I am currently running a reverse raffle to give away the items in my storage unit. A reverse raffle is one in which I pay YOU to take a ticket. In exchange, you are obligated to take possession of any prize you win.

I told my coworkers to sign up but they all declined. My boss called this is a terrible idea. The fact that you have to pay people to accept prizes means it’s stuff that no one would want, he says.

That’s not true! Because of the endowment effect:

Suppose you ran into a new parent who offered to sell you their snot-nosed child for a dollar. Or give it to you for free. Would you take it?

Then suppose that, after a night of heavy drinking, you unwittingly conceive. Nine months later, you have a crib lizard of your own. It looks much like the previous child, because all babies look the same.

Do you drown it in the bathtub? Sell it on the street for a dollar?

Probably not. We value things that we own more than identical things that we don’t own.

So my raffle prizes are like children, or a left gonad — you don’t really want the thing at first, but then the concept of ownership grows on you and after a while you can’t imagine living without that item.

Sign up here 😀