HEXBUG Fundraiser for all FIRST teams

[Jason Morrella]

Hey everyone,

Hexbug cases have arrived and are now available, so we wanted to formally announce the Hexbug fundraising program we created to help schools and robotics teams raise the funds they need to compete. To the schools who have already placed orders, you'll be glad to know they are now being processed and should arrive in less than a week. We know funding is frequently the biggest obstacle keeping schools from participating in FIRST and we know how hard fundraising can be. We have received great feedback from schools that have tested this fundraising item and are very excited/hopeful that it may help teams reach their budget goals this year. You can find information about the Hexbug fundraising opportunity at http://www.robotevents.com/fundraising.php

We hope the Hexbug fundraiser is beneficial to those teams in search of creative fundraising opportunities and wish the best for all the teams in FLL, FTC and FRC in the upcoming season. Have a great 2007/2008 year!

Jason

[VanMan]

Are they easy to sell?

[Zyik]

I think the real question is how well can you sell something? A great product won't sell if you can't demonstrate that people should buy it, and a marginal product may sell like hotcakes because of a good sales person.

[DonRotolo]

Although I have not known hotcakes to sell particularly well, one good sales technique that will work with this particular product is demonstrations. Get some of the popular kids to take one into the cafeteria at lunchtime, and let the Hexbug or three walk on a few tables. Repeat this several times.

The idea is to create a 'buzz' - no, not the kind a hexbug makes, or a cola buzz, or..., but get people talking about them.

Webkinz created a buzz for itself, and retailers still can't keep them on the shelf. The Disney folks have created a buzz with High School Musical 2, and any merchandise with that brand is, again, flying off the shelf. Pokemon cards were all the rage, with their slogan 'gotta get them all'.


Demonstrate, and people will want one. Once they have one, convince them they need all five. Sell five over the course of 2 weeks, times only 24 kids, and you've earned $600.

Target the holiday gift market, parents of somewhat younger kids (7th graders for example), other students...maybe even make a deal with a local (non-chain) toy store, to support the team (and they get to earn some profit too).

[Schnabel]

I'm just wondering, what if you sold a case of these, and then when the customer picks it up there is a gold bug inside. Then what do you do?

[Chuck Glick]

Originally Posted by Schnabel

I'm just wondering, what if you sold a case of these, and then when the customer picks it up there is a gold bug inside. Then what do you do?

You snap a pic of yourself with the gold one...thats all thats needed for the 5k prize...

Anyways I know our club ordered a bunch to sell. Great idea for fund raising. (one teacher bought one from radioshack already though )

-Chuck

[basicxman]

whats all this about a 5K prize?

[EricH]

Originally Posted by basicxman

whats all this about a 5K prize?

6K, actually. See the following thread.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=56960

The basics: Find a gold (not yellow) HexBug and get a picture with it and a team shirt. Tell the right person. Get money. The catch? Only one gold bug and it could be at any RadioShack (or have been sold already).

[Jeff K.]

These are practically selling themselves. We bought one box, and by the end of our meeting, we sold nearly all of them. 300 more are already on their way. Evan and I are selling these (with help from everyone on our team and our ms teams) as part of a Business Economics semester project, capital from team, and all profits going back to the team.

We brought one to show the class and they loved it, definitely makes a good stocking stuffer for Christmas!

[Chief Pride]

okm so what exactly do they DO??

[Brandon Martus]

Originally Posted by zinefer

okm so what exactly do they DO??

There's a video of them in action here: http://www.hexbug.com/products.html
And also here: http://www.robotevents.com/fundraising.php (upper right corner .. click the Play button).

[Chief Pride]

oh alright, thanks brandon!

[team222badbrad]

Originally Posted by zinefer

okm so what exactly do they DO??

I read your post and said to myself, why not make my own HEXBUG video?

So I did and here is Charlie:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=rLYwWMk7C8o

I picked him up exactly one week ago at Radio Shack

[aksimhal]

Hi,

Does anyone have a brochure/flyer for selling the HexBugs? Also, what are the most efficient methods of selling HexBugs?

Thanks ,

[gburlison]

So I picked up a HEXBUG at Radio Shack to show off to the team. We are considering this as a fundraiser. I have demoed it for our team and many of my friends. Now the batteries are getting weak and I am having a hard time finding some new ones.
Does anyone now of a good source for coin/watch batteries?
If we sell these we are also considering selling replacement batteries since they seem hard to find locally. My HEXBUG had an L1142 battery which cross references to 386, SR43, G12, and R43W among others.

I finally found some in the jewelry dept at WalMart and paid $3.77 each, hopefully we can find them cheaper somewhere else.