When conducting
a raffle to
raise money, the
best raffle
prize is often
one which is
donated. This
allows all of
the collected
raffle money to
be used by the
organization.
But if no
appropriate
donations are
forthcoming,
another option
is to buy an
inexpensive
raffle prize.
The rationale of
this approach is
that your modest
investment (i.e.
buying the
prize) will be
handsomely
rewarded in many
raffle ticket
sales. Your
target market
will be excited
about winning
the prize, and
will therefore
buy multiple
raffle tickets.
If you've
reached that
point where you
are looking to
buy the prize,
consider
shopping (or at
least
monitoring) the
Website Woot.
Woot sells one
product per day,
and its prices
are worth
watching.
Here's
how Woot works:
Woot sells one
product per day
until it's sold
out, or until
11:59 PM central
time when that
item is replaced
with a new
product. If the
featured daily
item sells out,
you must wait
until midnight
to learn about
the new featured
product.
Most of the
prices (current
as of August
2009) seem to be
about 50% of
what that same
item might cost
elsewhere.
* Philips 52?
1080p 120Hz LCD
HDTV: Woot sold
at $1200; Amazon
lists at $2115.
* Memorex 4GB
Media Player:
Woot sold for
$30; various
stores list at
$60 to $150
* Ion Audio USB
Turntable (This
system enables
you to play
records and
record directly
into your MP3
player.): Woot
sold for $50;
Wal-mart lists
at $115
* Dell Inspiron
Dual Core 1.8
Ghz 14?
Notebook: Woot
sold for $439.
Here are
some other
reasons to enjoy
Woot:
-
Shipping is an
easy-to-calculate
flat rate of
$5.00.
Regardless of
whether you
buy a $40 item
or a $1000
item, or
whether you
buy one item
or three
items, the
shipping is
$5.00.
-
Missed an
item? Wait for
a Woot-Off.
During a Woot-Off,
all of the
items which
didn't sell
out are
offered for
sale again (at
the same price
as before).
So, if 40
routers and
125 weather
stations
didn't sell,
those items
would be sold
- one product
after another
- during the
day of the
Woot-Off. If
you didn't buy
the product
during its
24-hour
window, you
might be able
to buy it
during the
Woot-Off.
-
The site is
fun to read
because it's
cleverly
written. The
first person
to buy each
day is called
the "First
Sucker." On
the "What is
Woot" page,
the authors
write, "We
anticipate
profitability
by 2043."
-
The site
allows you to
see cool
statistics. By
clicking into
the "comments"
area of any
product, you
can see some
interesting
metrics about
Woot's sales.
For instance,
you'll see
that Woot is
most popular
in the
Midwest, and
you can review
sales-by-hour
to see when
Woot sells the
most product.
-
Woot has an
engaged user
community with
product
feedback. If
you like to
read product
opinions,
you'll find
many useful
comments from
Woot's buyers.
As a side,
cameras (regular
and video
cameras) are
good raffle
items, and these
items seem to
come up for sale
regularly on the
site. Keep your
eyes peeled - a
good deal might
be on sale
today.
