The answer is a resounding yes. There's one extremely well known award that essentially serves as a system where you pay the money, you will get an award. They have hundreds of possible awards to give out. It's virtually guaranteed that when you pay their "submission" fee, that you will receive a "Best of" award of some sort.
Thinking that may be the only one who does it this way, I did a quick search, and found another award program, and looked at their application process. When you pay $500 "application fee' (non refundable), you will automatically receive 100 award stickers, and award certificate, media release, social media, inclusion on their online store, and more.
That's not all, there's an even better deal. If you pay $1,500 "application fee" per item, you get all that's mentioned above, plus a strong media campaign as well; that includes "personalized endorsement" from their CEO.
I do want to reiterate. You receive all of this, simply by applying and paying. There has been however, one award that I have had the utmost respect for.
That is the Oppenheim Award. It's the one award that I know of, that focuses first and foremost on the quality of the product.
Here's what Oppenheim Toy says about their process:
"Unlike most other groups that rate products, we do not charge entry fees from manufacturers. When consumers see our award seals on products, they can be assured that they are "award winning" because they were selected by a noted expert in child development, children's literature, and education, and further tested by the most objective panel of judges-kids."
When featuring award winning products in your store, be sure to also educate your customers. Steer them toward awards that are given with integrity and not just given because someone paid their submission fee.
