Couponing

[junglesmacks]

I've seen, much, much, MUCH more dead horses be beat to such a bloody pulp that there was fibery bits of gristle and hoof left on the eplaya walls.

Let's not forget this gem: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=45068

That was a good thread. Didn't we come to the conclusion that the person was a sock?

No, just that the person was clueless and not listening to anyone anyway regardless of how many people wrote essays saying the same damn thing over and over. For 5 pages.

[tattoogoddess]

My personal feelings are that unless it directly deals with the event or items to be used at the event, it's commerce. The deal Doc gets for people at the Sands is one of those done for Burners, he doesn't profit from it & doesn't have a connection with the Sands (other than as a customer); I think it passes the "commerce test". The coupon thread is nice for bargain hunting, but doesn't really have any direct connection with the Burn, I'm one of those who counts it as commerce (well meaning, but still commerce)

But the problem is, it did!

The coupon I posted and freebies where all stuff that people have said they use out on the playa- Such as protein bars and free enegery bars. I aksed people to post food coupons for things like pop tarts and other stuff that is used out on the playa. Nothing was said about post your fav frozen food coupon. It was labeled couponing to save money on food for burning man or something along those lines. I wanted only coupons for things that could be used on the playa that we all use there. Please look at the post if it is not totally gone.
I do not have any connections with the site or with the manufacturer, nor do I profit from this.

So honestly how is it different?

Also if you think about it im not persuading people to go out and buy something to. Most of us buy this stuff regardless why not get a deal and do some "winning" so that way you have more money to bring gifts out to the playa. So it's not "Spam" if you buy it anyways from before you got the "spamming"

PS. I started a thread about where to get cheap booze... people have posted links to pages to buy cheap booze... how is that one any diff other then no coupons? People posted links there and on the coupon thread.

[jcliff]

I appreciate the intent of the couponing post (although I wouldn't use it.) I also appreciate the mods need to call it as they see it. I also also appreciate the wee bit of commerce there is on eplaya....and I've used the information frequently (the best shoes, water paks, etc.) The thing I hate the most about the BM Facebook page is the outright sell-fest that it's become. The amount of selling on that page (even from "Burner-oriented" sites) really bothers me. I appreciate the mods on eplaya keeping a check on it here.

[Eric]

TG- we are part of the BMan LLC and they have a no-commerce policy, but have let referrals for items to be used at Burning Man slide. It's a gray area, as we've explained, but we try to be fair.

To use your example- the cheap-booze thread directly effects theme camps on the playa; bar-camps give away thousands of dollars of alcohol every Burn to other Burners. Being able to save money on something that is being directly used for the community has a direct benefit for a large part of the community (please read the full post before saying everyone needs food).

Most people don't need to stock up on 40-80-100 bottles of vodka for daily life (there are exceptions), but energy bars and pop-tarts a year out from the event feels just like... commerce, even though you're not making money from it. The Coupon thread might have been treated differently if it was started in June or July when people are stocking up on food items to bring to the playa with them, but in Oct it's seems that most of the items wouldn't be going there. That last sentence pretty much explains why I'm one of the Mods who voted against it.

We're honestly not picking on your couponing thread, we're just forced to choose where the line is. Yes, you can find a million exceptions when things are in a gray area and you'll find there are generally reasons they were exceptions (like the alcohol thread, or the one's with people asking for recommendations for camping gear, belts, lights...)- the basic one is that they are items directly related to the Burn.

Again, we really aren't trying to pick on you, and you're not the only person to get a PM from a Mod about something. I've been on the forum for about 8 years & only a Mod for a little over a month- I received PM's from a long ago former Mod about some of my posts (way back when) as well. Lots of people have- it's a polite way to keep things running smoothly without making anyone look bad.

If anyone feels something is commerce, just flag it with that little triangle in the top right corner of every post and a Mod will look at it.

I've done this as a public post & not as a PM specifically to try to help people understand where at least I am coming from on commerce.

[tattoogoddess]

Most people don't need to stock up on 40-80-100 bottles of vodka for daily life (there are exceptions)

LMAO!! I never thought I would hear that EVER in my life!

Ok fair enough. I guess If they want to email me and keep it off the board.

[Drawingablank]

Our camp's appetites on the playa was so nearly non existant that if I had couponed all the food - I probably would have saved a whopping 1.29 or something equally insignificant (compared to the cost of attending).

That would buy 2 1/2 ciggarettes here lol.

While couponing is a good idea for your weekly groceries, it probably won't make a huge dent in your food bill for the playa.