THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Builder Uses Facebook Group To Raffle Radical Limo Cart

Social media platforms like Facebook and others are an extremely popular way to reach people, whether for personal or business purposes. Facebook Groups are also quite prevalent tin the golf cart world, with hundreds of Group Pages set up solely for the use and pleasure of carting enthusiasts.

Eric Shadoan is a cart builder in Sumter, South Carolina, who recently completed his first custom project, a stunning, limo-style cart that turned out as a beautiful example of his work.

“Originally, I built it to use in the Halloween Parade at Ocean Lakes in Myrtle Beach, a huge campground and resort on the ocean where the majority of people get around in golf carts,” Shadoan says. “My initial thought was to enjoy it for a while, using it personally and taking it to events like car shows and things like that. But then when I decided to sell it, I decided to try something different than just listing it for sale somewhere.”

That’s when he got the idea to create a Facebook Group

Page called Golf Cart Giveaway. The Group now has just under 900 members and turned out to be the perfect audience for doing a raffle to auction off the custom cart. “I wanted to make it so the average person without a lot of money could still end up with a custom $15,000.00 cart, so I started selling 200 spots for $100.00 each to enter the raffle,” Shadoan said. He also held “mini raffles” for $50.00 per spot. “This was to allow anyone with just $50.00 to get a chance to enter the main raffle, and the response was awesome,” he said. “My goal was to get my money back from the cart build and maybe start another one. There were people who bought 10 tickets at $100.00 each, but I wanted to make it affordable to more entrants.” He used a random number generator to select the $50.00 winners who then advanced to the main raffle.

Shadoan was meticulous in the way he set up the raffle process and record keeping to be sure there were no issues with Facebook’s rules and regulations. “I kept meticulous track of every single raffle entry in the event something went wrong, I could contact the entrants and return their money, but thankfully that wasn’t necessary.” He also had to set up PayPal, Venmo and other online payment methods to keep everything running smoothly.

Shadoan valued his state-of-the-art custom cart at $15,000.00 and set up the raffle so there would be multiple winners. His goal was $20,000 in total ticket sales, with 1st Place receiving the cart, 2nd Place receiving $3,000.00 and 3rd Place getting $2,000.00.

Shadoan’s efforts to raffle off his cart got a lot of attention via his Facebook Group Page. The people at Big Bad Carts, with operations in Texas and Florida, reached out to him and asked him to organize and run their raffle for a Navitas chassis with 100 spots at $50.00 each. “We just started selling spots and as of late March 2023 we only have 18 spots left,” he says.

This stunning custom limo cart was won by Mario Sobers who lives in the Dallas, Texas, area. He bought in on a $50.00 mini raffle ticket. “It was the exact same cart I messaged Eric about 1 year prior, asking him to sell it to me but he wasn’t ready to part ways with it yet,” says Sobers. “By that time I had already purchased another golf cart, so when my neighbor, Lee, tagged me in the post I didn’t want to spend $100 as I didn’t need a second cart. A couple of weeks later Lee tags me again in the mini raffle, and he won 3 spots and I won 1,” Sobers said.

When asked how he came up with the winning number, he said it was a pretty simple process. “I was hanging out with my 9-year old and asked her to pick a number, and she picked the number 205. I said that’s a high number, but she didn’t want to change it, and it turns out Eric pulled 205 as the final prize for the golf cart. The cart was delivered in 3 days, and it was the best $50 I’ve ever spent. We’re really looking forward to this summer to use it even more, it really is an amazing vehicle.”

While he did use a very transparent method in setting up and tracking entries to the cart raffle, Shadoan enlisted some old school style in the process. “I bought a bunch of poker chips and put every entry number on them, then while on Facebook Live I pulled the winners out of a purple Crown Royal bag,” he says. “Sometimes, the simpler way is the best way.”

To read the complete story on Eric’s custom build and all the people and companies that helped him, complete specs and products used, click here: https://issuu.com/golfcarting/ docs/issue_21_feb_2022_issuu/18

OWNER: Steve Ashby from Sarasota Florida YEAR/MAKE/MODEL: 1996 Club Car DS

STEVE, CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THIS CUSTOM BUILD?

Started life as a 1996 DS that I paid $300. Stripped it down to the frame. Had the frame sand blasted and powder coated Plum crazy purple. All parts are new except for the steering column and a he brake and accelerator pedals. Took a year to build. Custom Coat bright purple bed liner sprayed on body. Powered by an allied lithium battery pack. The cart is powered by a Navitas 5kw ac motor and controller.

ANY CUSTOM FABRICATION OR CUSTOM MADE PARTS?

Diamond plate battery trays and mounting plates for controller, battery charger, and inverter. Custome fabricated dash and covered it with marine vinyl.

WHAT AFTERMARKET PARTS DID YOU USE?

Allied lithium 105ah 51 volt battery, Navitas 5kw ac motor and controller. A Jakes 6” lift kit, Pro FX rear seat kit, Motofar steering wheel, Boss marine Bluetooth receiver, Boss LED speakers, Happy Yacht KT EVA boat decking, golf carts and supplies custom diamond stitch seat covers and arm rests. Nokins deluxe LED light kit, Auxbeam 8 gang switch panel, Nilight under glow, 205/30x14 Modz rims and tires, Red Dot topsail canvas 84” canvas top. MZS X3 side mirrors,

GIVE US SOME BACKGROUND ABOUT YOU

This is my second cart rebuild, this all started because we bought an RV and started camping. We got tired of renting golf carts and wanted our own. I love the idea of bringing something old back to life and giving it another chance.

WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE PLANS FOR YOU?

I’m hooked looking for my next build and planning it.

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU'D LIKE TO ADD?

Thank you to Allied Lithium for doing a free battery give away on the Extreme Golf Carting Facebook group!