Belated anniversary contest

As promised last month, it's time for this blog's belated seventh anniversary contest.

Some (or none) may recall that the reason for the delay in running this was because the winner was going to get X amount of dollars to use on COMC during their sitewide Black Friday sales, which, in the last few years have started in early November (I don't know when they start this year though), so I didn't want the winner to have to wait for over a month to start shopping; like they would've had I run it back during the middle of September when the actual anniversary took place.

Did you notice there how I said "the winner was going to get", well, things have changed a bit, and for the better I believe. 

So, what's the winner gonna get?: The original prize was going to be a $25 spending spree on COMC during the fast approaching Black Friday sales, which is still an option, but if the winner doesn't want that, they'll now have a few other options in the form of $25 spending spree on either the Baseball Card Store, eBay, or Sportlots. And what's more, you'll be able to mix and match if you want. So, in theory, it would be possible to get things from all four sites, juts as long as the total doesn't exceed $25 (it's okay if you go a tad over though, $25.09 won't break me).

A few things to consider: 

1. Anything chosen from COMC must be done by Monday Nov. 31st 30th, because that's when I'll be requesting my shipment, which is what your item(s) to need to be in. Also, remember too that a lot of other people will be requesting shipments when I do, so it'll probably take a few weeks for my package to get here, and then at least another week before I can get your items to you. And even though there will be plenty of deals to be had during the month, they'll still be plenty of bad ones too. I can appreciate it if someone still needs a 1988 Topps Mike Greenwell to complete their set, but I'd prefer not to buy the $5 copy that's probably on the site as I type. I'd also prefer it if no one would choose anything from sellers gregmo32 or spinberry (I think that's their names), as they're two of the more egregious flippers on the site, and I don't like rewarding bad behavior.

2. If an eBay item is wanted (it doesn't have to be card related), the shipping price will count as part of the $25. And the only seller I'd prefer not to buy from on there is Burbank Sportscards; I don't like the way they conduct business. I suppose too if someone wanted the whole $25 from eBay, I'd probably get a gift card and either send the card itself, or just the code (winner can decide), that way whoever could just use it whenever they wanted.

3. If items from the Baseball Card Store are chosen, the shipping price will count as part of the $25. The good news is though that I can probably ask the folks that run the site to ship any cards directly to the winner.

4. If items from Sportlots are wanted, the shipping price will count as part of the $25. I'm currently sending most of my purchases to a box there, and will probably continue to do so through November, so if you were to find a seller who offers a big discount (possibly even free) to ship to the box, obviously that would leave you with more money to spend.

Who's eligible to enter?: People who are following at least one of my three blogs, or who have commented on at least one of the three blogs in the last 60 days are all eligible to enter. I mentioned a couple of months ago, but those will be the requirements to participate in any of my contests or free stuff posts going forward. And the Free Stuff Friday's will be retuning next year (on a different day and under a different name), so it might be worth keeping these in mind when that comes back around.

[additional note: I might wave the requirements for certain long-time blog supporters who I still speak with occasionally via email or Twitter DM's who no longer have an account with Blogger/Google]

[additional note #2: This isn't a U.S. only contest, so everyone can participate, no matter where you live]

The rest... I think I've covered just about everything. I'll leave this open until next Sunday, so I guess I'll just say that you need to be entered by 10am (CST) next Sunday to be eligible. I'll randomize the names seven times shortly after the contest closes and then get a quick post up announcing the winner. With the blogs being a bit down again, and me not promoting this post on Twitter (or anywhere else), I'm not expecting a lot of entrants, so anyone who does get in probably has a fairly decent chance of winning.

I guess that's it. Hopefully all of that made some sense.