

Ask HN: Initial thoughts on my new web app: TweetFreeCars.com - tfc

TweetFreeCars is designed to give away new cars and trucks to a few of my Twitter followers.  It incorporates the use of Twitter for marketing purposes and an online auction to select the winners of the giveaway cars.<p>The domain URL is http://TweetFreeCars.com and at the moment this redirects to a friend's development server. Please share your comments, questions and suggestions so I will know if I'm on the right track, thanks.
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icey
A) It needs a serious hand from a real designer

B) I can't escape the... scammy feeling of the whole endeavor. "Non-profit"?
"Donors" that have to "donate" $27 bucks to bid for the possibility to win
$20,000 towards a car that you have to go out and actually buy at a dealership
yourself?

It's nothing personal man, but I wouldn't touch this thing with a 50 foot
pole, and if I caught my family using something like it, I'd probably smack
them in the back of their head.

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tfc
Yes, the design will improve with time, that's for sure.

Would a flat fee for participation sound better? How about "Pay $9 to bid in
our next auction" ... and get away from the donations and non-profit approach?

The reason for selecting your own car is so you end up with exactly what you
want, from the dealer you want to go to for maintenance and repairs. Do you
think it's better to name a specific car, and therefore remove the winner's
right to select his own car and dealer?

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icey
I think that you just need to clarify what's going on.

Calling something non-profit carries certain connotations; namely that the
proceeds will somehow benefit a charity.

My assumption is that you're trying to spin this as being towards a car
instead of a raffle to win $20k for legal or tax purposes. You may want to
talk to a lawyer to see what other options are available to you.

~~~
tfc
I changed it from not-for-profit to commercial. It's still free for everyone
to bid, with an optional $9 seat upgrade which moves you to the head of the
line so you can bid sooner.

My lawyer says that since bidding is free and the payment is optional and only
changes your position on the waiting list I should be okay.

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vaksel
so you'll need $7.3 million a year just to make this idea work...do you
honestly think there is that much potential there?

~~~
tfc
Not at all. I took out the part that says "we will run an auction every time
we've accumulated enough donations" because I thought it was too much info to
begin with. Plus I thought the 'once a day' plan might encourage more people
to participate.

My real plan is simply to run an auction every time we've accumulated $22,000,
so $20K for the winner's new car and $2K for the company. That's about as
simple as it gets. Should I say this instead?

~~~
TrevorJ
Be as transparent as possible. If it's not once a day, don't say that it is.

~~~
tfc
I've changed it to be very clear instead of suggesting future goals (such as
one car per day) and I like it better this way. There's no more donations
either, now it's a simple auction service with free bidding - and a $9 option
for impatient folks who would rather bid in the next auction than wait their
turn.

