bigabyte
somebody shut me the fark up.
100% of the profits from sales of the BBQ Brethren Throwdown Calendar will be used to fund prizes for the Throwdowns!
:becky: :thumb: :clap: :whoo: :bow: :clap2: :dancer:
eace: :welcome: :rockon:
You heard it right, PRIZES!
So what does this mean? When will there be prizes? What kinds of prizes? Why are there profits? Can I order a calendar right now? Do I get a prize for reading this?
ALL OF YOUR ANSWERS ARE BELOW!!!
First off, if you are asking yourself, "What calendar?", then please go here...
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=81731
Beginning in June 2010, I will tally up the profits to date from the Calendar sales, and divide that by 52 (the number of Throwdowns in a year). I will round this DOWN to a nearby whole dollar amount. This will determine the value of the prize available for each of the next 52 Throwdowns (a years worth). Any profits from sales after that time will be reserved for the next year. I am hopeful that next year we will have another calendar, and sales from that calendar through next June plus any remaining funds from this year will result in the prize budget for next year. Also, the money left over after determining the prize value for the 52 Throwdowns will be reserved for the winner of next years cover shot on the next Calendar (I am hopeful there will be another one next year).
Why are there profits from these calendar sales? Why not sell the calendar at cost as Mr. Bigabyte himself originally stated he wanted to do? This has everything to do with the complexities in getting this calendar to you. Keep in mind that a certain Santa Gnome graciously offered to print and do the footwork to get these out the door for shipping to you for FREE, but only if they were reimbursed for the shipping costs they incurred by doing this. Shipping is NOT a flat rate to anywhere in the world, and for that matter are not really very similar at all when you consider that not all Brethren are in the continental United States. Since Santa Gnome already donated so much at this point (free printing and offering to take them to the post office and ship to you at no profit), it was not at all reasonable to expect them to take every single order to the Post Office beforehand to calculate shipping for each and every order to negotiate with each customer an exact price on each and every order. This is just not that complex of an operation here folks, we don't have that much time to spend with you on taking these orders. We're just two people, volunteering our free time to make this work, free time we could be spending with friends, family, BBQ, anything except getting you these calendars. But we are so excited about these calendars we choose to spend our time doing this for you.
So, what we needed was a flat rate to charge for the calendars that would cover any unusually high shipping costs, so that our gracious "volunteers" did not have to pay out of their own pockets to get you these calendars. I personally felt that offering a slightly elevated calendar cost estimated using some formula derived of percentage of overseas Brethren basically amounted to a tax, or penalty to those who DO live in the continental US, which to me seemed unfair. So I chose not to do that.
What I decided to do was charge what a FOR PROFIT organization would charge for these calendars, and take in a profit. This would definitely cover any high shipping costs, plus allow a profit, leaving me to determine how this profit money could come back and benefit the Brethren. This is why the calendars are $10.
When I talked with Phil about this, he told me to either take the money and use it for prizes, or use it to take a vacation in Hawaii. He didn't want the money for the site. I would really like to go to Hawaii someday, but I'm not going to do that with this money.
I don't know what kinds of prizes will be available at this point, or what their value will be. All of that will really depend on how sales of the calendar go through the end of May. Once I get a dollar amount firmed up for the value of the prizes, I can start looking at what can be arranged. To me, gift cards or e-certificates seem most reasonable, but at this time it's too early to firm anything up.
I will NOT incur any personal costs to cover shipping or other associated costs in getting a prize to you. Those costs will need to either be a pre-included part of the prize package value, or paid for by the winner to ensure they get it. You can be assured I will do my best to account for these added costs ahead of time so you will not have to deal with it, and simply receive a prize as expected. Things can come up though, so that is why I bring this up.
I will provide to the Brethren an accounting of the orders placed, ordering and shipping costs, and profit from the orders. This will allow for transparency for anyone who thinks I am out to get them or take their money, which I assure you I am not. All of this will be public info just to avoid some crazy accusing me of thievery or something crazy like that. If someone wants to go there, I can assure you my anger at having my purely charitable intentions abused in such a manner will be noticed by you in some way, somehow. So let's just not go there, ok?
So if you are interested in the concept of prizes for Throwdowns, and have not yet placed an order for one or more (I'm certain they will make excellent gifts for your BBQ friends), please feel free to order and support the cause by clicking this link for more information about ordering.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=81731
Remember, the more orders, the more profits, the better the prizes.
Thank you and have a nice day.
:becky: :thumb: :clap: :whoo: :bow: :clap2: :dancer:
eace: :welcome: :rockon:You heard it right, PRIZES!
So what does this mean? When will there be prizes? What kinds of prizes? Why are there profits? Can I order a calendar right now? Do I get a prize for reading this?
ALL OF YOUR ANSWERS ARE BELOW!!!
First off, if you are asking yourself, "What calendar?", then please go here...
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=81731
Beginning in June 2010, I will tally up the profits to date from the Calendar sales, and divide that by 52 (the number of Throwdowns in a year). I will round this DOWN to a nearby whole dollar amount. This will determine the value of the prize available for each of the next 52 Throwdowns (a years worth). Any profits from sales after that time will be reserved for the next year. I am hopeful that next year we will have another calendar, and sales from that calendar through next June plus any remaining funds from this year will result in the prize budget for next year. Also, the money left over after determining the prize value for the 52 Throwdowns will be reserved for the winner of next years cover shot on the next Calendar (I am hopeful there will be another one next year).
Why are there profits from these calendar sales? Why not sell the calendar at cost as Mr. Bigabyte himself originally stated he wanted to do? This has everything to do with the complexities in getting this calendar to you. Keep in mind that a certain Santa Gnome graciously offered to print and do the footwork to get these out the door for shipping to you for FREE, but only if they were reimbursed for the shipping costs they incurred by doing this. Shipping is NOT a flat rate to anywhere in the world, and for that matter are not really very similar at all when you consider that not all Brethren are in the continental United States. Since Santa Gnome already donated so much at this point (free printing and offering to take them to the post office and ship to you at no profit), it was not at all reasonable to expect them to take every single order to the Post Office beforehand to calculate shipping for each and every order to negotiate with each customer an exact price on each and every order. This is just not that complex of an operation here folks, we don't have that much time to spend with you on taking these orders. We're just two people, volunteering our free time to make this work, free time we could be spending with friends, family, BBQ, anything except getting you these calendars. But we are so excited about these calendars we choose to spend our time doing this for you.
So, what we needed was a flat rate to charge for the calendars that would cover any unusually high shipping costs, so that our gracious "volunteers" did not have to pay out of their own pockets to get you these calendars. I personally felt that offering a slightly elevated calendar cost estimated using some formula derived of percentage of overseas Brethren basically amounted to a tax, or penalty to those who DO live in the continental US, which to me seemed unfair. So I chose not to do that.
What I decided to do was charge what a FOR PROFIT organization would charge for these calendars, and take in a profit. This would definitely cover any high shipping costs, plus allow a profit, leaving me to determine how this profit money could come back and benefit the Brethren. This is why the calendars are $10.
When I talked with Phil about this, he told me to either take the money and use it for prizes, or use it to take a vacation in Hawaii. He didn't want the money for the site. I would really like to go to Hawaii someday, but I'm not going to do that with this money.
I don't know what kinds of prizes will be available at this point, or what their value will be. All of that will really depend on how sales of the calendar go through the end of May. Once I get a dollar amount firmed up for the value of the prizes, I can start looking at what can be arranged. To me, gift cards or e-certificates seem most reasonable, but at this time it's too early to firm anything up.
I will NOT incur any personal costs to cover shipping or other associated costs in getting a prize to you. Those costs will need to either be a pre-included part of the prize package value, or paid for by the winner to ensure they get it. You can be assured I will do my best to account for these added costs ahead of time so you will not have to deal with it, and simply receive a prize as expected. Things can come up though, so that is why I bring this up.
I will provide to the Brethren an accounting of the orders placed, ordering and shipping costs, and profit from the orders. This will allow for transparency for anyone who thinks I am out to get them or take their money, which I assure you I am not. All of this will be public info just to avoid some crazy accusing me of thievery or something crazy like that. If someone wants to go there, I can assure you my anger at having my purely charitable intentions abused in such a manner will be noticed by you in some way, somehow. So let's just not go there, ok?
So if you are interested in the concept of prizes for Throwdowns, and have not yet placed an order for one or more (I'm certain they will make excellent gifts for your BBQ friends), please feel free to order and support the cause by clicking this link for more information about ordering.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=81731
Remember, the more orders, the more profits, the better the prizes.
Thank you and have a nice day.
