Gauging interest on a raffle idea

[Rado_VR6]

Alright guys and girls, I need your input on this seeing as how this will more than likely become a reality if the interest is there.

If there were a raffle for a BRAND NEW GSX-R 600/R6/some other 600cc sport bike, how many of us would participate?

It would more than likely run from spring break into the early summer and culminate at a shop BBQ where the winner would be announced and the bike would be handed over to the owner. The bike may or may not be fitted with basic boltons and tuned before being handed over.

If the bike were to be displayed at the Sonic meets coming up, as well as other shows/meets, would that move you one way or the other about it actually being legit and such? Don't worry, this would not be a "Street Wars" fiasco as I'd be the one delivering the title and keys to the owner.

Would 15-30 dollars per raffle ticket be decent, or do you feel that is too much? Considering that the bike would be brand spanking new, would people be inclined to pay more to keep numbers down for a better chance at winning, or lower to flood the market so to speak?

Again, it would really help if everyone gave their opinions on this and what you would personally like to see happen in order to persuade you to purchase a ticket.

[schaffer]

sounds like a good idea,but what are the proceeds going toward?

[Rado_VR6]

That's for you guys to decide. What would you guys want it to go to, do you care what it goes to? There are so many different charities out there, would you guys want the winner to pick which one?

[Got Insulin?]

The Make-a-Wish Foundation has traditionally been our charity of choice for TST events, but there is a lot of good ones out there.

[schaffer]

I assume that you'd be buying the bike too,and its not donated.

[Rado_VR6]

Yes, the bike will be bought by us, or whatever we decide to raffle off.

[schaffer]

Make a wish sounds good...that or something like the wounded warrior project would be cool.

Id buy a ticket even tho i don't ride.

[Rado_VR6]

Those two would probably be at the forefront. The shop owner has a bigger raffle in mind that'll happen over the course of a year, so this was more of an idea that I would probably head up. I just need to gauge interest and see what people would really be into. Whether or not a big prize is more beneficial, or several smaller ones like electronics and such, remains to be seen.

[Proven]

For a charity or not I think you'll get tons of entries. I would suggest NOT saying its for any charity because of how the Internets acting now a days. All's it will take is some idiot to say "I heard they didn't log all entries" and you'll have no proof you did. After it ends simply post "we donated all proceeds to X charity".. Don't say this before hand.

Either way I would def. enter.... When I worked at a bike shop we did this for profit and it worked out great except for the fact that a regular customer who was "friends" with the owner won.. Tickets were $50.. If this wasn't ten years ago, and was internet based, I bet the fact that a regular Customer won would of been a "HUGE" issue via the internet.

[Rado_VR6]

Definitely not going that route. This would be my first ever experience with a raffle that large and I'd like to see what people are interested in, whether it be for profit or all for charity. Either way, something is definitely going to get donated to charity depending on if I do this with my own money or through a shop expense.

I want it to be something that people would actually go for. Worse comes to worse, I scrap the idea and come up with something better. I just figured that this would be a good way to get the name out there and interact with the community. If the bike doesn't flow well with anyone, I'll see about a huge gift certificate for parts or something.

But a brand new bike seems to be the thing on a lot of people's lists this summer and I don't want to rule it out.

[HatchSurfer3]

Why are they running for so long? Will there not be a cap on the amount of tickets and just sell as many as possible within the time frame?

[jpalamar]

Set a cap on the # of tickets so people know the actual odds of winning. Then set a price for the ticket. Once that X amount of tickets at $X will equal more then the price of the bike. Then donate the difference/profit to charity.

EX. $25 a ticket for 750 tickets = $18,750. Minus the cost of bike, say $10,000(just making this up in my head because I don't know the price of new bikes). That would leave a nice $8750 to charity.

If you let it open to unlimited tickets, I wouldn't do it. It is nice to see money go to charity, but I can just donate to the charity directly if the odds were so unrealistic for the bike it wasn't funny. Anything for Make-A-Wish, military, or Special Olympics I'd be down for. I just won't donate to charities that give money to deadbeat families.

[420sx]

I would buy a ticket. I think Jay has the right idea. Set the number of tickets, push em, and when they sell out, they sell out. That way the people buying them know what their odds are, and you know what youre going to raise before you invest any money. Id love to see the proceeds go to a Wounded Warrior charity, or anything Military related.

[Rado_VR6]

That's where you guys come in, because your input is what's directly going to set the wheel in motion. We know it can't all be for profit obviously, that's a douchebag way of running things. I was thinking capped at between 800-1000 entries and as soon as the number is hit the winner is announced and that person gets to decide where the money goes. Maybe we'll split the donation 3 ways and donate to 3 different charities so the decision isn't so hard.

35 dollars per ticket, 10 dollars of that goes to charity. I figure that's a nice lump of change to donate. All the paperwork will be documented and filed so there won't be any issues with people pointing fingers saying nothing was donated. With all the recent events about certain donations NOT being donated, I think that's the only way to do it.

Outside of that, I still have no idea what type of bike should be picked up for this. Whether a 600 is plenty or a 1000 would be better, I don't know. We'll also betting the winner up with a jacket and helmet because NO rider should be without those at bare minimum.

Again, I need all of your input on this because I want it to be productive for everyone who participates and especially the winner.

[AWD GS]

Originally Posted by jpalamar

Set a cap on the # of tickets so people know the actual odds of winning. Then set a price for the ticket. Once that X amount of tickets at $X will equal more then the price of the bike. Then donate the difference/profit to charity.

EX. $25 a ticket for 750 tickets = $18,750. Minus the cost of bike, say $10,000(just making this up in my head because I don't know the price of new bikes). That would leave a nice $8750 to charity.

agreed but you also have to figure out how many people would actually buy a ticket at $25 a pop. its not much but with people out of work and people struggling, it might be hard to sell over the cost of the bike.

[jpalamar]

Originally Posted by Rado_VR6

winner is announced and that person gets to decide where the money goes. Maybe we'll split the donation 3 ways and donate to 3 different charities so the decision isn't so hard.

It might be cool that the winner would have choice of maybe 3 charities to donate to? Might help spark extra interest in people that aren't specifically looking for the bike itself too.

Originally Posted by AWD GS

agreed but you also have to figure out how many people would actually buy a ticket at $25 a pop. its not much but with people out of work and people struggling, it might be hard to sell over the cost of the bike.

If they can't afford $25-35 then they def can't afford to pay the tax on the bike anyway.

[AWD GS]

Originally Posted by jpalamar

If they can't afford $25-35 then they def can't afford to pay the tax on the bike anyway.

lol true but if you limit it to a little less you could possibly gauge more interest. either way for $25 bucks id buy a few.

[SovXietday]

I need a new bike, I'm in.

[420sx]

Originally Posted by SovXietday

I need a new bike, I'm in.

Wanna sell me that one back for the same $800? haha jk

[Philly03wagon]

This actually sounds like a really good idea. I agree set a cap, set a price and go from there. Just a thought as far as documenting, maybe an excel spreadsheet with every ones names who bought a ticket? One question though, how would the winners be picked? On the basis that ticket picked and thats the winner or pick a ticket, call out the number, if not there, go on to another number? A big barbque/car meet would be an ideal place to pick a winner.

As far as the bike goes, since there will be some ppl who do not ride bikes, I honestly think a 600 would be a good starter bike. That way, someone new would get a good bike and the ppl who know how to ride would be fine. The beginner rider would be more likely to keep the bike than someone who already has one though.