2015 MSTA Raffle Bike Announcement!

[ipnman]

Bill,
 I don't have that information
Maybe Tim Macy will have it
It does look like raffle tickets are selling at a brisk pace


Dennis

[stevegrab]

Good to see some of the info that went into making the decision. I could see the scrapping of ticket mailing saving a bunch, and that a lot of tickets had to be sold just to cover that. So that seemed to make some sense.

As for the other changes, I think many send in the tickets the get mailed to them, would be interesting to see numbers. I agree that some of those will otherwise not buy tickets (they'd have to see the info in STAReview, a couple issues behind so I don't know if its appeared yet and then take action to order tickets.)

Toss in the higher price and I could see less overall revenue from ticket sales (but still $2000 saved without mailing). Not saying they made the wrong decision, just that I'm not sure it will work out. Will be interesting to hear something about the numbers afterward (hopefully in STAReview for all to see, not just at STAR in a meeting or on the forum/FB).

[Patmo]

I think that those that bought tickets in the past, will continue to buy tickets, for the most part.  Of course, those are those who still refuse to do any Internet commerce, and won't put in the small effort needed to order tickets.  Hopefully many of those will attend STAR and purchase tickets there.

For me, I have no problem with using the Internet to purchase products and have already gotten mine purchased. I spent what I normally would have.  I got less chances than in the past, but I think this will be the norm for most members, so it will all work out fine.

Now...who do I blame when I don't win this darn thing?   .   LOL

[Brick]

Patmo... You can blame me because I'm gonna win this time!

[RIDEMYST]

It would be interesting to know what percentage of our members register for STAR online verses mailing in their registration form. That might be a good indicator for pre-sale bike raffle tickets. -JEP-

[qman8]

Do we know what sort of percentage is typically sold at the STAR event?  I normally purchase an extra ticket or two there.

[DirtFlier]

I wonder if we have any purchase history on members who almost always buy some of the tickets they receive in the mail?   It's possible to over-analyze this to death so let's just go with what the EC has decided!   

[bcd]

But what excuse are we going to have to come up with in Ohio to go to Bill's house in January and eat donuts?

[brider]

But what excuse are we going to have to come up with in Ohio to go to Bill's house in January and eat donuts?

i can show you my new scars! 

[brider]

Unforunately I have no numbers as to what we sold.  I just do a rough count and mail it all to Tim for a real count.  If memory serves the three years I've been the raffle guy we would be pushing 10Kish pre STAR.  At the event the sales are coming pretty fast so I don't get a very accuate count but its seems like its at least in the 5k range. 

[96viffer]

Just a note on the decision to increase the price per ticket. We assumed that most members who buy tickets buy more than one and have a certain budget for the tickets. For example, I usually spend $40 for tickets, so now I'll get 4 or 5 tickets instead of 8. We think that the gross revenue will be about the same, if not better, as previous years but the number of tickets sold will probably be less which means that your odds of winning will be roughly the same. 3k tickets sold at $5 ea or 1.5k sold at $10 ea gives us the same revenue and the same odds of winning, again assuming that each member spends about the same amount as in previous years.  We also think that the FJR as the prize will provide the incentive to boost sales to offset what we'd lose from not having a mass mailing, plus we'll also be ahead $2k from the postage saved.

Just because "it's always been done this way" isn't justification enough to not try something different. If it were, we wouldn't have the horseless carriage, electricity, indoor plumbing or the internet and smartphones.

I guess we'll see what happens. Not the end of the world if it doesn't pan out, and as Jim mentioned earlier, at the end of the day someone will be able to say, "I told you so."

- Choon

[Paco Bulto]

Just because "it's always been done this way" isn't justification enough to not try something different. If it were, we wouldn't have the horseless carriage, electricity, indoor plumbing or the internet and smartphones.

- Choon

Sounds like logical thinking, Choon. Thanks for that.

Just one question. What's this "indoor plumbing" you speak of? When did they start that?

[Patmo]

Just one question. What's this "indoor plumbing" you speak of? When did they start that?

"coming soon, to a town near you"

[touringman]

Choon, I'm no math whiz, as I'll leave that to two of our children that teach that subject. It seems in the example you gave you are talking ratios, rather than chances of winning. If there are 1.5k tickets sold, my chances of winning are 1 in 1,500, and correspondingly, with 3k sold, my chances are 1 in 3k. Therefore selling fewer tickets, yet creating the same revenue, actually enhances the members chances of being a winner, if they buy the customary number of tickets! Syd

[Patmo]

In my case it's not going to matter how many chances I buy, the chance of me winning is still the same......zero




I just consider it as a donation.