Chinese Auctions - false advertising?

imorethanamother

Wed, Mar 07 2018, 5:03 pm

I have never ever heard of anyone winning these glorious prizes that these organizations display so lovingly in catalogs. Your own yacht! Succos in Israel for a family of 10! Jewelry worth $10,000!

I was told that actually, these grand prizes are all put in one master pot, and all these different chinese auctions from different organizations use them, which makes the odds a lot smaller.

I also have to ask, if someone is actually willing to put up the money for a family of 8 or 10 to get airfare and an apartment in Israel, isn't that $10,000 better used by the organization itself?

Something is fishy in Denmark.

cnc

Wed, Mar 07 2018, 5:06 pm

I know people that won.
Most , if not all chinese auctions post a list of winners after the drawings.

A $10k prize can bring in much more than that in ticket sales.

flowerpower

Wed, Mar 07 2018, 5:16 pm

Oorah calls the winners live so you can hear it when they have their big night.

Many auctions will post a list of winners after the auction( like cnc said)

I do know a good few people that won big prizes.

amother

Bisque

Wed, Mar 07 2018, 5:24 pm

I won $4000 in a Chinese auction. I know someone who won two high-end sheitels in 2 different Chinese auctions.

amother

Orchid

Wed, Mar 07 2018, 5:41 pm

I won a trip to Israel for 6. I took the 13k cash. Posting anonymous bec ppl know about my win

33055

Wed, Mar 07 2018, 5:44 pm

We won a grand prize that was not what was represented. We had to fight to get the prize.

amother

Puce

Wed, Mar 07 2018, 5:50 pm

We won and donated the cash prize back to the organization. It happens very often.

amother

Mistyrose

Wed, Mar 07 2018, 5:51 pm

My friend won a trip to Alaska, BUT...HOWEVER... there were soooo many things that were NOT included. Like Airfare to Washington, where cruise left, room was the cheapest on board, so had to pay for upgrade for a decent room. Then, cruise stops a few places, so day trips were not included, should they stay on ship when everyone disembarks??? It ended up costing a pretty penny. But I must say, this 65 year old couple would have never gone to Alaska, so it was a great incentive!!

watergirl

Wed, Mar 07 2018, 5:59 pm

I know a number of women who’ve won sheitels, they go the sheitel macher to claim the prize, the lady is super nice to them - and then when they went to pay with the prize card (or however they arraigned payment), the women were all told that the prize only entitles them to a choice of a handful of subpar wigs - probably that she couldnt sell. All knotty and gross.

I’ve also heard people had to fight for their prizes, or like Squishy said, it was totally misrepresented.

OutATowner

Wed, Mar 07 2018, 6:14 pm

I know someone who won the sheitel from oorah. Top if the line, and a year later she is so happy with it. Not commenting on auctions or the way they are run...but it was so nice to see this person get the sheitel. She hasn't had a new one in over 10 years.

Wed, Mar 07 2018, 6:15 pm

There are orgs that run joint campaigns. You'll see the details if you read the fine print.

I've worked on Chinese auctions of both kinds, and the prizes with restrictions are clearly marked. (Not the details, but that there are restrictions)

And yes, someone wins.

watergirl

Wed, Mar 07 2018, 6:25 pm

kb wrote:

This too. An org that I work for had an auction and the grand prize was $25,000. I asked the director, my boss, how such a small org could offer such a huge prize. Literally 100 people TOPS would have been his audience. He told me that all of the connected orgs are part of the draw - orgs all across America - it was in the microscopic print that wasnt distributed.

amother

Ivory

Wed, Mar 07 2018, 7:15 pm

I recently won a package of gift certificates from different stores from a Chinese auction and it's a real nerve because I won it a few weeks ago and most GC expire within the next month or so. Really not right!! Wasn't advertised as such! If I don't use by may then most will be null and void:(

amother

Bisque

Wed, Mar 07 2018, 7:15 pm

amother wrote:

I won $4000 in a Chinese auction. I know someone who won two high-end sheitels in 2 different Chinese auctions.

eta: I gave maiser on the $4000 back to the organization.

simba

Wed, Mar 07 2018, 7:24 pm

I have won some nice prizes that were easy to cash in on and the org was really easy about it.

amother

Chocolate

Wed, Mar 07 2018, 8:06 pm

My grandmother once won a baby package which included 1,000 gc in a local hosiery store that sells baby clothes, too. The GC said that it may not be used on Sundays, not valid on sale items and it must be redeemed in a single purchase! But when she went to the store they said she can use it any day of the week and may split it into multiple purchases. The only restriction was no sale items.

imorethanamother

Wed, Mar 07 2018, 8:42 pm

flowerpower wrote:

I've only heard of Oorah winners, though there was once where someone won a huge prize live on Oorah, and then they were called and told that there was a mistake, some tickets weren't put in at the time of the drawing, so they drew it again with a different winner.

So.

imorethanamother

Wed, Mar 07 2018, 8:43 pm

Squishy wrote:

We won a grand prize that was not what was represented. We had to fight to get the prize.

Details?

cnc

Wed, Mar 07 2018, 8:45 pm

amother wrote:

Most booklets usually say that the gift certificates expire within three months.

relish

Wed, Mar 07 2018, 8:52 pm

amother wrote:

If you can't use them and they will go to the garbage anyways, I may be able to pass them on for you to a needy family.