selling raffle tickets online?

[JJ]

The parents' association at my son's school was talking about selling raffle tickets online. Actually, I was talking about selling them online so people who are too unorganised to get together money and resent having to write their names a million times on tickets (ie people like me) have another way to buy them. Does anywhere do this? I suppose we could just set up paypal and google checkout.

Anyone done this?

Not done it myself, but bear in mind that you have to have a license for selling raffle tickets in a public place - this might well apply to selling them online. Local council could probably advise.

Oh, thank you for answering! I ask the most boring questions and sometimes no one does. Poor me.

We'll have a licence - sorting it now. I can't see why it wouldn't be ok actually. None of the bumpf from the council says anything about it.

I don't think a credit card can be used to purchase lottery tickets. So any order taking system would need to prevent purchases made via credit card.

Many electronic payment types can be reversed - charge back - that wouldn't be something you would want to enable someone to do, particularly after the event.

Lottery Regulations 1993

1. No ticket or chance in a society's lottery or local lottery shall be sold by means of a machine.

I think that part of the Lottery Regulations 1993 could be said to include on-line sales, as a machine (a computer) is being used as part of the purchase method.

resent having to write their names a million times on tickets (ie people like me) have another way to buy them.

Do people have to write their name on them?
When selling them, if sold in strips, or per pack of 10, 15, 20 etc, then contact details could be written on the first ticket and subsequent tickets could be written on by someone else transferring the details over.

I like the idea of selling them on-line, alas the license in my view won't permit it.

No probs

I did the school raffle at the Easter Fair and writing the contact details on the stubs was finger-chewingly dull

Some of the online photo places do stamps and things..would it be worth spending a fiver to get a stamp - even a generic type one so that you dont have to write the ocntact details just stamp them? Then it is less trouble than setting up online?

I wonder if there are ways around writing all the contact details on the stubs. Council Licensing Dept may be able to confirm what the exact requirements are.

For example, I wonder if issuing each person who pays for a ticket A Number would be acceptable. Then there is a sheet which has the person's contact details on plus a list of the numbers.
So the first ticket they buy has their contact details on... then once the stubs are back at 'the processor' they transfer that contact details to a sheet and allocate the number, then write the number on that first ticket plus all subsequent tickets that person has brought.
I don't know if that is doable, or permitted. Maybe something to ask though as could save some work.

Actually that 'number' idea could work, thanks! (It takes a man to come up with a solution like that )

It does create some more work though when drawing the raffle, as you need to lookup the number on the list. However if there are not very many prizes, then that won't involve too much work.

The "no machines" rule is to avoid selling to underage people, isn't it? Credit cards should imply an age of 16+, I think? I will ask the council.

Thanks for ideas of having to avoid writing it all in. I think we need minimize work for the people running and drawing the raffle, so will keep the onus on people buying the tickets to put something on them so that we know who won. I have to admit that I usually just put my name, my son's name and form on the ones we buy.

Thanks for all the info and suggestions! Wanna buy a ticket?

Yes, "no machines" may be to avoid selling to underage people. Under the old legislation I think it said something like No Vending Machines but the 1993 act extended that to cover more things that people may create.

Credit cards do imply aged 16+ but credit cards can't be used to gamble. Debit cards can be used, thus how you can purchase National Lottery tickets online, make bets and play bingo.

Good luck with the raffle.

I never knew that! Did you say that before and I just misread - am bad with that sort of thing, apologies if so.

Thanks.