Whether you collect or resell sports cards, read on for the ultimate razz guide. If you’re also wanting to know how serious collectors get their sports cards, check out Secured.
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What’s a razz? In the sports card hobby, a razz is a term for a sports card raffle, or lottery. The organizer, the ‘razzer’, has a sports card or sports memorabilia up for offer.
Typically the razzer lists the amount of spots on offer and the price of each spot, with those spots randomised and the winner taking the prize.
Disclaimer: We do not condone any form of participation in razzing. This is for informational purposes only and participation is at your own risk.
How Do You Razz Sports Cards?
Razzing sports cards is very simple. Most sports card and sports memorabilia razzing is done through Facebook groups, often invite-only to maintain anonymity. More on that later.
To razz a sports card with a value of $100, an organizer would ‘line’ 10 spots @ $10 each, or 20 spots @ $5 each. Further down we’ll explain how to determine the price of to razz your sports card.
How you format the listing is easy. You can cut and paste an existing razz post, then substitute with the details of your card. In the case of 10 spots @ $10 each, your post will line the numbers 1-10 to represent each spot in your razz.
As the lines fill you can edit your Facebook post by filling in the names of members to corresponding with the lines they asked for on a first come, first served basis.
So now you’ve filled all 10 lines at $10 a spot. The organizer then shares how payment can be made which in most cases is PayPal, PP for short. Reputation is a huge part of razzing. Members have been scammed with cards never been sent.
The entire system of razzing relies on trusting the other party that they won’t just run away with your money and understanding their razz history is crucial. Typically F&F, or Friends & Family, is how payments are made for a razz but members have been cracked down as PayPal may flag these as not genuine transactions to friends or family.
Purchasing spots via Goods & Services is another option members take up but the member taking the razz spots are asked to cover the transaction fee. These are 2.6% + $0.30 in Australia and you can check the most updated and your local prices here.
How Do You Win a Razz?
Once lines are all filled and payments made, the organizer will tag a ‘video runner’ in the Facebook group, usually an admin or approved runners, to execute the razz and determine a winner. Runners are generally tipped between $3-$5.
A common randomizer tool used to determine the winner of a razz is Random.Org. All lines and corresponding participants are entered into the generator by the runner. A pair of dice is usually rolled with the randomizing tool to predetermine how many times a razz list is randomized.
Once it’s run the predetermined amount of times as determined by the dice, the generator is executed that amount of times and the winner is the name that finishes on top.
Authenticity of the razz run is shared via Facebook Live or screen recording by the runner. The winner then makes contact with the card owner and provides them with an address for where the card is to be shipped off.
Is Razzing Illegal?
Whether you’re allowed to razz sports cards and sports memorabilia is a grey area. Facebook’s terms and conditions on gambling dictates that ‘Pages, Groups and Events must not promote online gambling, or gaming where anything of monetary value (including digital currencies) is required to play and anything of monetary value forms part of the prize, without our prior written permission’.
Because razzing is against Facebook’s policies it’s done in private within invite-only groups. Many groups have totally removed any references of the word razz or razzing to avoid question, and admins moderate members from using the words to prevent detection.
Depending on your jurisdiction a razz can be considered a lottery and therefore illegal. The use of the word ‘razzing’ in some scenarios can make it a grey area. And whether PayPal will cover you for participating in a razz if it goes south is unlikely as it’s against Facebook terms and conditions, even with Goods & Services.
Razz Scammers
Reputation is everything in razz groups. Scammers actively take advantage of collectors hunting a bargain or for rare cards.
The sports card community comes down hard on scammers and there are groups actively posting scam accounts. Out of frustration some members post pictures of peoples homes, personal phone numbers and physical addresses of those who scam people in the community.
Perhaps it’s a deterrent for people to scam the community however, an act that is likely illegal depending on where you live revealing private and personal details about others.
How Much Should You Razz Your Card For
The sports card community has become educated with card values and lining your card over its market value will likely result in a eazz going unfilled.
One of the best places in the hobby to determine the price of your sports card is 130point.com. It pulls recent sales data from eBay so you can price a razz based on recent comparisons.
When pricing a razz, postage costs and video runner tips are factored into the final total value.
Don’t forget to sign up to Secured and get 50% off the first month of membership. For both beginner and expert sports card collectors, Secured gives you access to profit estimation, risk analysis tools and a like-minded community of members who all share the same passion for sports cards.
Don’t forget to sign up to Secured and get 50% off the first month of membership. For both beginner and expert sports card collectors, Secured gives you access to profit estimation, risk analysis tools and a like-minded community of members who all share the same passion for sports cards.
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