So we learned quite a few things after this years tournament. Luckily most of the participants live in pretty similar lines of latitude and fall under similar seasons (fall/winter). How a vendor labels the item is a HUGE part of how fee's are assessed before delivery and we can only "suggest" they be labeled as a gift. If the shipping agent for whatever vendor fails to do so, we end up liable for those fee's. The second part of that is "Declared Value", a few places have dollar amounts that must be kept below or fee's/taxes are assessed.
1- We tried doing that in small part last year, limiting Cooler Master prizes to USA only because they bulk shipped the items to me, which I then had to distribute out of pocket to all the winners. I dislike holding an event where prizes have to be limited to region based on cost, this is why we are asking how people feel with a $10 entry fee.
2- Tech manufacturers do not issue gift cards that I am aware of. They would also need a proprietary online store to accomplish this. I can reach out to some vendors over the next month and inquire about this as it's actually a good idea.
3- If we do this, it is no longer a "Gift/prize". They should not have to be paid for by the winner. Last year we had Canadian customs asking for higher duty fee's than most of the items were actually worth.
4- Extreme swag is not manufactured by us and still has an associated cost. We wanted a way to give our members gifts for participating in activities that did not incur a cost to members or EHW in any way. That was at least the plan.....