000000008261c59d64d1f8d1510a5bf51f3597ce680f4d07e97ce1716ef

Hash?: 00000000000008261c59d64d1f8d1510a5bf51f3597ce680f4d07e97ce1716ef

Last 10 Digits of Hash: 97ce1716ef

using the Raffle Ticket Picker at: http://we.lovebitco.in/raffle.html

PICKS: 192 (NO WINNER FOR BLOCK 185051)


NEXT BLOCK TO BE SOLVED: 185052

http://blockexplorer.com/block/0000000000000755e8919e48653d537fda399b9e34e2147b4efed5689a844abc

Hash?: 0000000000000755e8919e48653d537fda399b9e34e2147b4efed5689a844abc

Last 10 Digits of Hash: 689a844abc

using the Raffle Ticket Picker at: http://we.lovebitco.in/raffle.html

PICKS: 233 (NO WINNER FOR BLOCK 185052)


NEXT BLOCK TO BE SOLVED 185053

http://blockexplorer.com/block/00000000000005321a0c2604d9ef7b14cbc9257243994b3609a0f7cb2152d01d

Hash?: 00000000000005321a0c2604d9ef7b14cbc9257243994b3609a0f7cb2152d01d

Last 10 Digits of Hash: cb2152d01d

using the Raffle Ticket Picker at: http://we.lovebitco.in/raffle.html

PICKS: 46 (NO WINNER FOR BLOCK 185053)


NEXT BLOCK TO BE SOLVED 185054

http://blockexplorer.com/block/000000000000026e78935dff0614666180136450627353e0783620e6e965938d

Hash?: 000000000000026e78935dff0614666180136450627353e0783620e6e965938d

Last 10 Digits of Hash: e6e965938d

using the Raffle Ticket Picker at: http://we.lovebitco.in/raffle.html

PICKS: 118 (NO WINNER FOR BLOCK 185054)


NEXT BLOCK TO BE SOLVED 185055

http://blockexplorer.com/block/00000000000002e2354d63df3be6d1f2d694b52f2665f4111dd3ff1cf5a04217

Hash?: 00000000000002e2354d63df3be6d1f2d694b52f2665f4111dd3ff1cf5a04217

Last 10 Digits of Hash: 1cf5a04217

using the Raffle Ticket Picker at: http://we.lovebitco.in/raffle.html

PICKS: 88 (NO WINNER FOR BLOCK 185055)


NEXT BLOCK TO BE SOLVED 185056

http://blockexplorer.com/block/00000000000008c83f571b3863205fc68f24551c159580ac179f05eabc4e6ef2

Hash?: 00000000000008c83f571b3863205fc68f24551c159580ac179f05eabc4e6ef2

Last 10 Digits of Hash: eabc4e6ef2

using the Raffle Ticket Picker at: http://we.lovebitco.in/raffle.html

PICKS: 283 (NO WINNER FOR BLOCK 185056)


NEXT BLOCK TO BE SOLVED 185057

http://blockexplorer.com/block/000000000000024d45973d1e5090ef576d850bb01ccf98079304d4c0b5fdee70

Hash?: 000000000000024d45973d1e5090ef576d850bb01ccf98079304d4c0b5fdee70

Last 10 Digits of Hash: c0b5fdee70

using the Raffle Ticket Picker at: http://we.lovebitco.in/raffle.html

PICKS: 77 ! WE HAVE A WINNER !


77 WINS!!!!



I will be contacting the winner privately via email today and will be shipping out your prize today as well.

I encourage the winner to post here and brag about his big win!

thank you for participating in the Bitcointalk.org Benefit Raffle!

I have already donated the 60 BTC to the forum by sending it directly to Theymos

here is the TXID: c05612c5a6e52e747ca3390d16bd3c71eacd6721ddcf253d3c294e94e613b3ec