Hello BrickPickers...

It's that time of year again.  Time to raise money for my son Max's school, St. Paul School in Burlington, NJ.  After a very...VERY...successful first BRICKPICKER LEGO RAFFLE in which we raised over $62,000.00 for the school, it is time to start thinking about this year's version.  

The money we raised last year literally kept the school open...which is a great thing.  It's a special school that once again was voted BEST Private School in Burlington County, NJ by The Burlington County Times, along with numerous other awards.  We picked up 25 new children this year, which is great news as well.  

This year, Jeff and I will be chipping in some sets (UCS 10221 Super Star Destroyer comes to mind) and the school's PTA will be donating some items as well.  As always, I will accept donations from members that we can raffle off.  We got some really good stuff from members last year that helped sell a lot of tickets.  

Last year we had ELEVEN separate LEGO raffles and winners from around the world.  Surprisingly, the raffles all were pretty much equal in tickets sold, with the 10188 Death Star being the most popular and the Friends themed lot being the least popular.  Regardless, the Friends lot still help bring in thousands of dollars, which was wonderful.  

I am here today asking the community is there anything else that would interest people?  It has to be something I can buy and drop ship for ease and cost factors.  How about an Apple IPad or similar electronic device?  How about gift cards?  How about watches?  You let me know.  I want to sell tickets and I really don't care if there are some non-LEGO items mixed in.  I'm looking for ideas, because I have to address the school PTA on October 3rd to see how much we will be raffling off.  

I will put up a simple poll to get some feedback.  You can also respond with some ideas that will give me some direction.  Thanks for your responses ahead of time and I am looking forward to raising even more money this year.  

Ed Mack

Something like an Xbox one or ps4 would be a safe bet I think.

Amazon gift cards are always a safe bet. Soccer moms love them, and we can share that more broadly on FB.

Since you work so closely with the school, I assume, you can maybe try something like this for the parents.

My daughter's private school auctions off 2 designated parking places for the school year. Great for avoiding the patent pick up line. That, and Amazon gift cards were the two best sellers at her school.

A fine vintage whiskey (no bourbon, its too damn sweet!!)

30 minutes ago, labfreak7 said:

Something like an Xbox one or ps4 would be a safe bet I think.

Good one...

20 minutes ago, donbee said:

Amazon gift cards are always a safe bet. Soccer moms love them, and we can share that more broadly on FB.

I agree.  Simple and effective...and valuable.

I'd stick with Lego, I can only speak for myself, but I'd find no use for Xbox, etc...

Throw in a cheese slope and new Han hair and I'll buy 20 extra tickets!

I think SW sets are good or mix of stuff like last time. Hopefully we can beat last years numbers.

I'd probably only be interested in Lego, but as mentioned above, other items might draw broader appeal.

Ooh, the Mystery box.  Everybody likes that.

Edited September 25, 20169 yr by Huskers1236

Mystery sets, huh?

Hi Folks. 

I'll do the same as last year (copying Mos' original idea) to support the children of NJ's St. Paul School.  

For each "LIKE" THIS SPECIFIC post gets, I'll put $1 toward the raffle.

Thanks,
JA Is Online
 

30 minutes ago, jaisonline said:

Hi Folks. 

I'll do the same as last year (copying Mos' original idea) to support the children of NJ's St. Paul School.  

For each "LIKE" THIS SPECIFIC post gets, I'll put $1 toward the raffle.

Thanks,
JA Is Online
 

Brickpickers, for the good cause, let make this guy go broke !!!

i may follow you too as last year for up to $50, but that's little later.

Edited September 25, 20169 yr by Lordoflego

Maybe we can post jaisonline's post up top so we can break him....MUHAHAHAHHAHAHA!

40 minutes ago, jaisonline said:

Hi Folks. 

I'll do the same as last year (copying Mos' original idea) to support the children of NJ's St. Paul School.  

For each "LIKE" THIS SPECIFIC post gets, I'll put $1 toward the raffle.

 

Thanks,
JA Is Online
 

Lucky you that I can "like" the post only once even with my mod powers.

29 minutes ago, Ed Mack said:

Maybe we can post jaisonline's post up top so we can break him....MUHAHAHAHHAHAHA!

That's actually a great idea.  We can sticky posts like that, so if multiple people want to do what JA is offering, we can rotate them around.

When does the raffle start and when does it end, and let us know about the prizes so some people can start donating. Also, what was the deal with BP-ers mentioning it on other Lego web-sites last year? Is it ok as long as owners/mods of those sites agree?

Edited September 25, 20169 yr by Lordoflego

On ‎9‎/‎24‎/‎2016 at 9:21 PM, TheOrcKing said:

Mystery sets, huh?

I posted this video for last year's "mystery box", I figured it would be in bad taste to be repetitive on my jokes.  Thanks for picking up the slack.

We have our first generous BrickPicker, Emvisawthatswho, who donated a 40225 Rio Olympics Mascot set.  I will include it in a large lot with other LEGO set donations.  Last year, it ended up being one of the best raffles IMO.  Thanks again...

22 minutes ago, Lordoflego said:

When does the raffle start and when does it end, and let us know about the prizes so some people can start donating. Also, what was the deal with BP-ers mentioning it on other Lego web-sites last year? Is it ok as long as owners/mods of those sites agree?

The raffle will probably run the same time as last year...mid to late November to the end of January.  It worked out well.  I don't want to mess with success.  When we are ready to go, you are welcome to promote it anywhere.  Many people posted on Facebook or other non-LEGO sites.  The prizes will be retired and current LEGO sets for the most part.  I just wanted to know if there were other things that would really stir interest in tickets.  We will see.

Looking forward to seeing this years raffle. 

Edited September 25, 20169 yr by junkrigger

I'm bumping this thread to get more feedback and votes.  I need to know by Monday...Thanks.

I will be buying a ticket regardless- probably for Lego but as for outside of Lego ideas- can't go wrong with video game stuff, and gift cards are popular too.

I think you're going to be dealing with a bit of a biased sample here in regards to the poll. A good mix of things would be nice. Obviously Assault on Hoth or the new Death Star won't attract a lot of the collector's on here, but to Lego fans elsewhere they may be attractive. Same with other new sets. Of course a couple retired sets will prove popular with collectors. A couple non-Lego things such as some amazon gift cards or a game console (or games or  Steam/Xbox Store/PSN gift cards) would be good to attract some non-Lego enthusiasts. It would also stop the non-Lego enthusiasts from 'clogging up' the Lego raffles with extra tickets. Though, I wouldn't do just something gaming related, as that wouldn't appeal as much to some people. Electronics are always a good item. Maybe a decent camera? It appeals to more people than just a game console and, unlike a computer, phone, or tablet, not as many people have one. Just a thought, maybe some sort of Christian item since it is a raffle for a Catholic school? I can't think of anything specific, but maybe that would be attractive to those people attracted to the raffle because of the school. 

EDIT: Maybe something like the WIllow Tree nativity set? Or their Holy Family set? Those aren't religious items that are exclusive to a certain denomination of Christianity, and they're well liked. I don't know if there'd be enough interest for something like that, but even a $50 set could make a nice alternative to those not interested in the Lego or things like a game console. I highly doubt it'd be the most popular raffle item, but it'd appeal to its own group of people. 

Edited October 2, 20169 yr by Flanagan Bros Inc

I went to our friends children's school auction and noticed a few places donate to these auctions that I would not have thought of that you may want to look into more. Disney gave a family pack of tickets to auction for the school which is worth a lot as Disney is expensive.

american girl also donated a few dolls and clothing kits which earned some at the auction. 

My friend said she just contacted both places and they proved it was for a school. 

Edited October 2, 20169 yr by Salimr

Some good ideas.  The school does do various events throughout the year that they get more of a variety of things donated to them.  I was just looking to see if any one thing would really motivate people.  I can see the vast majority would rather win large and expensive LEGO sets/lots than other non-LEGO products.