What about a free car ?

[Juliebabe25]

How about ebid ditches the buddy points and the guy doing adwords.

Runs a comp for two new cars
One in the UK and one in the USA.

Every time you buy something on ebid you get one point which goes into a draw at the end of the year.

Then a celebrity racing driver draws the prize numbers.

Ebdi buys the cars now and paints them up "Win this car by buying on ebid" and drives it round London and New York

[Idealproductsales]

Dunno about U.K. but in the U.S.A. that's technically illegal - Considered gaming, gambling, etc. - falls under 3 tests -

if the promotion 1) Requires a payment of any type, and 2) contains an element of chance, then it is an illegal activity under U.S. Law.

There's 2 ways around it:

1) You may require a payment (Consideration) but there can be no chance involved (I.E. a contest of skill - no luck or randomness may affect the outcome in any fashion) and payment must be the same for every entry. (For example - require an entry fee, and have an Essay writing contest where the essay is judged by some independent agency or organization)

2) You may have an element of chance (I.E. a random drawing, card game, etc.) but NO payment must be required for entry - That is. "No Purchase Necessary to Enter" - such that whether a purchase is made or not made each entry is accepted within established rules and has an equal chance of winning.

- So, if the contest was to see who bought the most in dollar volume on eBid purchases, the person with the highest total is declared the winner - That would work, and be legal in U.S.A. (In other words, the quantity of entry points entered determines winner) - but if a random drawing were involved , then requiring a purchase to earn an entry would be illegal.

Like I said- that's just as it applies to the U.S. Market - I wouldn't know about U.K. or other laws.. It can be a sticky issue where the law is concerned..

[adruml]

Really!?., Not sure what/which punctuation to put.

[kreativebargains]

Personally I do not think that a prize draw would work. I have just googled 'win a car' - 1,240,000,000 results. I would imagine the buddy points and adwords bring in buyers, sellers and income. I am sure eBid have the metrics that justify what they are doing and trust the guys to do what is best for the site.

[DancingForRain]

I see alot of comments about ebid not having alot of funds for advertising etc. So because of this lack of funds, you want them to buy 2 new cars, and I guess advertise this competition? Words fail me.

[astral276]

I see alot of comments about ebid not having alot of funds for advertising etc. So because of this lack of funds, you want them to buy 2 new cars, and I guess advertise this competition? Words fail me.

A lot of ideas put forward by self-appointed business gurus display a clear lack of understanding of the legalities, practicalities, and economics of what they are proposing.

[CarnoustieCats]

Got my bus pass here - not interested in cars no more

- or racing drivers - they ain't what they were

[Juliebabe25]

Oh well, don't worry about thinking up new ideas.
Just let ebid keep growing slowly at 300 new members a day down from 500 last a day year.
Keep getting new members who then leave after 2 months with no sales.

[moonwitch]

I see alot of comments about ebid not having alot of funds for advertising etc. So because of this lack of funds, you want them to buy 2 new cars, and I guess advertise this competition? Words fail me.

Words don't fail me...I have got used to the same daft comments from the same handful of people.

I know a bit about gaming law in the UK as I have run monthly prize draws

[DancingForRain]

Do you work for ebid? That's the only reason i can think of as to why you would be thinking of these 'new' ideas.

Oh well, don't worry about thinking up new ideas.
Just let ebid keep growing slowly at 300 new members a day down from 500 last a day year.
Keep getting new members who then leave after 2 months with no sales.