Pricing your raffle tickets correctly can have a huge impact on your ticket sales and the eventual profit from your raffle. “$2 each or 3 for $5” has been and is still the most common raffle ticket price but that doesn’t mean it’s always the best option. It’s advisable to spend a little time investigating different options to maximise your results.

A number of factors should influence your raffle ticket pricing:

  • Pricing of previous raffles you have conducted
  • The number of raffle tickets being offered for sale
  • The type and value of the prize(s)
  • The presentation of your raffle ticket sellers
  • The wealth of the people buying your raffle tickets
  • Raffle book pricing
  • The connection the buyers have with your organisation

Previous Raffles

Similar to the How Many Tickets article, what has happened in previous raffles should be your guide for future raffles. Ask your ticket sellers if the ticket price was reasonable? They will know because if you are selling tickets and the price is too high, people will tell you! If this is the first time running a raffle or you don’t have any information from previous raffles have a look at what other organisations who are running similar raffles are charging for their tickets.

The Number of Tickets

Generally the lower the raffle ticket price the more tickets you should be able to sell. If you are selling tickets at $1 each you’ll probably in general sell between 2 to 5 tickets to each person. If you are selling tickets for $5 or $10 each you may on average only sell 1 or 2 tickets per person. We have seen some great results selling tickets at $1 each with an incentive for the person selling the most tickets.

The Prizes

In general the higher the value of the prizes the more you should be able to charge for each ticket. Prizes valued up to around $1,000 seem to have tickets priced between $2 and $5 (depending on the number of tickets sold). Higher end prizes of up to $2,000 or $3,000 have ticket prices up to $10. Major prizes like cars can have prices up to $50 or more. The other consideration is, does the buyer actually want the prize! If they do, they are likely to pay more for each ticket. This works well for events where everyone has similar interests and the prizes are related to that interest.

Raffle Ticket Sellers

This might not be something obvious, but if you are selling raffle tickets to the general public, who are selling your tickets and how trustworthy do they look? Do you think you would hand over $10 to 2 scruffy teenages walking around a shopping centre or someone in old daggy clothes with messy hair? You would more likely if you saw 2 well dressed, older people sitting at a table with a poster promoting the raffle. I’m not saying that the 2 scruffy teenages aren’t trustworthy, but in general they aren’t going to sell as many tickets.

Wealth of your Ticket Buyers

Firstly, I’m not saying “poor people don’t buy raffle tickets“! Generally the opposite is probably true, but if you’re trying to sell $100 raffle tickets to people with limited funds you aren’t going to sell many tickets. Keep in mind who you are selling tickets to and how much you would expect them to spend.

Raffle Book Pricing

If you are sending 1 book of tickets to each person in your school, club or organisation also consider having a discount if they buy (or sell) all the tickets in the book to 1 person. e.g. for a book of 25 tickets at $2 each – sell the whole book for $40 (giving the buyer a $10 discount).

The Buyers Connection with You

I’ve left this point to the end because it can be critical to your success. What relationship do your ticket buyers have with your organisation or to the project that the funds are going to? As a bad fit – imagine trying to sell tickets for a pet rabbit organisation in a small rural community in the middle of a rabbit plague! By far the best results we are seen when you get the opportunity to sell tickets to people who believe in your organisation and what you are trying to achieve. Results can be double or triple what you might expect.

Examples

Outside the $2 each or 3 for $5 (which is still a solid pricing option) we are starting to see prices such as:

  • $3 each or 2 for $5
  • $4 each or 3 for $10
  • $5 each or 3 for $10

The concept of getting a discount if buying multiple tickets is similar to the “Do you want fries with that” up sell and we know how successful that has been!

Conclusion

As mentioned always let the past guide your decisions. If for example this year you have a really great first prize, consider bumping the pricing up a little or offering discounts for multiple purchases. If the results are poor or you get negative feedback regarding the price you can always reduce your price next year. Always remember to record these details in the minutes of your meetings so future raffle organisers have the information to guide them.

Our Experience

Budget Raffle Tickets have been helping non profit organisations fundraise since 2007. We’ve gained extensive knowledge – working with thousands of raffle holders – and have years of experience running local raffles ourselves (see about us).

We can provide information and guidance to help you achieve a successful fundraising outcome. If you have any questions about raffle fundraising please don’t hesitate to contact us.

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