[Fauxreal]

I was on a site where one of the Omni-mods would get on a mule with all the items and take requests as to what people wanted to see. You had to fill out a form and there was a small fee to get a 'Dream Avatar' this way - and all the proceeds went to an item raffle ~ If you had paid for a 'Dream Avatar' you were automatically entered, you could also purchase tickets.

It's extra work but people seemed to like it. It also put more older items newer members thought were impossible to get - into the system.

Just an idea.