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  • Brickpicker Raffle Fundraiser for a Great Cause!!


    Ed Mack

    Hello LEGO fans, collectors and resellers…

    Many of you may already know who I am, but for those of you that may have just learned about Brickpicker, my name is Ed Maciorowski and I would like to ask you for a few moments of your time. Over the past five years, my brother Jeff and I have operated the BrickPicker site at no cost to members and fans. All we ever asked from members was to click on affiliate links to help pay for the site expenses, which cost members little or no out of pocket money. Many of you have gained valuable information and insight from our data and forum community that enabled you to make money from LEGO collecting and reselling. Often, people would ask how can we help the BrickPicker site and its creators and we would say thanks for the offer, but no thanks, we felt uncomfortable taking donations. Well, we have a way for all of you to help out not only me, but over 150 children and their families.

    Let me introduce you to the St. Paul School of Burlington, NJ…

    My son, Max, is a member of the Kindergarten class in St. Paul School. He has attended the school since September and adores it. My wife, Jane, and I also adore the school. It is everything a school should be. It’s a school where everyone knows your name and there is a sense of pride and respect not found in many other larger schools. I cannot explain it, but there is an ambience of goodness in the building. Sounds corny I know, but as a person who has the word “evil” in his email address, I can tell you that I know when something deserves special recognition as a “good” thing. But it’s not only me who recognizes a great school. St. Paul School was voted the “Best Private School” in Burlington County, NJ and won numerous other awards. St. Paul School’s graduates constantly excel in high schools throughout Central NJ, with a large portion of graduates appearing on the National Honor Society and finishing top in their classes as Valedictorians and Salutatorians. To find out more about the St. Paul School, you can check out their website

    stpaul_school_fundraiser_max_small.jpg.d

    So here is the situation. St. Paul School is a Catholic school and as many people know, Catholic schools always have a hard time paying the bills to remain open. While St. Paul School and other Catholic schools welcome all religions and people, they are not funded by state or federal tax dollars and must adhere to many policies of the Catholic church and their Dioceses. Unfortunately, due to the weak economy and other forces outside of their control, enrollment in Catholic schools is down, putting more and more pressure on the school’s and local church’s budgets to remain open. This is an ongoing battle and fundraising has become an annual ritual in every Catholic school in the nation and most likely, the world. Everyone has to do their part to help out and Jeff and I are doing ours. Here is our plan…

    Jeff and I are going to personally RAFFLE OFF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS OF RARE AND RETIRED LEGO SETS! These sets are from our personal collections and they include the:

    • 10188 Death Star
    • 10228 Haunted House
    • Sealed Case of 64 Series 10 Collectible Minifigures (MR.GOLD might be in there!)
    • 10224 Town Hall
    • 10225 Ultimate Collector Series R2-D2
    • MORE SETS HAVE BEEN ADDED!!!

    That is well over $2000.00 in LEGO sets. All are retired and appreciating in value as we speak. I will personally ship them to anywhere in the world at my cost and in a proper shipping container. There will be one winner for each set and you must buy tickets for each raffle separately. One person can win all the sets if they enter all five raffles. There are discounted tickets available and the raffle will be run on the www.rallyup.com website, which is a very reputable and trustworthy fundraising site. They will automatically pick the winners at 11:59 PM on January 31, 2016 and will notify the winners. I will then ship out the winning LEGO sets to their new owners. The raffle and link to share can be found below:

                                               https://rallyup.com/stpaul-2016

    Each ticket costs $10.00 and enables you to enter one LEGO set raffle of your choice. $50.00 will cover all five iconic LEGO sets. ALL OF THE PROCEEDS (besides the commission to www.rallyup.com) goes to St. Paul School and to its corresponding church, The Parish of Saint Katharine Drexel, which helps the school operate. Tickets can be paid with any major credit card and the site is secure. Unfortunately, PayPal does not get involved with “raffles,” so PayPal can only be used for direct donations. I know that is a minor inconvenience, but if their is an issue, contact Jeff or I and we can see what we can do about transferring money to our PayPal account and paying for your raffle tickets. If we get a great response from people, we might add a few major sets or collectible and rare items to the raffle contest.

    On a personal note, I just have to say that I feel awkward asking people to help and for money, but the St. Paul School kids, faculty and community are worth it. They need to raise $200,000 by the end of January in order to keep the doors open and I am pulling all of my strings to help get them to that goal. I need your help. Period. If you value quality education and teaching children morals and respect, then supporting a school like St. Paul is paramount to the future well being of this planet. To the BrickPicker community...Show the LEGO world that we are more than just a bunch of Quick Flipping Low Lifes….that we care and have a heart, even though we buy all of Little Timmy’s LEGO sets up to resell. LOL. Honestly, this is important to Jeff and I and I want to be proud of our community that we have built over the past 5+ years. If you want to repay us for all of the efforts we have made over the past five years, buy a ticket...or two...or five. My son and 150+ other kids and families, faculty and friends of the St. Paul School will thank you…

    CLICK HERE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE FUNDRAISER

    PLEASE HELP AND SHARE THIS BLOG POST ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND
    OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA OUTLETS!!

     

    If you are interested in just making a donation and want to use Paypal, you can.  Just click the purchase link on the right side bar.  On the next page you will see a checkbox that will allow you to just make a donation.  Check that box and you will then see options for payment.  Paypal is not available for buying raffle tickets, it is against their terms.

    stpaul_fundraiser_donation.thumb.jpg.85a

    Edited by Ed Mack

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    1 hour ago, nolanfan34 said:

    Dang it Ed. Now you're just benefiting the procrastinators. :-)

    Nah, it's to make people circle back around and dive in again if they've already done so and thought they were done. The counter's an interesting twist. Now everyone will know how many participants in each of the new options.

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    Dang it Ed. Now you're just benefiting the procrastinators. :-)

    Nah, it's to make people circle back around and dive in again if they've already done so and thought they were done. The counter's an interesting twist. Now everyone will know how many participants in each of the new options.

    The counter will be removed.
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    On 1/11/2016 at 11:28 PM, Mos_Eisley said:

    Alright, I'm selling likes!

    I've already bought some raffle tickets, but just for fun, for every "like" this post gets from members who joined before the time of this posting, I'll spend an equal amount on more tickets, up to $250.  If it gets beyond that, I'll figure out how much more I'll spend.

     

    Let's set a like record!

    >cough<see page 10 >cough<

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    14 hours ago, Ed Mack said:

    Since I said beforehand I would get one ticket for every prize-lot that I like, I'll just have to pull out my credit-card again tonight when I'm back home again to buy additional tickets. :D 

     

    In the mean time, my post about the raffle in the Lego Community on Google+ has already gotten 20 +1s and I hope at least a few of those 'likes' have also taken action and bought at least one ticket. 

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    Ed,

    I have been a member of brickpicker for a few months shy of two years, and the work you and Jeff have put into making this a thriving community has meant a lot to me.  I am much more of a collector than a reseller, but Brickpicker means just as much to me as the rest because it helps me afford my passion.  My love for LEGO was rekindled when I first watched the movie when it came out in early 2014.  That same night I found myself driving to Toys R Us to impulsively buy whatever suited my fancy, and I ended up with quite a stack of LEGO Movie and Star Wars sets.  I quickly realized when the total came up on the cash register that LEGO collecting would not be sustainable if I didn't buy smart. So later that night, I found myself scouring the web about finding discount sets and clearance sets, and my search brought me here.  I have been a member ever since, and while I am not a very visible member, I am on this website almost every single day reading the good word.  Because of Brickpicker, I have been able to indulge my hobby as economically as dumping money into plastic bricks can be.

    What I am trying to say with all of this is that I have bought what tickets I can for now, and will be buying more when the next pay day rolls around.  I wish you the best of luck, and know what it means to feel comfortable where your children are.  Places that allow children to flourish are few and far between, and should be cherished.

    If you manage to work out something with exciter to where he is willing to let you raffle his walmart clearance time machine, my next paycheck is going into nothing but tickets.

     

    Geno

     

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    7 minutes ago, josericardogb1 said:

    I'm new to the site and I happily made my contribution yesterday! One ticket of each that was :) Go St. Paul!

    If you win, that is a nice way to start investing in LEGO.

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    People love status symbols, even if they're meaningless. I guarantee people will up their contributions if you make tiered "Giving Back" badges. Bronze if you donate X, Silver if you donate Y, Gold if you donate Z, and something extra special for the very highest donations. Maybe gold wreathed in flames (trans-orange Lego flames, of course).

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    28 minutes ago, johnwray said:

    People love status symbols, even if they're meaningless. I guarantee people will up their contributions if you make tiered "Giving Back" badges. Bronze if you donate X, Silver if you donate Y, Gold if you donate Z, and something extra special for the very highest donations. Maybe gold wreathed in flames (trans-orange Lego flames, of course).

    If they did that, I'd ask to have the badge removed from mine. Hell, I've been thinking of doing so already. Maybe I'm just contrarian.

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    6 minutes ago, thoroakenfelder said:

    If they did that, I'd ask to have the badge removed from mine. Hell, I've been thinking of doing so already. Maybe I'm just contrarian.

    We are not going to do that.

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    I hope I'm wrong but I'm not sure adding new sets will change much. You may see more donations from those who have already given but I wouldn't expect it to motivate many who have not already donated. 

    I think the reason is that the majority of people on a site like this are going to be fairly smart with their money, so lotteries might not be the most appealing. Given that, I think you're just seeing the ratio of those who give vs. those who don't. And it doesn't matter what set is available, that ratio won't change significantly.

    Unfortunately to get donations from those who aren't givers by nature you may need to offer something guaranteed in return. Perhaps access to a special section of the website as other have mentioned, but the unfortunate part of that is you're essentially extracting money from the site (via lost traffic) to make the donation. So you're giving and not the other way around.

    That said...

    I'm not sure how much time remains before the school's deadline but if there are a few months one crazy thought I had was producing a ~200-300 piece MOC of some sort, perhaps a model of the St.Paul school along the line of the architecture series, packaged like a LEGO set (obviously not using any trademarks without permission). Perhaps host a competition on this site for users to submit designs and then the community could vote on the best (perhaps the winner gets a $500 prize if the set is produced). After a design is chosen allow users to submit graphics for the box and again have the community vote (perhaps the winner gets a $300 prize if the set is produced).

    Hopefully the small pieces in an architecture type set could be bought in bulk relatively inexpensively and with a printed box and instructions the cost per unit could be kept under ~$20 and the full set sold for $49 + shipping with all proceeds going to this charity. Also, make it clear only a fixed number of these sets will ever be produced (say 3000) and take preorders. The preorders confirm if the set will be produced or not.

    Biggest challenge with that idea would obviously be the time and resources needed to put together and ship 3K units like this and keeping cost down. But if a solution to that was found an "exclusive" set like this might motivate an audience like you have on this site. I know I would buy one and display it proudly. If the design is good I may even buy a second to resell for $150 in 3 years :P

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    Hi Ed,

    Just added my support by buying a ticket. Good luck with saving the school! 

    I have to be honest that I'm not a keen supporter of religious education but for the children school is above all a place to learn and have fun with their friends. That is what counts and I really hope that your son will be able to go back to his school after the summer.

    Hej då from Sweden!

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    23 minutes ago, gbg108 said:

    I hope I'm wrong but I'm not sure adding new sets will change much. You may see more donations from those who have already given but I wouldn't expect it to motivate many who have not already donated. 

    I think the reason is that the majority of people on a site like this are going to be fairly smart with their money, so lotteries might not be the most appealing. Given that, I think you're just seeing the ratio of those who give vs. those who don't. And it doesn't matter what set is available, that ratio won't change significantly.

    Unfortunately to get donations from those who aren't givers by nature you may need to offer something guaranteed in return. Perhaps access to a special section of the website as other have mentioned, but the unfortunate part of that is you're essentially extracting money from the site (via lost traffic) to make the donation. So you're giving and not the other way around.

    That said...

    I'm not sure how much time remains before the school's deadline but if there are a few months one crazy thought I had was producing a ~200-300 piece MOC of some sort, perhaps a model of the St.Paul school along the line of the architecture series, packaged like a LEGO set (obviously not using any trademarks without permission). Perhaps host a competition on this site for users to submit designs and then the community could vote on the best (perhaps the winner gets a $500 prize if the set is produced). After a design is chosen allow users to submit graphics for the box and again have the community vote (perhaps the winner gets a $300 prize if the set is produced).

    Hopefully the small pieces in an architecture type set could be bought in bulk relatively inexpensively and with a printed box and instructions the cost per unit could be kept under ~$20 and the full set sold for $49 + shipping with all proceeds going to this charity. Also, make it clear only a fixed number of these sets will ever be produced (say 3000) and take preorders. The preorders confirm if the set will be produced or not.

    Biggest challenge with that idea would obviously be the time and resources needed to put together and ship 3K units like this and keeping cost down. But if a solution to that was found an "exclusive" set like this might motivate an audience like you have on this site. I know I would buy one and display it proudly. If the design is good I may even buy a second to resell for $150 in 3 years :P

    Thanks for your post.  Adding the new sets will hopefully give people another reason to help out and might attract some new people who didn't like the other options.  I am counting on more support from hundreds of members who might have been waiting to participate for various reasons.  I am optimistic and if I can donate another thousand dollars in sets to make back three or four thousand dollars in raffle donations, it's worth it to me.  

    I don't want to sound like a broken record or a jerk, but people can help with as little as $10.  That is chump change in comparison to what many on this site spend on LEGO sets.  Really, this site is filled with people with money...or they wouldn't be here...or shouldn't be here if they cannot afford $10 to support a good cause and this site.  Being smart with money means to invest in the future and what better way than to invest in quality schools.  Dummies don't buy LEGO sets...

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    5 minutes ago, Ed Mack said:

    Thanks for your post.  Adding the new sets will hopefully give people another reason to help out and might attract some new people who didn't like the other options.  I am counting on more support from hundreds of members who might have been waiting to participate for various reasons.  I am optimistic and if I can donate another thousand dollars in sets to make back three or four thousand dollars in raffle donations, it's worth it to me.  

    I don't want to sound like a broken record or a jerk, but people can help with as little as $10.  That is chump change in comparison to what many on this site spend on LEGO sets.  Really, this site is filled with people with money...or they wouldn't be here...or shouldn't be here if they cannot afford $10 to support a good cause and this site.  Being smart with money means to invest in the future and what better way than to invest in quality schools.  Dummies don't buy LEGO sets...

    Like I said, I hope I'm wrong. Hopefully these sets get the masses moving.

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    One thing I thought about is that Brickpickers that have a Target Red Card can specify St. Paul as their specified "Take Charge of Education" so that 1% of their purchases get donated. It's ending May of this year but could help out. Costs nothing but time to add the school to your Red Card account.

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    27 minutes ago, sflv said:

    One thing I thought about is that Brickpickers that have a Target Red Card can specify St. Paul as their specified "Take Charge of Education" so that 1% of their purchases get donated. It's ending May of this year but could help out. Costs nothing but time to add the school to your Red Card account.

    Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe Target has stopped that program unfortunately.  At least that is what I was told by the school PTA.

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