You might be right but I would naturally take the road that makes the most money.
I was in Atlanta a few years ago when Kamura was there. Naturally when they raffled off the tree he did the tickets weren't a buck a piece. I did see quite a few people buy just one ticket though. Forget how much they cost each. Either five or ten dollars each , something like that.
At a normal convention the raffle tickers are usually a buck a piece and it is not uncommon to see one person buy $20 worth of those tickets.
As to which way is better, who knows. I was not there when the funds were tallied up ;o)

Ron,

I have to agree with Chris that a Kimura raffle is a completely different matter. It's like comparing apples and oranges and we simply don't know what makes more money based on other raffle experiences. I don't think we can come up with a randomized, placebo controlled trial correlate that would allow a scientific approach to bonsai raffles, so we'll never know for sure. I tend to think though that the people that spend $400 dollars on raffle tickets in these raffles don't care if the tickets are 6 for $5 vs. 1 for $20. They may even buy less tickets if they have to buy 480 of them.

How much better than $15,000 per tree do you think they really could have made this past weekend

Guess that is one thing we will never know. I doubt if I will ever sponsor an event with Kamura. That is way out of my league. I'm just a littly guy. Not even a ripple in the bonsai world

Ditto here on that Ron
HB, I guess you'll never know about doing better, if it isn't tested. Maybe the state lottery commission has some good research on the subject. Haven't most of them had types in the past that were better chances but higher priced tickets?

But, if it EVER would happen I'd be in charge of raffles at a large convention....
The tickets will be $1 ea, 7 for $5 , and 15 for $10 and 35 for $20.
As far as a test....next convention out there with Mr. Kimura, or someone else very famous, set one demo tree at $20 tickets, and one with $1 tickets. They usually do more than one tree.

One last "convention" type question.
How many out there think that if you have 50 vendors instead of 25 that they'll do better because more people will show up?
Dale

Yep Dale we are in the same league. Just simple businessmen making a bit of money using tried and proven methods. But maybe we are wrong. It's a new world out there. Maybe profit isn't part of the equation anymore.
But I would still rather sell 30 tickets for a $1 each than 1 ticket at $20. I know that those tickets cost a bit of money to make but Staples does sell a big roll of them for next to nothing. The jar that the tickets go into would have to be bigger but that can be gotten at the Dollar Store. And people would look at all those tickets in that big jar and think that a whole lot of people were in attendance.
But then all that must be wrong. Attendance at the conventions has grown by leaps and bounds hasn't it. They always make a fortune putting these things on.
Guess its time we woke up and smelled the roses so to speak ;o)

"Attendance at the conventions has grown by leaps and bounds hasn't it. They always make a fortune putting these things on. "


Which conventions are you attending Ron??

Attendance at national conventions is a major problem now due to local annual ones , but even they struggle each year.
Not enough people to go around.
It's just like having twice as many vendors at a convention so the vendor chairman can get a pat on the back and the promoter can get more out of selling space to vendors
....then the good vendors start to drop out because none of them make any money. Then the place starts to fill up with newbies who all sell the same stuff they all got from the same importer, who is, BTW, also there cutting their prices or even selling wholesle to public!
OK, where is the rope and a tree!?

Guess we are on the same page then ;o)

Dale, surely you didn't miss what was dripping from Ron's post. But in fact, of course, attendance is dropping at bonsai conventions, and they rarely if ever turn a profit. Therefore we should surely continue doing the same things and hope for different results. Howard, what is that the definition of?

Chris

" The coveted demonstration piece was to be raffled off at $20-apiece tickets, and destined for fame... if it lives"


interesting Matt, I was just telling someone that Colin Lewis did a demo on a shimpaku juniper Labor day weekend that went for 700 bucks at the Fall Mn Bonsai Society Auction. Amazing sale. Material was average, yet the name attached called for the price. IMO, the bidders were buying the name, not the tree.

Paul

Care to give a better explanation of what is on my mind. I for one would like to know.