"Winner Takes All" Ideas Discussion

Hi all! Firstly, thank you to EVERYONE that recently participated in Round 6 of the WTA Contest/Swap as well as to all who participated in previous WTA rounds! I love being able to do these as it is an easy way to take part in providing more great wins to my fellow OLS friends!

Okay...so I wanted to start a small thread to gather some ideas for future rounds of "Winner Takes All." Hopefully it is okay to do this here in the Swaps forum--I'm not sure where else I would post it! Please keep the discussion positive--for anyone that might know me personally...I am NOT a fan of conflicts!! Plus...it's just not necessary...wouldn't you agree?! (Don't answer that! )

Sooo...it seems that the $5 gift cards has been a consistent good choice for WTA. I did do books of stamps for the first round and it also went over quite well. What other ideas do you think would work well? Don't get me wrong--I love the $5 gift cards and if the major consensus is to continue with that "theme" then I am all for it! However...I like 'spice' and variety and would love to do some future rounds with new ideas! What do you think about $10 gift cards? Would that deter people from participating? What about cash? Or lottery tickets? Or....oh....anything? Heh! I've thought along the lines of candy and such and that was mentioned to me in the past--my concerns with those type of prizes are cost of shipping being increased and...do people want that much candy?? Maybe they do! I dunno! There are really all types of ways you could go with this! To give a little background on where I got this idea--years ago I was part of a 'women's friendship' Internet board of sorts where we did Winner Takes All rounds. Of course, it was much smaller than OLS--but I won a round where the theme was earrings and I proceeded to receive lots of various pairs of earrings in the mail--was pretty cool and I still have some of them to this day! I found myself thinking about it one day--what a good idea it would be for OLS--especially since we have so many members and not only that...but ones that are PASSIONATE about WINNING!

Well...I look forward to the thoughts and ideas that you all have! I am sure there are lots of great ones that would be fun to use!

I have been involved in all rounds of this swap--alas, not as a winner, but there is always next time. I would be OK with sending $10 gift cards. I also like the idea of sending stamps or even postcards. I love to get postcards from around the country. I got some great ones at the convention postcard swap. As a snail mailer, I can always use them. Sending 10 or 20 postcards from your area would not cost too much. I am sure others also have great ideas. Thanks, csandfs, for hosting this swap, and for asking for our ideas.

How about little stuff animals/ toys?
Like little beanie babies, etc.

What about decorated envelopes or handprinted 3x5 cards. You could have each person do 25-50 cards or something. I know I would love that ! Also, pens are good or lottery tickets~

maybe a craft one. Either crafting supplies like beads, yarn, fabric, or paint for example (the person could pick thier interest just like they pick gift cards). Or one where the person get a completed project from each person. We have so many talented people here -jewelry making, quilting, knitting, crocheting, cross stitching, doll and bear making, painting, photography, etc.... Someone could get showered with some seriously cool stuff and that would be very memorable

I think giftcards are great, I wouldnt oppose to $10 ones. I cant wait for the next round to start up!! I was hoping to win the last one, but no such luck for me!!

What about a "your favorite" themed one? Like the sender send their favorite pen, notecards, candy, etc... not the winners favorite, but the senders favorite so that way the winner is opened up to all sorts of items that they would have never tried before maybe?

Hey--these are all some very cool ideas! Thank you so much for sharing! Please continue to post anything else that you think of! I am really thinking about "changing gears" on the next round and going with one of your ideas!

Originally Posted by mountainview What about a combination of the ideas... a favorite thing of the gift giver that has some regional/state significance? The issue I have with the whole craft idea (and I don't mean to offend anyone) is that some of us are not crafters or crafty in that way. Thanks for asking!

I agree with that, and also about the postcards?? I dont have any use for postcards at all. then again, I guess if the theme was postcards, I simply wouldnt join that round.....

I would be okay with sending $10 GC's. and a little twist on that... maybe you can do it like this... pick a winner as usual. have everyone send YOU, csandfs, the money and you just get the winner one GC with all the money from the participants. the winner will send you their choice of stores for the GC and you surprise them with your choice of store. we can all send check or money order, or cash if you feel comfortable sending cash thru the mail. I would like to be the winner of that swap!!

lottery tickets are an awesome idea..... but kind of a pain, because if we win, say $5... we have to send the ticket back to the sender, the sender has to cash it, and then send the money back to the winner... a lot of work for $5... or even $2... some of our scratch offs have $2 winnings. well, then again, I guess if youre talking Powerball lottery tix, or mega millions, etc etc... then that wouldnt be a bad idea. You could do $10 lottery tickets... either one $10 scratch off, or a combo equalling $10... or a $10 powerball ticket. hmmmmm

You could also do a WTA "winners choice" swap. whoever the lucky winner is gets to choose their own theme. If they are a craft person, they may want to choose craft things. If they like to garden, maybe choose a garden theme. If they collect certain things, they could choose that.... and if they wanted to choose another $5 GC swap... so be it.

you could do a $10 gas card swap. or any amount

I also like the "senders favorite" idea. that way, the winner will get lots of surprises!!

lots of good ideas here so far!

I like the $10.00 gift card idea. It keeps shipping costs down. I would participate if it were gift cards.

Staceymoe already stated my idea!

Why not let the winner pick what they want (within a budget)? For example, if I were to win, maybe I would pick $5 earrings and kind of specify what type I like (i.e. posts, colored ones, hoops, etc...).

There would be a set minimal limit (probably $5 is good). As well as a weight limit due to shipping reasons. Also, we'd have to make it an EASY thing not something wild like purple thongs with pink stripes.

I think that would be interesting and fun. We also could say what we wanted when we signed up for the contest.

hmm how about GC's to the winners fave restaurant?? we could do $5 or $10 ...

if you have a fave restaurant ... of course it'll have to be a chain restuarant, or at least one with a website.... that would be really cool!! especially cuz I know a lot of people eat out every night, or a lot of families like mine when i was growing up had family night out, we'd go to the same restaurant every thursday....

IDK what we do but pleaseee no candy as a type one diabetic that would suck lol I also try not to have a bunch of candy in the house for the kids.

Originally Posted by staceymoe hmm how about GC's to the winners fave restaurant?? we could do $5 or $10 ... if you have a fave restaurant ... of course it'll have to be a chain restuarant, or at least one with a website.... that would be really cool!! especially cuz I know a lot of people eat out every night, or a lot of families like mine when i was growing up had family night out, we'd go to the same restaurant every thursday....

I like this one

I have really been thinking as well along the lines of having the winner receive $5/$10 in Amazon cash. That way it would be SUPER easy for everyone to send to the winner as you would just send it via computer and they could accrue the money in their Amazon account. This would work for EBay as well or any other site that allows for 'ecards.' Please let me know any feedback you have on this idea. I have to be honest in saying that it has continued to be a struggle to get everyone to send cards on time and for this swap to run smoothly in that aspect. I have been considering that something sent via online would be much more 'foolproof.'

I know that gift cards may be boring, but I like it best, and it's easy. (and inexpensive to mail, and sometimes you can just send it directly online.)