O.K. I'll bite, you asked "What's up?" Please don't jump down my throat for providing you with my feedback because it's only what's true for me.
At first I was interested and thought seriously about participating but:
(1) I didn't meet the first two of your criteria to participate and for that matter neither do you (i.e., less than 100 posts and a member less than one year)! After reading your criteria I felt it was a waste of my time to check and see if I met your third criteria because it seemed to me that your criteria alone would doom your raffle (along with wanting to get 100 spots filled versus the usual 46 or 39 that are hard enough to fill even when people reduce the price for multiple entries).
I mean what do you care if someone paypals you the bucks? Why not open up the raffle to all AZ members like most raffles, provide discounts for multiple entries and take contingency entrants if someone fails to pay on time?
(2) You jumped all over ftgokie for asking a simple straight forward question. My take is that anyone can purchase the lathe for $4295 anytime they want.
http://www.poolndarts.com/index.cfm...0D1&Fuseaction=Catalog.Product&productID=5958
But, why would anyone pay full retail price! If you Google for "coupon codes www.poolndarts.com" you will find that Muellers usually has a free shipping or 10% off code and often (at least twice per year) a 20% off code:
http://deallocker.com/coupon/poolndarts.com/
So, IMHO you're asking for a jacked up retail price that no one in their right mind would pay in the first place (and you bought two of them)!
Plus in your response to ftgokie you state that you want people to pay for shipping twice (first to you and then to them). I mean at least own up to your decision buy two lathes (for full retail price no less) and don't state that you want others to pay for the shipping to you.
(3) I'm a percentage player. That is, I chose to keep my $55 and have a 100% chance of spending it on something else (see 4 below) or taking a chance in a different AZ raffle in which I have a 2.17% or 2.56% chance of winning something rather than a 99% chance of losing.
Have I ever participated in a raffle I heard about on AZ Billiards that had 100+ entrants? In general, no since the price of entry is usually too high ($20+). However, I did spring for a $20 entry fee for a 1 in 500 chance at the the Brunswick Gold Crown V raffle by Robin. The on-line value of the table is around $10,000 (depending on exact model -- more for the tournament edition) and shipping and setup are also included IIRC.
http://www.brunswickbilliards.com/brunswick_collection/tables/competition/gold_crown_v.html
(4) Also, I'm only wanting a lathe to change tips and condition my shafts when needed. So, it's too much lathe for my overall needs and my $55 would be probably be better spent on one of the el cheapo $199 lathes on e-bay. But, that's just me and not someone else who wants/needs a better lathe.
Bottom Line, if you do the following you would gain my participation in a raffle and perhaps many others:
(a) Drop your entry criteria (being an AZ member should be good enough).
(b) Value the lathe realistically (it may still be in the box but technically it's used and, in particular, is the warranty still good to the second owner?).
(c) Reduce the entry fee to $20 or less (and increase the number of spots if need be).
(d) Discounts for multiple spots with the discount increasing for each extra spot taken.