forum thread
Deal Details
The Eyes Behind the Prize: How We Pick Daily Draw Prizes
Looking for the important stuff?
If you came here ready to win prizes and not listen to us ramble about how we choose them, we respect that.
Enter the Slickdeals Daily Draw
Read the Daily Draw FAQ
Do people really win?
Now, for anyone curious about what happens behind the scenes before those prizes appear in the Daily Draw, let's pull back the curtain…
Yes, we really do window-shop for you
Have you ever looked at a Daily Draw prize and thought, "How did Slickdeals land on THAT?"
The eyes behind the prizes belong to us: Autumn and emceep. We do a frankly impressive amount of window-shopping, looking for prizes you'd love to win. We consider value, merchant reputation, usefulness, and any catches that could turn a fun win into a headache (like subscription fees).
And yes, we imagine the comment section. If we can already hear the roasting from our desks, we may reconsider.
Sometimes we choose it anyway. And boy, did we get roasted for the $250 wallet. Entries were high, but the comments were very Slickdealer-ish: "Who would pay $250 for a wallet?"
Well…not many people. That's why we offered it as a prize.
Your entries, comments, and suggestions help shape what we choose next. Sometimes you love a prize, sometimes you give us a collective "eh," and sometimes a gamble becomes a surprise hit. The "Donate $250 to Your Favorite Charity" giveaway got an especially enthusiastic response, so we'll absolutely do that again.
The April Fool's Day pet rock, however, answers to no one. And I'm quite sure he'll be back someday.
Here's a peek at how we choose them.
We start with one big question
Will members actually want this, and will they be happy when it arrives?
That sounds obvious, but it really is our main goal. A good prize isn't just something with an impressive price tag. It should feel like a genuine win when you open the box.
We look for things that are:
That last category is one of our favorites: the "I would love to have that, but I'd probably never spend the money on it" prize. That's how I felt about the robot window washer. I never even knew that existed until we went prize hunting, and now I desperately want one.
If something looks exciting at first but starts giving us "this may be more trouble than it's worth" energy, it usually doesn't make the cut.
We try not to give away the same type of thing over and over
Even a great prize category can get boring if you see it every week, so we try to spread the love around.
We keep an eye on how recently we've featured different categories, including:
And, of course, we have Gift Card Mondays. Gift cards consistently seem to be some of our most popular prizes. Apparently, members enjoy choosing exactly what they want. Who knew? (Just kidding, we knew, lol.)
Our goal is to keep the overall prize lineup varied so that even if today's prize isn't for you, another one soon will be.
We balance broad appeal with the occasional niche prize
Not everyone has a child to shop for. Not everyone has a patio. And not everyone wants the same things.
A niche prize may interest fewer members overall, but for the right person, it could be the absolute best prize we offer all month. We think there should be room for those kinds of prizes too.
Sometimes the calendar helps us choose
Some prizes are simply, "Hey, this is great, let's give one away."
Others are tied to a particular season, holiday, event, or moment in the community. We may choose prizes for:
Themes give us a chance to get a little more creative and feature prizes we may not normally choose during the rest of the year.
We love checking "What random holiday is today?" and finding prizes to match. Often, I think members don't even realize we gave away a PetSmart gift card for a pet holiday or an ice cream maker on National Ice Cream Day…but we know and it makes us smile anyway lol.
Honestly, we have a lot of fun doing this
Picking prizes is work, but it's also a lot of fun.
We get to browse for interesting things, debate which version or model members would prefer, plan out upcoming categories, and see whether the community gets as excited about something as we did.
Our favorite part is hearing from winners, especially when someone tells us:
That's the whole point. Giveaways should be fun, and we love getting to play a small part in creating those moments.
Want to help us choose a future prize?
If you could pick a Daily Draw prize, what would it be?
Before anyone says "a yacht," we're generally talking about something in the neighborhood of $250.
Share your prize idea with us here! [google.com]
You're also welcome to share your ideas in the comments. emceep and I are always looking for the next "Okay, that's awesome…why didn't we think of that?" suggestion.
We can't promise every suggestion will become a prize, but we really will look through them all. Who knows? You might see your idea show up in a future Daily Draw.
— Autumn & emceep
Looking for the important stuff?
If you came here ready to win prizes and not listen to us ramble about how we choose them, we respect that.
Enter the Slickdeals Daily Draw
Read the Daily Draw FAQ
Do people really win?
Now, for anyone curious about what happens behind the scenes before those prizes appear in the Daily Draw, let's pull back the curtain…
Yes, we really do window-shop for you
Have you ever looked at a Daily Draw prize and thought, "How did Slickdeals land on THAT?"
The eyes behind the prizes belong to us: Autumn and emceep. We do a frankly impressive amount of window-shopping, looking for prizes you'd love to win. We consider value, merchant reputation, usefulness, and any catches that could turn a fun win into a headache (like subscription fees).
And yes, we imagine the comment section. If we can already hear the roasting from our desks, we may reconsider.
Sometimes we choose it anyway. And boy, did we get roasted for the $250 wallet. Entries were high, but the comments were very Slickdealer-ish: "Who would pay $250 for a wallet?"
Well…not many people. That's why we offered it as a prize.
Your entries, comments, and suggestions help shape what we choose next. Sometimes you love a prize, sometimes you give us a collective "eh," and sometimes a gamble becomes a surprise hit. The "Donate $250 to Your Favorite Charity" giveaway got an especially enthusiastic response, so we'll absolutely do that again.
The April Fool's Day pet rock, however, answers to no one. And I'm quite sure he'll be back someday.
Here's a peek at how we choose them.
We start with one big question
Will members actually want this, and will they be happy when it arrives?
That sounds obvious, but it really is our main goal. A good prize isn't just something with an impressive price tag. It should feel like a genuine win when you open the box.
We look for things that are:
- Useful, fun, or ideally both
- Appealing to a wide variety of members
- Easy for the winner to receive and enjoy
- Something you might really want but have a hard time justifying buying for yourself
That last category is one of our favorites: the "I would love to have that, but I'd probably never spend the money on it" prize. That's how I felt about the robot window washer. I never even knew that existed until we went prize hunting, and now I desperately want one.
If something looks exciting at first but starts giving us "this may be more trouble than it's worth" energy, it usually doesn't make the cut.
We try not to give away the same type of thing over and over
Even a great prize category can get boring if you see it every week, so we try to spread the love around.
We keep an eye on how recently we've featured different categories, including:
- Electronics and gaming
- Home and kitchen
- Tools and outdoor items
- Sports, fitness, and personal wellness
- Fashion, accessories, and personal care
- Kids and family
- Seasonal items
And, of course, we have Gift Card Mondays. Gift cards consistently seem to be some of our most popular prizes. Apparently, members enjoy choosing exactly what they want. Who knew?
(Just kidding, we knew, lol.)Our goal is to keep the overall prize lineup varied so that even if today's prize isn't for you, another one soon will be.
We balance broad appeal with the occasional niche prize
Not everyone has a child to shop for. Not everyone has a patio. And not everyone wants the same things.
A niche prize may interest fewer members overall, but for the right person, it could be the absolute best prize we offer all month. We think there should be room for those kinds of prizes too.
Sometimes the calendar helps us choose
Some prizes are simply, "Hey, this is great, let's give one away."
Others are tied to a particular season, holiday, event, or moment in the community. We may choose prizes for:
- Holidays and seasonal activities
- Major shopping events
- Back-to-school season
- Community celebrations
- Popular hobbies or interests
- Something goofy and fun that makes us laugh
Themes give us a chance to get a little more creative and feature prizes we may not normally choose during the rest of the year.
We love checking "What random holiday is today?" and finding prizes to match. Often, I think members don't even realize we gave away a PetSmart gift card for a pet holiday or an ice cream maker on National Ice Cream Day…but we know and it makes us smile anyway lol.
Honestly, we have a lot of fun doing this
Picking prizes is work, but it's also a lot of fun.
We get to browse for interesting things, debate which version or model members would prefer, plan out upcoming categories, and see whether the community gets as excited about something as we did.
Our favorite part is hearing from winners, especially when someone tells us:
|
Quote
:
"This made my day.""I never win anything!" "This came at the perfect time." |
Want to help us choose a future prize?
If you could pick a Daily Draw prize, what would it be?
Before anyone says "a yacht," we're generally talking about something in the neighborhood of $250.
Share your prize idea with us here! [google.com]
You're also welcome to share your ideas in the comments. emceep and I are always looking for the next "Okay, that's awesome…why didn't we think of that?" suggestion.
We can't promise every suggestion will become a prize, but we really will look through them all. Who knows? You might see your idea show up in a future Daily Draw.
—
Autumn & emceepCommunity Notes
About the Poster
Deal Details
Community Notes
About the Poster
The Eyes Behind the Prize: How We Pick Daily Draw Prizes
Looking for the important stuff?
If you came here ready to win prizes and not listen to us ramble about how we choose them, we respect that.
Enter the Slickdeals Daily Draw
Read the Daily Draw FAQ
Do people really win?
Now, for anyone curious about what happens behind the scenes before those prizes appear in the Daily Draw, let's pull back the curtain…
Yes, we really do window-shop for you
Have you ever looked at a Daily Draw prize and thought, "How did Slickdeals land on THAT?"
The eyes behind the prizes belong to us: Autumn and emceep. We do a frankly impressive amount of window-shopping, looking for prizes you'd love to win. We consider value, merchant reputation, usefulness, and any catches that could turn a fun win into a headache (like subscription fees).
And yes, we imagine the comment section. If we can already hear the roasting from our desks, we may reconsider.
Sometimes we choose it anyway. And boy, did we get roasted for the $250 wallet. Entries were high, but the comments were very Slickdealer-ish: "Who would pay $250 for a wallet?"
Well…not many people. That's why we offered it as a prize.
Your entries, comments, and suggestions help shape what we choose next. Sometimes you love a prize, sometimes you give us a collective "eh," and sometimes a gamble becomes a surprise hit. The "Donate $250 to Your Favorite Charity" giveaway got an especially enthusiastic response, so we'll absolutely do that again.
The April Fool's Day pet rock, however, answers to no one. And I'm quite sure he'll be back someday.
Here's a peek at how we choose them.
We start with one big question
Will members actually want this, and will they be happy when it arrives?
That sounds obvious, but it really is our main goal. A good prize isn't just something with an impressive price tag. It should feel like a genuine win when you open the box.
We look for things that are:
That last category is one of our favorites: the "I would love to have that, but I'd probably never spend the money on it" prize. That's how I felt about the robot window washer. I never even knew that existed until we went prize hunting, and now I desperately want one.
If something looks exciting at first but starts giving us "this may be more trouble than it's worth" energy, it usually doesn't make the cut.
We try not to give away the same type of thing over and over
Even a great prize category can get boring if you see it every week, so we try to spread the love around.
We keep an eye on how recently we've featured different categories, including:
And, of course, we have Gift Card Mondays. Gift cards consistently seem to be some of our most popular prizes. Apparently, members enjoy choosing exactly what they want. Who knew? (Just kidding, we knew, lol.)
Our goal is to keep the overall prize lineup varied so that even if today's prize isn't for you, another one soon will be.
We balance broad appeal with the occasional niche prize
Not everyone has a child to shop for. Not everyone has a patio. And not everyone wants the same things.
A niche prize may interest fewer members overall, but for the right person, it could be the absolute best prize we offer all month. We think there should be room for those kinds of prizes too.
Sometimes the calendar helps us choose
Some prizes are simply, "Hey, this is great, let's give one away."
Others are tied to a particular season, holiday, event, or moment in the community. We may choose prizes for:
Themes give us a chance to get a little more creative and feature prizes we may not normally choose during the rest of the year.
We love checking "What random holiday is today?" and finding prizes to match. Often, I think members don't even realize we gave away a PetSmart gift card for a pet holiday or an ice cream maker on National Ice Cream Day…but we know and it makes us smile anyway lol.
Honestly, we have a lot of fun doing this
Picking prizes is work, but it's also a lot of fun.
We get to browse for interesting things, debate which version or model members would prefer, plan out upcoming categories, and see whether the community gets as excited about something as we did.
Our favorite part is hearing from winners, especially when someone tells us:
That's the whole point. Giveaways should be fun, and we love getting to play a small part in creating those moments.
Want to help us choose a future prize?
If you could pick a Daily Draw prize, what would it be?
Before anyone says "a yacht," we're generally talking about something in the neighborhood of $250.
Share your prize idea with us here! [google.com]
You're also welcome to share your ideas in the comments. emceep and I are always looking for the next "Okay, that's awesome…why didn't we think of that?" suggestion.
We can't promise every suggestion will become a prize, but we really will look through them all. Who knows? You might see your idea show up in a future Daily Draw.
— Autumn & emceep
Looking for the important stuff?
If you came here ready to win prizes and not listen to us ramble about how we choose them, we respect that.
Enter the Slickdeals Daily Draw
Read the Daily Draw FAQ
Do people really win?
Now, for anyone curious about what happens behind the scenes before those prizes appear in the Daily Draw, let's pull back the curtain…
Yes, we really do window-shop for you
Have you ever looked at a Daily Draw prize and thought, "How did Slickdeals land on THAT?"
The eyes behind the prizes belong to us: Autumn and emceep. We do a frankly impressive amount of window-shopping, looking for prizes you'd love to win. We consider value, merchant reputation, usefulness, and any catches that could turn a fun win into a headache (like subscription fees).
And yes, we imagine the comment section. If we can already hear the roasting from our desks, we may reconsider.
Sometimes we choose it anyway. And boy, did we get roasted for the $250 wallet. Entries were high, but the comments were very Slickdealer-ish: "Who would pay $250 for a wallet?"
Well…not many people. That's why we offered it as a prize.
Your entries, comments, and suggestions help shape what we choose next. Sometimes you love a prize, sometimes you give us a collective "eh," and sometimes a gamble becomes a surprise hit. The "Donate $250 to Your Favorite Charity" giveaway got an especially enthusiastic response, so we'll absolutely do that again.
The April Fool's Day pet rock, however, answers to no one. And I'm quite sure he'll be back someday.
Here's a peek at how we choose them.
We start with one big question
Will members actually want this, and will they be happy when it arrives?
That sounds obvious, but it really is our main goal. A good prize isn't just something with an impressive price tag. It should feel like a genuine win when you open the box.
We look for things that are:
- Useful, fun, or ideally both
- Appealing to a wide variety of members
- Easy for the winner to receive and enjoy
- Something you might really want but have a hard time justifying buying for yourself
That last category is one of our favorites: the "I would love to have that, but I'd probably never spend the money on it" prize. That's how I felt about the robot window washer. I never even knew that existed until we went prize hunting, and now I desperately want one.
If something looks exciting at first but starts giving us "this may be more trouble than it's worth" energy, it usually doesn't make the cut.
We try not to give away the same type of thing over and over
Even a great prize category can get boring if you see it every week, so we try to spread the love around.
We keep an eye on how recently we've featured different categories, including:
- Electronics and gaming
- Home and kitchen
- Tools and outdoor items
- Sports, fitness, and personal wellness
- Fashion, accessories, and personal care
- Kids and family
- Seasonal items
And, of course, we have Gift Card Mondays. Gift cards consistently seem to be some of our most popular prizes. Apparently, members enjoy choosing exactly what they want. Who knew?
(Just kidding, we knew, lol.)Our goal is to keep the overall prize lineup varied so that even if today's prize isn't for you, another one soon will be.
We balance broad appeal with the occasional niche prize
Not everyone has a child to shop for. Not everyone has a patio. And not everyone wants the same things.
A niche prize may interest fewer members overall, but for the right person, it could be the absolute best prize we offer all month. We think there should be room for those kinds of prizes too.
Sometimes the calendar helps us choose
Some prizes are simply, "Hey, this is great, let's give one away."
Others are tied to a particular season, holiday, event, or moment in the community. We may choose prizes for:
- Holidays and seasonal activities
- Major shopping events
- Back-to-school season
- Community celebrations
- Popular hobbies or interests
- Something goofy and fun that makes us laugh
Themes give us a chance to get a little more creative and feature prizes we may not normally choose during the rest of the year.
We love checking "What random holiday is today?" and finding prizes to match. Often, I think members don't even realize we gave away a PetSmart gift card for a pet holiday or an ice cream maker on National Ice Cream Day…but we know and it makes us smile anyway lol.
Honestly, we have a lot of fun doing this
Picking prizes is work, but it's also a lot of fun.
We get to browse for interesting things, debate which version or model members would prefer, plan out upcoming categories, and see whether the community gets as excited about something as we did.
Our favorite part is hearing from winners, especially when someone tells us:
|
Quote
:
"This made my day.""I never win anything!" "This came at the perfect time." |
Want to help us choose a future prize?
If you could pick a Daily Draw prize, what would it be?
Before anyone says "a yacht," we're generally talking about something in the neighborhood of $250.
Share your prize idea with us here! [google.com]
You're also welcome to share your ideas in the comments. emceep and I are always looking for the next "Okay, that's awesome…why didn't we think of that?" suggestion.
We can't promise every suggestion will become a prize, but we really will look through them all. Who knows? You might see your idea show up in a future Daily Draw.
—
Autumn & emceepCommunity Voting
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Share your experience with the Slickdeals community
Share information with the community. Please follow our Community Guidelines and be kind!