What's the best practice for group giveaways that are about to end with less than 5 entries?

…make GAs that a lot of people want in the group?
Make GAs with enough groups added that the potential user base greatly exceeds the possibility of hitting 5+ even with 0.1% admission?

Seriously, if you want to give a game to such a small group, just use random.org and send them the game. A lottery with 5 people isn't really a lottery.

The other I saw was people using the barter.vg wishlist database and sending GA links through Steam chat or here with very old GAs that only the creator will see in the message alert.

I doubt that there is any better way to handle this.

In fact, I face this problem only in my touhou group, but there I can just lower touhou value and people will join :3.

I'd say check how many people in the group don't have the game with this tool and also check how many of those have it in their wishlist. If the number is less than 5, I'd suggest including another group or even your whitelist.

Just let the giveaway end. As long as at least on person has entered I don't really see a big deal about it.

Dan Quayle? Did I travel back to 1990 or something?

Just let it end, and know that you are simply giving for the sake of giving and that every person in that giveaway has a pretty good chance of winning a game they are truly interested in.

There's a small group with about 200 members that I am in and the people there usually only enter for games they actually want to play. Probably more than half the giveaways end without 5 or more entries, but people still give because they care more about sharing the joy of gaming with others rather than maximizing CV returns on investment.

Took the knock when it happened to me. Not getting the CV isn't that bad.

let it end, it's only fair for the people that entered.

same applies to puzzle giveaways. i've seen some people posting their GAs on the forums to reach 5 entries.
absolutely disrespectful to users that solved the puzzle.

Let it end, of course. People join multiple groups, and sometimes your GA is not well-noticed. Maybe people don't have them, but due to the clutter of their "group giveaway" tab your giveaway is not spotted. Maybe you are giving out bundled games, and bundled games given to small group of people tend to disappear, fast.

While I don't care too much about CV any more, I understand that others do, and that's perfectly cool. I have seen people post things like, "I will delete giveaway if entries < 5."

I don't think there's anything wrong with making clear that you'd like credit for your giveaways. A little CV in exchange for your money spent seems like a fair request.

Hmm, for a giveaway that's still running, I wouldn't worry about it. Life's too short... :)

I know there used to be a website to tally Steam group wishlists and who didn't own a game, but the last time I checked it wasn't working. :( If you find a tool like that, it's worth a try... :) Of course it won't tell you who will actually enter a giveaway, but it's better than nothing. :)

Also, group ratio rules might prevent people who would otherwise want your game from entering the giveaway. Don't know if it was for that sort of group, though...

Once upon a time I made a Dark Souls 2 puzzle giveaway, but only one person solved it... Should I have given out hints just to get the precious CV? Or not worry about it, and let that one clever person enjoy his game... :)

I use an empty subgroup as a buffer- haven't had to use it yet.

Or rather, could have used it once, but I fell asleep once without inviting people to it- ha.
I sent the GA to the single entrant.

Even as counter-intuitive as the <5 entry no-CV rule is (versus forcing an automatic cancellation of the GA), I think the CV doesn't matter after a certain point, with the right groups:

I'm sure it'll still aggravate a lot of people, of course, which leads be back to 'not sure if there's a reason it goes to no-CV instead of automatic-cancellation'.

I haven't thought about that too much, to be honest.
But I have to admit I deleted one single giveaway that had 2 entries after 24 hours (10 minutes before it would have ended) in a ~120 user group, after that I only created "bigger" games for groups or included multiple groups / wishlist (if it's allowed in all of the groups) and gave out bundle leftovers to the big public :)

Hmm, I don't know! Whatever your easy with, I suppose.

If it's a non-ratio group or no set number of required giveaways and everything is purely voluntary then I don't really see the harm. If I was entered already and you did it to increase the entries it's not something I'd be bothered about. The way I'd see it is that you're giving a free game away so it's your call as to how you want to give it.

This isn't something I've ever thought about or even really encountered before in my own giveaways. The only groups where I regularly am in danger of not hitting 5 entries are closed shops anyway as far as inviting others in would be. One is a non-bundled ratio group so I get my group ratio points anyway as long as 1 or more people enter. The other is a bundle group and it's only bundle games so I don't care.

Why is there a rule like that ?

Why didn't you include the extra group option in the poll? I'd say that's a neat idea.

I already have the game but Thanks ^^
Heres a Free BUMP!

View attached image.

Bump is here

Generally speaking, I check the group's wishlist before I consider creating the giveaway. I like to give what people want to receive.

Well I post the GA link on the Group's Steam group, if that doesn't help then I might ask members directly if they are willing to join please, fortunately I've been lucky enough to give games that +5 people have always wanted!

Also give at least 4-5 days since not everyone can check SG or Steam frequently. And worst case scenario, I voted to lose the CV, in the end it will be a hit to your ego but at core we should give gifts to make others happy, not to level up, but I know it's easier said than done ;]

I delete,
try to open in the same group but give 1 week of time to enter,
try advise who doesnt have the game to enter in the giveaway
and advise in the facebook/steam group that you need the 5 entries

and always check the number of people doesnt have the game ( http://swl.mabako.net/!/check ) before buy it

Lose CV and give great chances to the people who joined, at the end who cares about cv?

I kinda stopped caring about CV ages ago ... not like bundle games give much of it :D

Quick question: If a giveaway gives away multiple copies of the same game, is the requirement still just 5 entries or does it need the number of games multiplied by 5? Like, for example, a giveaway that gives away 5 copies and it so happens to have 5 entries, how will that count to the CV?