Charity Update!

[BlueDragonZ]

Ace, the Charity drive has now been posted in the toys n bricks website.
http://toysnbricks.com/blog/support-fbt ... ity-drive/

[onions]

Took you long enough

Thanks for the coverage!

[Septemris]

What a great project. I'm in fo' sho'!

[onions]

as of this morning (sunday 11/29), we've hit 300 donations

[Diaaabo]

I've done my part Reminded me of a portuguese AFOL who has a project with some hospitals in which kids are building replicas of soccer stadiums in LEGO with the help of some volunteers.

Btw, in case I win, will there be extra shipping fees, since I'm in Portugal?

[onions]

I've done my part Reminded me of a portuguese AFOL who has a project with some hospitals in which kids are building replicas of soccer stadiums in LEGO with the help of some volunteers.

Btw, in case I win, will there be extra shipping fees, since I'm in Portugal?

nope. shipping is free express mail.

[Tar]

I love this charity. Ill be getting some tickets before the deadline. C'mon folks, GIVE TILL IT HURTS!!!

[Obi-Wan Skywalker]

I love this charity. Ill be getting some tickets before the deadline. C'mon folks, GIVE TILL IT HURTS!!!

My head or my wallet? The head already hurts.

[onions]

We interrupt your reading of LEGO Deals For December 13-19 for an important message from the staff:

We here at FBTB have been working diligently the past few weeks bringing you news on sales deals from all over the web and retail outlets. If you’ve saved money from our hard work, please consider donating a portion of your savings to the 1st Annual Charity Drive benefiting Child’s Play. It only takes $2.00 USD to help make a difference for needy children hospitalized during the holidays. The drive ends 11:59pm Sunday December 20, that’s in one week! Check out the charity drive page for all the details. Or to donate directly, hit the button below:

Thank you. We now resume broadcasting already in progress.

[onions]

As of yesterday, December 19 9:34pm PST, the FBTB charity has hit its lofty goal of 500 donations! And to celebrate hitting such a major milestone, I am changing a few of the terms of the charity:

1) 50% of the first 100 donations was originally intended to be used to cover the cost of the set and prize delivery. FBTB will eat the cost of both, so now 100% of every single donation will be go towards Child's Play. Of course, "100%" was still a misnomer, since Paypal deducts fees for everything. This brings me to my next point:

2) Paypal's fees for donations are actually quite hefty: something like 2 or 3% + 30 cents, and a tad more if you're paying from outside the U.S. .... or was it inside? In any case, the net amount from each donation averaged $1.63USD. So after 500 donations, FBTB would have $820 to donate give or take a few dollars. Now, FBTB will absorb the cost of the Paypal fees, and make sure Child's Play will get every penny that you readers have sent my way.

In case you're wondering, I have no idea if Paypal dings Child's Play the same fees. But in the end, they will still be getting money that I am proud to say came from fans of LEGO Star Wars.

There is still nearly a full day to donate if you haven't done so. And for everyone who took the time to donate multiple times, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your generosity renders me speechless.

[Darth Maul]

I have done quite a few transactions with Paypal, and the fees that you mentioned are deducted only when someone receives the money. Paypal won't charge you to send the money, but they will apply the fees to the person who receives it. It is annoying, but at least the fee won't be applied twice.

[ricefields]

I have done quite a few transactions with Paypal, and the fees that you mentioned are deducted only when someone receives the money. Paypal won't charge you to send the money, but they will apply the fees to the person who receives it. It is annoying, but at least the fee won't be applied twice.

In paypal you do not get hit with fees as long as the sender indicates when paying that they are making a personal payment from us dollar balance or from their account. It used to be free for the sender too but now paypal charges 15 cents for the sender. It used to be free for a personal account to receive but now it depends on the sender selecting the right choices when sending the payment.

Ace,

So to guarantee that child's play gets all their money, its better to pay the lump sum donation/contribution in one payment via paypal and pay the 15 cents than to merely send it and have 3% deducted from their donation.

its the same with cashback rewards, the recipients as far as I have been involved for many years, never got hit with fees for receving cashback, even though they go to my premier paypal account or my personal paypal account.

PM me if you have any questions.

[onions]

ah, thanks for the tip ricefields. it's possible that paypal may have eliminated their processing fees for child's play. i always had the intention to contact the organization and ask about that.

[irmasturcheeflol]

Are you going to announce the winner of the drawing?

[Chief]

Are you kidding? It *just* ended. Holy cow.

[Mofo Jones]

Actually, I don't think he was kidding. There's a bit of a leap involved in his logic, but from a quick read of the raffle/donation details, cut and pasted from the original post by new daddy Onions:

* Prize packages will be mailed out on December 21, 2009 via USPS Express Mail, just in time for Christmas.*

* – Delivery by Christmas determined by destination. For the USPS Express Mail timetable, visit the USPS Shipping Calendar site. Prize packages will be mailed out December 21, 2009.

So, because the packages were originally scheduled to be shipped out on Monday, it's a possibility that a winner would have been announced at the same time. Granted, I don't think that Ace was taking early fatherhood into consideration when he made the original post, so a reasonable delay could and should certainly be granted due to the situation. Still, the question was valid, considering the published dates of the raffle/donation.

[bigj22]

so who did win?

[Chief]

Congrats big winnahs! And everybody who donated: you rock!

[Alpha 40]

Congrats! Its nice that all of that money went to a good cause.
And also finally somebody else who lives in CT.