Fingerlings being given away in Wantagh couple’s Facebook raffle
Danielle Owens with some of the Fingerlings she plans to give away on Facebook. Credit: Danielle Owens
Free Fingerlings? It’s a holiday miracle!
Disappointed by the capitalistic nature surrounding this holiday season’s most popular toy, Danielle and Krista Owens of Wantagh decided to give their Fingerlings to those in need through a free Facebook raffle.
Resellers on the secondary market have been “price-gouging them online, and it’s really upsetting because it’s a children’s toy,” Danielle Owens, 28, said of the palm-sized interactive animal toys that cling to fingers. “It‘s terrible that they do that. It’s for kids. It’s the holiday season. And they’re trying to make money. We’re supposed to be giving, not ripping people off.”
So, shortly after 6 p.m. on Saturday, Owens made a post on the Wantagh Mommas Market Facebook page saying she was raffling off an authentic Fingerling glitter monkey she purchased on Amazon for $17.99 plus tax when it was made available by the manufacturer WowWee. To enter, contestants simply had to comment on her post saying they were interested. The deadline was originally set for midnight before Owens adjusted it to 9:30 p.m. due to the high demand.
Within about three hours, 572 people entered the raffle.
“We got so many people that wanted to be entered, I couldn’t keep up with all of the names,” said Owens, whose Facebook post as of Monday afternoon had 220 likes and 760 comments, some of whom were well-wishers showing appreciation for her holiday spirit. “It was so crazy.”
Owens said she typed out all the names on the computer, printed them out and put them in a basket. Krista Owens, 31, then recorded Danielle picking the winning name from the basket. They posted the video in the comment section of the post and tagged the winner.
Veronica Davis of Seaford checked her Facebook page in the middle of the night and saw a notification saying she was tagged in a video. She soon realized she had won.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Davis said. “I woke up my husband and I was like, ‘I won a Fingerling!’ And he was like, ‘What is that?’ I told him, ‘Don’t worry about it. I’ll talk to you about it in the morning.’”
Davis, 45, said she had not been shopping for a Fingerling but entered in hopes of winning one for her niece.
“I was like, Let me just try it, not even thinking I would ever win,” Davis said.
Across the country, the endless search continues for the elusive Fingerlings, which have a retail price of $14.99. Some holiday shoppers have desperately searched shelves and websites in vain. Others have paid more than $100 on the secondary market. Still others have unknowingly purchased counterfeits.
Danielle Owens, a nanny, said that she and Krista Owens, a New York City police officer, purchased some of their Fingerlings to give as Christmas presents and some with the intention of giving them away. With five more Fingerlings they plan to raffle, the married couple tinkered with the contest to open it to Fingerling-seekers who don’t have access to Wantagh Mommas Market, a closed Facebook page used by residents of Wantagh and surrounding areas to sell, buy or give away new and gently used items.
The next raffle, for a blue monkey Fingerling, will take place on Dec. 1 via a number generator. Those interested in entering must visit Danielle’s Fingerling GiveAway Facebook page and comment on the post.
The Owenses are also donating two black monkey Fingerlings to the children of a contestant from the initial Facebook raffle whose wife recently passed away.
“Not as part of the raffle,” Owens said. “Just for free because he’s going through a hard time.” Danielle Owens even delivered the Fingerling from the Facebook raffle to the winner’s house on Sunday. And no, she did not arrive on a sleigh with reindeers.
“When I gave it to her she was so excited and she said she was going to pay it forward and buy a toy and give it away for free,” Owens said. “So if we can keep doing this and even a couple of people give something away for free or donate to charity then our mission was accomplished. To give during the holidays and not just take.”
