I just ran into some prelaunch site where it's advertising online shopping at a new level. Anyone knows what's it about? It's called I think centurylaunch or something like that. Looks very fresh... Anyone checked it out already?

[ Message was edited by: gss123 06/27/2007 11:14 am ]

sorry, forgot to say where I've found it: centurylaunch.com

I'd avoid it.

The first thing they do is ask for my contact info - stuff like that always strikes me as less than professional.

Interesting... the name in your profile is Sebastian and the person who writes the blog for century launch is Sebastjan, a variant European spelling, and you're in Europe, am I right?

If so, congratulations on "finding yourself"! That has to be one of the oldest (and lamest) self-promotion tricks in the book.

Of course, I could be completely wrong.

isn't it amazing how almost every first and second post starts with a shameless self promotion

Dear All,

First I would like to apologize for kind of self promoting, however the truth is that I was just looking for some experts who could thoroughly beta test the prelaunch site and later the live thing. Thank you for your comments until now and I am amazed how many things you already managed to find out and also I'm very grateful for the comment about asking the personal info immediately. It really shows that I've turned to the right forum for expertise!

So any suggestions on how I could then further improve the prelaunch site? I would be really happy for any further feedback and help. Also in the prelaunch phase I am offering 10$ to the first 100 who would use our service. Thank you in advance and please accept my apologies!

First I would like to apologize for kind of self promoting...

"kind of self promoting"? You didn't just self promote, you lied to us by pretending it was some great thing you'd "discovered".

Did you even bother to read the Terms of Service/Code of Conduct that you agreed to when you registered?

Dishonesty is prohibited, full disclosure required If you wish feedback on a product or service that you offer, please disclose, in full, your affiliation with the company/product/service that you are posting about, as well as a detailed explanation of what type of feedback you would like from our membership. Posts along the lines of "I found this great website ... what do you think of it?" or "Has anyone used 'xyz.com', I hear it's great!", when in fact you are the owner of the named company is in direct violation of our code of conduct and is grounds for administrative review of your membership status.

You would have gotten more people willing to assist you had you been honest.

As said: please accept my apologies for the bad start. However, I would like to point out that everything I said about the service is totally true and I believe it's still a great idea worth to try it out. And if my foolish entry to this forum means that I won't receive any further help from anyone then it's an extremely harsh lesson that I will remember.

no, you are still trying to promote your service. this forum is the wrong place and will most likey generate nothing for you as we are not your target visitor. Even your last post is a self promotion.

now if you really want feed back and you want to know what a pro thinks, sit back and read.

what is your revenue model, where do you get the money to give back to your site visitor, affiliate revenue? you will never generate enough money to cover your pay out. Forget your user, you better "put on your lucky underwear and spit-shine that horseshoe"

there are state and federal laws about these contests, you need to be bonded, registered and licensed and every state has a different regulation. You are subject to huge fines and can go to jail without the proper documentation.

its been done to death, especially in the late 90's. Check out Iwon dot com if its still going.

what about the stores affiliate terms of use, contests violate most of them.


People are hip to the online affiliate programs and online malls and prefer to deal directly with the merchant

the day of the affiliate mall and this type of call to action is over, the current hot model for online shopping is using social shopping with social community platforms.

if you really have money to lose, invest in snake oil and swamp land

so you lied, we called you on it, and my advice is to forget this idea and get a real job

there are state and federal laws about these contests, you need to be bonded, registered and licensed and every state has a different regulation. You are subject to huge fines and can go to jail without the proper documentation.

Just to clarify this point a bit, you'll need to:

1 - register the contest with Florida, New York and Rhode Island. Failure to do so violates their state laws and leaves you open to litigation (unlikely, but could happen). State fees vary slightly, but count on about $275/state. Mess up the paperwork and they'll bounce it back to you...and keep your money. You will get another kick at the can, but after that, the process starts again, so basically you get one mistake when registering.

2 - if the prize purse for any one contest exceeds $5,000 USD, you'll need to get a bond for Florida and New York states (RI doesn't require a bond, just the registration). Bonds can run anywhere from $7/thousand in the prize purse and up. (So, a $10,000 prize purse would cost you $70, except that most bond companies have a minimum bond purchase fee of at least $300.)

Each state has different penalties for violating their laws, so best to research those points on your own if it's a concern.

So, if your prize purse for any one contest is UNDER $5,000 USD, you don't need to sweat the bonds. You do need to register with the three states mentioned above (as of this post's date, this is accurate info - subject to change, obviously).

You WILL have to have complete contest guidelines written and posted online in advance of the contest goign live, and more importantly, you'd better allow a few weeks for each state to turn around their permissions before the contest goes live. Go live BEFORE thye issue the OK and you'll get hit with a penalty if they so choose. usually hit's close to the $1,000 USD mark per infraction. I'm sure there's a limit, but don't know anyone who has ever hit it before there was legal action.

Failure to register with those states leaves the registered owner of the domain name legally liable.

Now, if you're seeking feedback on that site, be sure to post up in the Site Review section and follow the guidelines posted int here.

not only that, but for anyone who's interested in the contest info, it is highly advisable to hire a company that specializes in setting up contests and sweepstakes, it will cost you 5k or more, but its worth the indemnification

nice write up sportsguy

gss123 where'd you go? we gave you your feed back

[ Message was edited by: mj1256 06/30/2007 09:17 pm ]

Man I love this forum

gss123, Good Luck.

You'll need it!

Hello everyone! It's a kind of warm and fuzzy feeling knowing that you guys missed me!!:D Well it was a kind of long weekend (without internet) but now "back to business":
First thank you all for your constructive and highly helpful feedback. Special thanks to SportsGuy and MJ. Same as Formersceptic I also love this forum, despite the rough start which was totally my mistake.
To answer your question MJ about the revenue model: (thank you for worrying btw, however we wouldn't start unless we would see profit in it) let's assume that our affiliates pay on average a 5% commission. However the consumer's chance to win at our game would be limited to 2%. This way on average for 100x100$ purchases I would earn 500$ but would have to pay back 2 purchases in value of 200$.
However some of your comments on legal terms really put me back to the drawing board. Where do you find such detailed information, could you please share? Are there any online sites which offer free legal help? Because from what I've found my model -1. purchase through my service at the best online stores 2. play a game of chance 3. If you win, you get all your spent money back- qualifies as a lottery or I'm misunderstanding something.

I found this on the net:

"What is a sweepstakes?
A sweepstakes is a promotion in which a prize is awarded on the basis of chance rather than skill. If a prize is awarded on the basis of skill the promotion is considered a contest.

How is a sweepstakes different than a lottery?
With the exception of state run lotteries and authorized raffles, lotteries are illegal under state and federal laws. Generally, a lottery is a promotion in which all three of the following elements are present: 1) prize; 2) chance; and 3) consideration.

Can I require the purchase of a product to enter?
No. A legitimate sweepstakes (as opposed to a lottery) removes the consideration element from the promotion. There are many factors that come into play in avoiding the consideration element and it presents a trap for the unwary."

Does this mean my model is actually a lottery and therefore illegal? Who could help me in all this legally (for low cost)?

free....who works for free...check you PM for a list of sweepstakes sites, they might give you enough info in the free consultation

Ok so
you had 100 purchases at $5.00 each so you generated $500.00 in sales so you made $25,00 and the winner gets $10.00.

I'm sorry, I've just seen to many ideas like this and i don't want to see anyone get hurt.

Have you run an affiliate mall before, it is very difficult to get that many sales. 95% of all affiliate sites generate NOTHING. Go to any forum at an affiliate site like amazon and you will see that almost no one generates any income. Pocket money at best.


How do you know that you will sell $100.00 items and 100 at that. That is probably a higher average order size thanm most online stores have for themselves.

sorry, numbers still don't compute, i'm not convinced

MJ, please do not denigrate swampland. In some areas, (read: Florida) swampland is actually quite valuable and it may very well be a perfectly viable investment.

GSS, it seems you would do well to reconsider your approach (again). It is far better to pay for good legal advice now, rather than pay legal fees - and court fines - later.

An extra $5 or $10 thousand invested now can very well serve you for years to come.

I do want to say that i may have come off rather harsh to GSS, I've been doing this for a very long time and I don't want to see anyone get hurt. If I've offended GSS, please accept my appologies, I'm really am trying to help

Down members DOWN. Give the man some space to breath.

Gss123, don't take this as a personal attack but more of a tough love approach.

Our members can be VERY passionate when it comes to expressing their views on "hot" topics

What's important though is that you take what you've learnt from SEF and use it for good rather than evil. Do the latter and its coitnz (read curtains) for you

Even Danny Sullivan earns no money from Amazon.