Florida lottery raffle tickets being illegally re-sold

Dec 6, 2006, 7:14 am (18 comments)

Florida Lottery

Special Florida Lottery $20 holiday raffle game tickets that sold out over the weekend are now appearing for sale illegally on an online auction site, in some cases for thousands of dollars.

Since the Florida Lottery only printed up 1.25 million tickets, the Holiday Millionaire Raffle is the best chance ever for Floridians to win a $1 million.

However, some Floridians are trying to cash in early by illegally selling their tickets.

"We found that these $20 slips of paper are in extremely high demand, fetching hundreds of dollars per ticket on the online auction site, eBay," Local 6's Mike DeForest said. "There is just one problem, it is illegal."

Under Florida law, only contracted retailers are allowed to sell lottery tickets.

However, several Central Floridians are trying to make a profit online.

One woman from Melbourne, Fla., had her ticket price topping $103 — five times the selling price.

Another person from Cocoa, Fla., is offering a small group of tickets for $2,400.

One seller posted a lot of tickets with an asking price of $100,000, the report said.

eBay prohibits lottery ticket sales and will shut down a seller if it is notified, the report said.

News 6

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DoubleDown

$100,000 for how many tickets ?

People will stop at nothing in their quest to part with their money...

floridian's avatarfloridian

Wow a raffle of a raffle.  Man! this practice is not worth getting caught.  Ticket scalping is against the law in most places anyway.  I realize it is also illegal because of the the laws set up governing the sale of lottery tickets.  It seems to be illegal on 2 levels.  I wonder what the penalty is if you get caught.  I hope it is stiff.

Floridian

Bradly_60's avatarBradly_60

Besides being illegal....it is brilliant....I wish I would have thought of it....haha.

I would definetly not pay for Florida's though since the odds are so high. 

Maybe in MI, PA, or some other state that has better odds.

B-rad

CA LotteryGuy

Wow...compare this story to the one below where some people think $20 is too much for a lottery ticket.   Now according to this article people are willing to pay hundreds for a ticket.  Go figure!!

johnph77's avatarjohnph77

Quote: Originally posted by floridian on Dec 6, 2006

Wow a raffle of a raffle.  Man! this practice is not worth getting caught.  Ticket scalping is against the law in most places anyway.  I realize it is also illegal because of the the laws set up governing the sale of lottery tickets.  It seems to be illegal on 2 levels.  I wonder what the penalty is if you get caught.  I hope it is stiff.

Floridian

Ticket scalping may be illegal in most areas, but it goes on anyway. Go outside the stadium of any sold-out prefessional football game and watch the scalpers at work, even though law enforcement personnel are present and on duty. And what about those ticket-reselling agencies who promote their services in the classified ads in every major newspaper in the country, offering tickets to every sold-out sporting and cultural event - and collect a hefty fee for doing so?

The sellers and the lottery officials are entering a gray area here. A lottery ticket is a bearer instrument. Whoever holds that ticket can redeem it, regardless of who originally bought it. If a buyer wishes to pay a premium for the chance to win a million dollars and the seller is willing to sell, what's illegal about that? Free enterprise, supply and demand - that's the way business works and profits in the U.S. The only reason for the present furor seems to be the method of advertising the sellers are using.

CA LotteryGuy

Quote: Originally posted by johnph77 on Dec 6, 2006

Ticket scalping may be illegal in most areas, but it goes on anyway. Go outside the stadium of any sold-out prefessional football game and watch the scalpers at work, even though law enforcement personnel are present and on duty. And what about those ticket-reselling agencies who promote their services in the classified ads in every major newspaper in the country, offering tickets to every sold-out sporting and cultural event - and collect a hefty fee for doing so?

The sellers and the lottery officials are entering a gray area here. A lottery ticket is a bearer instrument. Whoever holds that ticket can redeem it, regardless of who originally bought it. If a buyer wishes to pay a premium for the chance to win a million dollars and the seller is willing to sell, what's illegal about that? Free enterprise, supply and demand - that's the way business works and profits in the U.S. The only reason for the present furor seems to be the method of advertising the sellers are using.

johnph77...there doesn't seem to be any gray from the Florida Lottery's standpoint.  From the Florida Lottery website:

Florida Statute 24.117 prohibits the sale of tickets by any person or business not under contract with the Florida Lottery as an authorized lottery retailer. The same statute also prohibits the sale of Florida Lottery tickets at any price other than the official, established price. Violations are first-degree misdemeanors and are punishable by fines and jail time.  (This puts the seller at risk.)

And there is more:

Florida Statute 24.115 prohibits the payment of a prize on any ticket sold or purchased in violation of the statutes. Specifically, this means that the Florida Lottery may be prohibited from paying cash or other prizes on tickets acquired through the Internet or other unauthorized sources. Additionally, the same holds true for tickets purchased for an amount other than the original, official price. (Thjis puts the buyer at risk.)

Mind you I agree with your premise of Free Enterprise, however one must function within the law..

KY Floyd's avatarKY Floyd

It's pretty clear that it's illegal to sell lottery tickets if you're not an official lottery vendor. In most places it's also clear that it is legal to sell your right to future lottery payments. What happens if you sell your rights to any future payments on a ticket for which the drawing hasn't yet happened?

mylollipop's avatarmylollipop

Quote: Originally posted by CA LotteryGuy on Dec 6, 2006

johnph77...there doesn't seem to be any gray from the Florida Lottery's standpoint.  From the Florida Lottery website:

Florida Statute 24.117 prohibits the sale of tickets by any person or business not under contract with the Florida Lottery as an authorized lottery retailer. The same statute also prohibits the sale of Florida Lottery tickets at any price other than the official, established price. Violations are first-degree misdemeanors and are punishable by fines and jail time.  (This puts the seller at risk.)

And there is more:

Florida Statute 24.115 prohibits the payment of a prize on any ticket sold or purchased in violation of the statutes. Specifically, this means that the Florida Lottery may be prohibited from paying cash or other prizes on tickets acquired through the Internet or other unauthorized sources. Additionally, the same holds true for tickets purchased for an amount other than the original, official price. (Thjis puts the buyer at risk.)

Mind you I agree with your premise of Free Enterprise, however one must function within the law..

Buyers Beware!  Informative post!

justxploring's avatarjustxploring

Funny - I just posted on this and then realized you already had this thread started.  I can't tell if I deleted it or Todd did, since I got a message that the page was unavailable when I clicked on the Delete button.

I don't understand why anyone would buy a raffle ticket on eBay. Of course, people buy cow manure and other things I'd never dream of wanting. 

mylollipop's avatarmylollipop

Quote: Originally posted by justxploring on Dec 7, 2006

Funny - I just posted on this and then realized you already had this thread started.  I can't tell if I deleted it or Todd did, since I got a message that the page was unavailable when I clicked on the Delete button.

I don't understand why anyone would buy a raffle ticket on eBay. Of course, people buy cow manure and other things I'd never dream of wanting. 

Justxploring, will you travel to next door Georgia to buy one of their raffle lotto tickets since you missed the Florida Raffle Opportunity?

It is amazing what is on eBay!  I definitely would not buy a lotto raffle ticket for more than what it was sold for!  I could get a plane and go to the states(s) offering the lotto raffle tickets for the extorted prices offered.  I guess the sellers are thinking, if there is a GULLIBLE GOAT out there, I will get it!  And the goats get gotten.  ThudNo disrespect to the gullible here.  But you will be preyed on. 

emilyg's avataremilyg

did not see any on ebay.

justxploring's avatarjustxploring

No, I don't live anywhere near GA.  I live very far Southwest on the coast. If I drove 800 miles roundtrip it would cost me over $60 just in gas (and a very sore back!)  If I was that eager to buy these tickets, I would have done it when they were still available.  Maybe I would have won, maybe not.  They'll be another chance someday.

Emily, I used Google and found a couple of links, but the listings were removed.  I was just curious, but I'd never buy a lottery ticket on eBay. 

mylollipop's avatarmylollipop

Quote: Originally posted by justxploring on Dec 7, 2006

No, I don't live anywhere near GA.  I live very far Southwest on the coast. If I drove 800 miles roundtrip it would cost me over $60 just in gas (and a very sore back!)  If I was that eager to buy these tickets, I would have done it when they were still available.  Maybe I would have won, maybe not.  They'll be another chance someday.

Emily, I used Google and found a couple of links, but the listings were removed.  I was just curious, but I'd never buy a lottery ticket on eBay. 

I would have hoped that you won.  You seem like a very deserving winner.  It personally broke my heart that you debated too long and missed this years chance.  But then again, you have such a fantastic philosophy about it and other things.  "There'll be another chance someday".I Agree!

justxploring's avatarjustxploring

Thanks, mylollipop.  What a kind thing to say!   I know now that the money I play on Lotto with odds of 1 in 22M would have been better spent on a game with 1 in 125K odds, but plunking down $20 per ticket just didn't seem right at the time.  I never wrote this, but I made a commitment to stay within a budget for the lottery and didn't want to break my promise to myself.  I finally took the money out of the ATM ($100) but I don't know if I would have really spent it all on the raffle tickets. On the one hand I feel good about saving the money and on the other I think it's silly not to gamble $20 or even $100 on a chance of a lifetime.  But isn't that the way the lottery marketing people want us to feel?

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