Simple solution to ticket problems

[fireeater]

Burning Man orgianizers cliam it takes $212 per person to make the event happen. If this is true then why don't they make all tickets like $220. Then there would be no fighting for the cheep ones. Are they really under the illusion that the people who need cheep ticket are the ones getting them. I'm currently unempolyed, and tired for 2 hours to get my ticket yeaterday(with no success),before i had to leave for a job interviwe.By the time I got home to try agien they were gone.

If there was one pirce, even if it was a little higher, anyone how wanted to go bad enough would still save the money to go.

Just my thoughts,and perhaps a little venting too.

[rumajo]

I am seriously unhappy that all the $175 tix were gone in the first day. How many of those went to Canadians who have to pay not only exchange but extra shipping fees plus huge travel costs for a 28 hour drive?
Plus getting screwed by Paypal for being $3 short in my account then having to pay the $200 price USD really made this years experience a problem.
At least the tix are confirmed now!! And can get back to work with a smile, but having to devote 4 hours to this instead of 20 minutes has been a hassle.

[GuinivereElise]

Okay, I'm done being the nice one. Fuckit. Please excuse while i transfrom into:

ICICLE BITCH.

We're not that different, you (that's a collective you) and I:

I hopped online right when tickets went onsale. I experienced the same frustrations, the same time--outs, blank-screened, frozen-screened, paypal confused, oh-my-god-I'm-just-trying-to-give-you-money-that-I-don't-really-have-to-spend-in-the-first-place headaches that everyone else went through. I did. I was patient. I kept at it. i got my ticket. I had more headaches about getting confirmation. But I was patient. I struggled through it.

Excuse me for being blunt, but is there a reason that your struggles are more important than the rest of ours?

You think ticket prices should be 220? Good. I expect then that you paid the 225 for yours. Your extra $13 dollars will help to offset someone who paid for the lesser ticket price WITH THEIR BILL MONEY. you know, someone who left their loan payments unpaid to make sure that they have a ticket to go to the one place that they consider Home.

Upset about the extra hassles for Canadians? Do you think it would be any different if the event were held IN Canada for those people in the States? Things like international shipping are a bit beyond the scope of things to bitch about on this board, frankly. Talk to the USPS.

Seriously. At first, all the confusion and whining were humorous... we were all in the same boat, for christ's sake. That's exactly why a lot of the freeze-ups were happening: we were ALL THERE AT ONCE. We knew this would happen. It happened last year. I think that we need to continue to LEARN from history, and to expect this very thing.

But now, well, you claim to have 'simple solutions'. Until I see you working on the same team that puts this whole thing together--something that I know I certainly couldn't do--I have to take issue with your 'simple solutions'. Put up or shut up.

Icicle Bitch, Over and out.

[zorro sings]

OK 10,000"cheap tickets"sell in less time than 2,500 did last year.Granted the time was more favorable for purchase but.........What is happening is pretty obvious.Everyone knows that these same tickets will routinely bring $225-250 come June,July and August.One look on Ebay last year demonstrated the slam dunk profit of buying Buring Man tickets low and selling later.The introduction of Paypal(last year) to the mix only made this investment strategy easier.There is nothing to stop someone from generating multiple Paypal accounts.You can have one for every credit card and email address you can provide.Nothing to stop people from enlisting their friends and relatives to buy on their behalf.If you were able to buy only 20 tickets you are almost certain make $1,000.
There may have been a time when this tier pricing made some sense but believe that time is past.This system is nonsense.One price for all until the last few weeks.

[sparkletarte]

At least 2 tickets went to Canadians. That would be me and my honey pie. And our dollar is doing much better than it was last year, so it's like a bonus, I think. How many went to Europeans, Australians, Kiwis, Africans, Russians, Mongolians, Antarticans, Martians...er...what was I saying?

It took me about 6 tries. It went way easier than I thought it would. I'm very surprised they are all gone already.

[sparkletarte]

I think it's a good system. To prevent scalping, just don't buy tickets priced higher than what is printed on them. Simple. I bought the cheapest ones last year in June. Easy.

If this method gets people all riled up right now, what on earth are you going to do when you're out on the playa and the wind knocks over your shade structure? Or you get a flat tire? Or you forget half your food? Or your neighbour's gennie runs at all hours? Or it rains? Or...???

[fireeater]

Okay, I'm done being the nice one. Fuckit. Please excuse while i transfrom into:

ICICLE BITCH.


Excuse me for being blunt, but is there a reason that your struggles are more important than the rest of ours?

You think ticket prices should be 220? Good. I expect then that you paid the 225 for yours. Your extra $13 dollars will help to offset someone who paid for the lesser ticket price WITH THEIR BILL MONEY. you know, someone who left their loan payments unpaid to make sure that they have a ticket to go to the one place that they consider Home.



Icicle Bitch, Over and out.

I'm not saying my struggle is any more important. I'm trying to say why do we have to struggle at all.

I did pay more for my tickets and it did come out of my rent/bill paying money, just the same as you. And if there was just one price, I would bet, like me you would pay just about anything to get HOME.

[GuinivereElise]

Okay, I'm done being the nice one. Fuckit. Please excuse while i transfrom into:

ICICLE BITCH.


Excuse me for being blunt, but is there a reason that your struggles are more important than the rest of ours?

You think ticket prices should be 220? Good. I expect then that you paid the 225 for yours. Your extra $13 dollars will help to offset someone who paid for the lesser ticket price WITH THEIR BILL MONEY. you know, someone who left their loan payments unpaid to make sure that they have a ticket to go to the one place that they consider Home.



Icicle Bitch, Over and out.

I'm not saying my struggle is any more important. I'm trying to say why do we have to struggle at all.

I did pay more for my tickets and it did come out of my rent/bill paying money, just the same as you. And if there was just one price, I would bet, like me you would pay just about anything to get HOME.

perhaps you misunderstood. I wasn't griping about MY money for MY ticket: just wish you would look at it from a different perspective.

[fireeater]

Okay, I'm done being the nice one. Fuckit. Please excuse while i transfrom into:

ICICLE BITCH.


Excuse me for being blunt, but is there a reason that your struggles are more important than the rest of ours?

You think ticket prices should be 220? Good. I expect then that you paid the 225 for yours. Your extra $13 dollars will help to offset someone who paid for the lesser ticket price WITH THEIR BILL MONEY. you know, someone who left their loan payments unpaid to make sure that they have a ticket to go to the one place that they consider Home.



Icicle Bitch, Over and out.

I'm not saying my struggle is any more important. I'm trying to say why do we have to struggle at all.

I did pay more for my tickets and it did come out of my rent/bill paying money, just the same as you. And if there was just one price, I would bet, like me you would pay just about anything to get HOME.

perhaps you misunderstood. I wasn't griping about MY money for MY ticket: just wish you would look at it from a different perspective.

I thought I was looking at it from a different perspective. One that involed much less hassal and headache all around.

[GuinivereElise]

I feel like I'm talking to a brick wall, and, frankly, my energy is best directed elsewhere.

Icicle Bitch out.

[fireeater]

the feeling is mutual

[Rian Jackson]

ooh, can ya picture it?

'i'm so mad. there's more WIND on my side of the playa. why didn't the org make it EVEN WIND all over?'

excuse me while i go chuckle at all the possibilities.

fireater, the reasons for the tier system are spelled out quite clearly by the org. go read them. and they're right - if you want it to be different, you sure as hell had better do some work to make it so.

[fireeater]

I think i have been very misunderstood. I'm not mad at the org. or even that i had to pay more for a ticket than I could really afford. I was only suggesting a way we all could avoid the mad rush to get a cheeper ticket.

I understand the reason for the ticketing tier system. I however don't really think it works. They say the lower priced ticktes are ment to be for the poeple who need them. I'm out of work right now, and my finaces are very tight. I could have really used a lower priced ticket, but was unable to get one. I find that the poeple I know that go to BM don't set out to buy a $250 ticket, (even if they can afford it, and some can) they only buy a higher prcied ticket after all the others are gone. I know that not everyone is like that, but hell we all want a deal right.

[Rian Jackson]

that said, i know more people who wait on tickets - because they can - than snap up the cheaper ones even when they can afford the pricey ones.

no, it isn't perfect.. and i don't like the cost either. but there ARE many people (see badger) who stick to the plan.

it's somethin, isn't it?

[theCryptofishist]

I think i have been very misunderstood.

FYI
One of the great ways to rile eplaya is to very grandly attempt to reinvent the wheel. Especially when you start a brand new thread on your very first post.



That troll alarm is highly sensative.

[GuinivereElise]

I think i have been very misunderstood.

FYI
One of the great ways to rile eplaya is to very grandly attempt to reinvent the wheel. Especially when you start a brand new thread on your very first post.



That troll alarm is highly sensative.

((((((SMOOOOOTCH!!)))))))))

I adore you fishy.

[stuart]

hey, I can afford more pricey tickets but that's not why I wait. I wait because it's gonna be a cluster fuck the first couple of days and there is enough stress in this world already. I wait because I have better things to do with my time than get all twisted about my sense of entitlement.

[sparkletarte]

fireeater, at the risk of...well...whatever. You could also say that people who are low income are less likely to have internet access so the org shouldn't offer the cheapest ones only over the internet.

[sparkletarte]

I thought you were waiting because you're being a wuss about going. Mutha fucka.

[stuart]

well, there is that

mutha fucka

[gigglesnort]

Well, I spose I could tell me sad, sad story. I am a single mom with three children. I get some family support, I live (mostly) humbly, and usually I work very, very hard to support my family.

I kinda hit a stress overload and took a break here in the last coupla weeks or so, so I'm really really strapped right now, like really.

I was waffling about rushing to get a cheaper ticket with the rest of hte masses using (very literally) my bill money, saw the mayhem, and waffled a bit more. Today I plunged and spent the extra $25 smackers on a ticket (!)

I figured I can't afford $175, so what the fuck! I can't afford $200, either.

Whatever! I'm in!!!

[actiongrl]

If every ticket was the same price, everyone would buy them the week before they left, and there would be no money to build the event...unless you want to give us a seven million dollar loan that we can pay back when all that revenue comes in in August, we need money early in the year to start planning the event so you have a Home to come to. We've tried to make it as egalitarian as possible -- even the poorest among us can walk into the library for free and access the internet...

Trivia: we learned this tiered ticket structure from the Grateful Dead, if you can believe that.

[GuinivereElise]

Thanks AG! You rawk, probably in more ways than I'll ever know...

step into the bar, and I'll set you up with a drink or twelve..;

[gigglesnort]

A round of applause please for the ticket support folks! YAY! You helped me in such a friendly and efficient manner when I was too excited to remember my address, adn the website couldn't remember my confirmation number! Whew. what if hte ticket had gone to the wrong house.....*shudder*

[Karma]

SparkleTarts reply was GREAT !!

Having said that, I get that alot of ppl have pretty tight budgets during much of the year. But if you really look at the ticket prices, theres only a $75 difference between the lowest ticket level and the highest one available up to the event (not counting gate prices obviously).
And you have 8 months to make up the difference.

With all the expense that the average person puts in just to GET to the Playa, it just does'nt seem like that big of an extra outlay if you dont get the cheapest ones.

And to let yourself get wound up right out of the gate about it, well thats not the mentality to have when you think about BM, right ?

So here's what everyone who did'nt get a $175 or even $200 ticket should do.
Take the $175 you had and put it in a Sparkletts bottle. Then once a week, drop $2.50 in there with it. Thats it ! Just $2.50. Come August, you've got it covered.
Piece of cake.

Probably over simplistic, but true.

[echoecho]

Trivia: we learned this tiered ticket structure from the Grateful Dead, if you can believe that.

How did the Grateful Dead structure their ticket prices?

[creoleflame]

I think i have been very misunderstood.

FYI
One of the great ways to rile eplaya is to very grandly attempt to reinvent the wheel. Especially when you start a brand new thread on your very first post.



That troll alarm is highly sensative.

i don't think that you were misunderstood. you said exactly what you wanted to say, and you have that right. perhaps you were not prepared for the responses... , especially when they do not follow your line of reasoning.

i agree with not reinventing the wheel..., and i also believe the wheel is not the only contribution to travel that will get you from where you are to where you want to be.

burning man isn't going anywhere, so save a dollar a day for a year and prepare for your ticket, regardless of cost. it's not just about the seven days, is it?