Hey everyone,

In lieu of the void in my life caused by the loss of online poker, I have been working on a website for the past 14 months. We are currently entering the final stages, and hoping to launch within the next 2 moths. We believe that gamers and gamblers are a big portion of our demographic, and so I was hoping the 2+2 community might be able to provide some feedback/opinions.

Without going into too much detail a major component of the website involves running sweepstakes/raffles. At launch we plan to have 1 "big-ticket" item and then around 6 smaller items. The big-ticket item will be valued at around ~$55,000 with the smaller items valued between $100-$350. This is where I need your help, on deciding these items.

Currently the big-ticket items we are considering are either a 2013 Porsche Boxster or a 2013 Mercedes SLK 55 AMG (the car enthusiasts' 2 door convertible sports car). If you had a choice between the two which would you choose? If neither appeals to you, feel free to post another car in this same price range as an alternative (nothing more than $75K). Furthermore, if a car is not a prize that you care about at all, post an item within the same price range which you would prefer, and that would ideally appeal to multiple demographics.

For the smaller items we are looking for opinions on what we should offer. Some examples of prizes we are currently considering offering are: Xbox 360 ($350), Bose Headphones ($300) and an Apple TV ($100). With these two items in mind, it would be great if you could offer some further suggestions of items in this same price range that would interest you.

Thanks in advance for your help!

TL;DR - Help me choose one 'Dream' prize that costs $50K-$75k and multiple prizes which cost $100-$350

What does someone need to do to win the car? FWIW I don't think anyone will care what sort of car it is past a certain point (about $20,000 ago)

Bose phones don't excite me at all, I'd want something else (Senheisser 600's, 595's something like that). But the Bose might get the most people interested, idk.

Ipad, ipod, iphone would all seem obvious choices. I realize they can be more than your $350 cap but I think giving away 2 ipads has more marketing value than giving away 3 pairs of Bose headphones.

Cash money always wins.

I'm assuming winners will need to pay taxes on those cars, which if so is a huge disincentive.

Regarding smaller prizes, the issue with iPads, xBox, etc., is that a lot of people already own them, and therefore lowers sweepstakes interest. Amazon gift cards or something similar may also work at this level.

If you're trying to appeal to a wide demographic, you should realize that most people are going to be entering the contest planning to insta sell the car and take the cash if they were to win it. So in other words, cash would be much better. Most people wouldn't even be able to afford the taxes and insurance payments on a $60k car.

Maybe a better place to ask this would be the contests/sweepstakes forum on Slickdeals: http://slickdeals.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=25

The prize that appeals to me the most is one that is valuable and easy to win.

I've yet to find a sweepstakes with both qualifications, though.

I think Fatwallet has a sweepstakes section in there as well. You can see what is popular and what is not. It seems to me that the sweepstakes that are most popular are the loss-leaders from major companies.

Hey everyone, thank you for your responses, all of them have been super helpful! Since you guys took the time to respond to my question I will make sure to respond to each of your comments individually.

In order to win the car all you need is $1.

I definitely think your point is valid about the car, part of the reason why we are trying to do an interesting car is in order to gain some PR from blogs/forums etc.

Some of my partners agree with your point on the Bose headphones, they're a bit plain, but I think good headphones are something a lot of people are interested in these days and Bose or Beats are the most well known.

Thanks for your response!

I agree with your point, and marketing value is obviously a big consideration in deciding these prizes. I will discuss with my partners how they feel about having maybe the "grand prize" then a 'mid-tier' prize at $1000-$2000 and
then maybe only 3 smaller ~$350 prizes.

Thank you for taking the time to respond!

They will have to pay taxes, but we do offer a cash equivalent option.

For the initial promotion we are considering covering the taxes as we want someone to take the car for the PR and so we can use them as an ambassador for our site.

Really great point here, especially considering our demographic, these items are something many of them may own. We have discussed gift cards and while we agree that from a participant standpoint they're very appealing, for us they do not look "sexy" or offer and marketing/PR value really when viewing the site. Maybe we will offer a gift card as just one of the options.

Thanks for your input and taking the time to address both questions!


There will be a cash out option available for those who either can't afford or are simply not interested in owning the car.

I will make sure to check out/ask this question on the Slickdeals forums, that is a great resource.

Thank you!


Once I can offer more details on our site, I believe it will be something that definitely interests you, as there is plenty of value and will be easier to win than most other sites.

I will be sure to go check out Fatwallet.

Thank you for the resource!

That's dangerous - not everyone is a Jared.

Lotus Evora

I said it was something we were considering, not had decided on, but your point is well taken. Thanks again!

We are considering the Lotus Exige and the Evora, so I'll make sure the Evora gets another vote


I recently created this survey and it would be great if you guys could take the time to answer it, I can't imagine it taking more than 3 minutes. But please continue to leave additional suggestions in this thread. Thanks!:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CCMM9Z9

Edit: for some reason when you click the link it doesnt work, but if you copy and paste into the address bar it does, if anyone know why that it is please let me know, but for now just copy and paste

link still doesnt work for me