Chinese Auction - Auction Web

A Chinese auction is a type of raffle (actually a combination of raffle and auction) that is typically featured at charity or other fundraising events. Other groups have named it tricky tray or pick-a-prize to avoid any possible racial overtones.

The difference between a raffle and a Chinese auction is that in a raffle with multiple prizes, there is one "hat" from which names are drawn, but in a Chinese auction each prize has its own "hat". This allows ticket buyers can choose which prize to focus on, as opposed to having a first, second, third, etc. prize.

In a Chinese auction, bidders are not prospective buyers (as in the conventional English auction). Instead, they buy tickets, which are chances to win items. Bidders may buy as many tickets as they like, and bid them on any item(s) they want by placing them in a basket or other container in front of the item(s) they are trying to win. At the conclusion of bidding, the winning ticket is drawn from the tickets bid on each item, and the item is given to the owner of that ticket.

A bidder may increase the chance of winning by buying and bidding more tickets on a specific item. Although there is generally no limit to the number of tickets a given individual may bid on a specific item, the chance of winning depends on the total number of tickets bid by all individuals.

Chinese auctions of this type have become very popular on the Internet, with various websites offering a variety of items for auction.

It is unclear whether this type of auction actually originates in China; it is much more likely that the term derives from "chance auction," which is also another name for this type of auction. The term "Chinese" may have been used in this case to convey that this type of auction was mysterious, intriguing, or secretive.

This type of Chinese auction is similar to the "silent auction," with the difference being that in the silent auction bidders submit bids listing specific amounts that they are willing to pay for a specific item.

In another auction variant, also referred to as a Chinese auction, though not really an auction at all, each participant contributes wrapped prizes of roughly the same value to a pool of prizes. Participants draw numbers to see who gets to choose a prize from the pool of prizes first. The second person may choose their prize from the remaining prizes in the pool, or may take the prize from the first person who chose. The third may take a prize from the pool, or from the first or second person and so on until all participants have chosen. People choosing prizes are not required to open them, so the prize contents may remain unknown to all but the contributor until all participants have chosen.

Raffle

A raffle is a competition in which people buy numbered tickets. Originating in southern Italy, it is a popular game in numerous countries, and is often held to raise funds for a specific event, charity or occasion.

The raffle involves many people buying tickets for a chance to win a certain prize or certain prizes. At a set date, the winners are drawn from a bucket containing a copy of every number or a tombola. The bought ticket is then checked against a collection of prizes with numbers attached to them.

A raffle also often involves several different possible prizes that can be won, and a ticket will simply be drawn from the group at random for each of the prizes one by one. In this manner, you are not playing the raffle to win a specific prize, but rather for the possibility of winning any one of the possible prizes, as the prizes do not have any specific numbers attached to them. A ticket is drawn for the winner of prize 1, that ticket is then left out of the container. A ticket is then drawn for the winner of prize 2, and that ticket is left out of the container, and so on. this continues until all of the prizes have been won.

Raffles are commonly held at large events such as yearly company picnics, carnivals and fairs, automobile shows, and others.

When holding your own raffle, a common practice for getting more money from the sale of tickets is to offer a large amount of tickets for a discounted price. The people buying the tickets tend to spend more money on tickets thinking that they have a better chance to win the prizes with more raffle tickets. Since the tickets themselves cost very little money to produce, and the expense of the prizes has already been set, the amount of tickets sold really creates no additional cost for the raffle holders.

In the United Kingdom, raffles are occasionally used to circumvent licensing laws. While only licensed premises are permitted to sell alcohol, there is no restriction on the offering of alcohol as prizes in contests. As such, at certain events, attendees are able to enter a raffle, for which they purchase a ticket and then retrieve their prize, which is invariably an alcoholic drink.

In Australia and Minnesota, meat raffles are commonplace in pubs, and registered clubs. Trays of meat or seafood are raffled off to raise money for a cause, usually a local sporting club.