Rember the Fursuit raffle O.o? from valdyrfenris

[tiggief.livejournal.com]

posted due to populer requiest here.  http://community.livejournal.com/fursuitauctions/692778.html


Hi guys, I don’t know if any of you can rember but a while ago there was a Fursuit Raffle here,
At the time i was friends with the girl and talked to her a lot, And was surprised i won,
Its been a hell of a long time since and At the time i was told that the suit would be ready for Christmas, Time went on and on, and i didn’t see her, So i mailed her on Lj And got nothing fo a long while... A few months went by and i got a mail saying that she and her partner was out of work and was relying on fursuit commissions for money, so i asked where to send the Dtd And i never got a Email back for another 3 months. Since i emailed her again a few times and she said that she had a few sob stories really. then i got a email after i poker her again for the address to send the dtd and she said that some members of her family die and was upset, But she didn’t give me the address to send the Dtd and i haven’t heard of her since, Now her LJ hasn’t been posted on so i don’t know what’s going on, If there really in trouble i do feel sorry for them But I do know they raised 2k + and although i didn’t pay the full amount that’s a lot of peoples money if She was never intending to make any one a suit,
I’ve tried to get in contact a lot of times The only time she answered me was when i asked in public for her which scares me that shes not going to make this suit realy, I mean I may be wrong and I am not trying to slag them off here, Just saying that I am worried and I am asking for advice on what to do here,
its been at least3 months since her last email which she still forgot to add her home address....
Let me know
thanks tiggie and sketchkat
http://valdyrfenris.livejournal.com/ thats her Lj

Okay just to add it dosent seem to be as long as i thought it was but here is teh original thread
http://community.livejournal.com/fursuitauctions/503351.html

Comments

[blackberrypie.livejournal.com]

I don't know how you could contact her.. But I do have to say that everyone should be careful with these raffles. I was in one as well, and they delivered the suit almost one full year past the date I was given for completion. I had to keep poking them over and over about it. And in the end, the suit was very rushed and had things wrong.

Anyways, this is the 2nd time I've heard of someone disappearing a least for months at a time after a raffle. So in the future, I think everyone should be careful. D:

[bladespark.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've considered holding a raffle myself a few times, but I've always decided against it, and it's partly because it puts the person offering it in a kind of bad position. In an ordinary commission you only have partial payment up front, so there's motivation to finish it, and the person who's getting the commission has actually given you a significant chunk of money. Whereas with a raffle you already have all the money before the prize is even drawn, and then you can always just tell yourself "Oh, but the winner only spent $5, so it's okay if he has to wait." That's not right, of course, but it makes it SO very easy to justify putting it off again and again.

[anjel-kitty.livejournal.com]

Wasn't that the one for Spiritwolven? I'm curious to see if there has been any good results from a raffle?

[growly.livejournal.com]

I won a raffle a few months ago from a bunch of different artists and I've gotten all but one of my pictures so far. :D
So yes, they can be very successful and positive!

[anjel-kitty.livejournal.com]

Were they fursuit raffle though?

[growly.livejournal.com]

Well, no, but I thought you meant furry raffles in general.

[blackberrypie.livejournal.com]

Yes.

[actonrf.livejournal.com]

I did a search and notice in many states for profit and or by individuals Raffles or games of chances are illegal. So this peon is violating state law. You could conceivably report person to the state AG if you had an address.

Bladespark: I some what familiar with Oregon Law because of Washington County Republican Party Gun Raffle. A for profit Raffle would be illegal.

Just a word of the wise, fursuit raffles by individuals or for profit should be avoided at all cost.

[bladespark.livejournal.com]

Yes, the legal issues are another part of why I haven't had one.

But raffles are, like copyright violations, something that you almost never get into any trouble over on a small scale.

[spiffystuff.livejournal.com]

Just because people don't usually get in trouble doesn't mean it's right
(I'm sure you know it, saying it for the benefit of the overall thread)
Along with the other issues you mentioned - it being easy for the raffler to dismiss the work Even though they got paid in full because the awardee only paid in small amount, and my general dislike of gambling... I would avoid any non-charity raffle, and especially any raffle where the prizes weren't already in hand when tickets were offered.

[bladespark.livejournal.com]

"Right?" Sure, raffles are illegal. 100% in every way, in most states in the US, at least.

I don't think they're immoral though. XD Murder is a moral issue. Theft, rape, outright scamming, stuff like that. Selling tickets for prizes isn't evil, or a sin, or something that grossly damages society/civilization/humanity. *grin*

But yes, I know what you mean.

[spiffystuff.livejournal.com]

Ummm, DUH raffles are legal some places, or under certain conditions - I was specifically talking about whether or not it's okay if it's illegal but you don't get in trouble.
Personally I think gambling is, well, not immoral but kinda dumb. Usually the whole point of gambling is you get less out of it than you pay into it.

This is such an old thread, but...

[starcharmer.livejournal.com]

Usually the whole point of gambling is you get less out of it than you pay into it.

But not always. For example, the raffle I held, everyone got a prize, even if they didn't win. Tickets were $5 and though it took me like A YEAR to get the prizes done, they did get prizes that were worth more than $10. Obviously excluding the top prizes, which were equal to the values I said they would be [$60, $30 and $15, I think].

For the record, raffles are legal in my state. ;)

Re: This is such an old thread, but...

[spiffystuff.livejournal.com]

:) Cool!
Well, in your case it's not quite a raffle, but kinda a dutch auction where one person gets something extra. I do like that kind of raffle! ... and I don't think it's really "gambling" in that case, either, even if there is still a chance element to it. ;)

Re: This is such an old thread, but...

[starcharmer.livejournal.com]

Good call. X) I never thought of how that isn't really a raffle! But I really have problems just taking peoples' money [or art, or anything, really] without giving a little something back. I don't know why. :C

EDITED :P

[spiffystuff.livejournal.com]

Here's a better angle on why it bothers me:
Yeah I don't believe the law is the ULTIMATE WORD on what to do and what not to do, but it's a good guideline.
I could care less if someone breaks minor, non-harmful laws on their own time. But it strikes me as quite unprofessional to do so in relation to my ~business~. Perhaps I'm more sensitive to this because I breed and sell reptiles, and there are all kinds of laws (both stupid and not) about what you can keep, breed, sell, and if permits are needed. For example; snake shipping. A lot of snake buying and selling is done online, and there are laws about how to ship and a lot of companies outright refuse. One company lets you get certified (FedEx) and it's a pain in the butt, -most times you ask the company about it the staff has no idea what you're talking about or how to do it- but IMHO it makes a business seem a sketchy when they ship illegally or against a company's TOS by pretending they're shipping something fragile and inanimate rather than a snake.
We talk a lot about professionalism here; my personal gambling skeeves aside, it seems ~unprofessional~ to break the law, even a minor one.

Secondly, small raffles and related games of chance -with no oversight- seem like a scam just waiting to happen. And I'm not talking about scenarios where the artist intends to pony up but never does, either. If this ever caught on much in the fandom I think the amount of deliberate fraud that goes on would ~explode~.

[anjel-kitty.livejournal.com]

When was the auction? Can you link to the post advertising it so we get a time line reference.
It sounds like you could have been scammed but then so have a lot of people who were in this. If this isn't the case I think she needs to come forth and explain to you (and possibly this community for the sake of her reptuation) when she intends to have the suit done and meet that deadline, otherwise as it stands from reading the other post, I would makes sure to tell people to avoid her at all costs.

[tiggief.livejournal.com]

click the links

[art-n-coffee.livejournal.com]

nothin you can take them to court over. but she just weasled some money out of everyone. thats horrible. strapped or not she should refund EVERYONE if she doesnt do that suit.