What do you think about selling "schwag?"

[theCryptofishist]

Would I be allowed to provide tours of Terminal City for Schwag?

It is well known that many of the citizens are at times...(how do I put this subtlely?)...corrupt. What schwag are we talking about and how much?

[RedHeaven]

Buying BMan schwag is like buying a crystal or rock for yourself. Whats the point other than to appear cool to others? And who cares about that after high school? I need to be given a rock or crystal or FIND one myself or it just doesnt feel right.

And politically, its all sorts of wrong.

[lazerfox]

Would I be allowed to provide tours of Terminal City for Schwag?

It is well known that many of the citizens are at times...(how do I put this subtlely?)...corrupt. What schwag are we talking about and how much?

I guess that would depend on the type of tour

[curiousgnate]

I love my schwag, especially the necklace Savannah made for me! I wore it to a burner party yesterday, and everyone loved it. stickers go on my car, patches on my boy scout shirt.

[Savannah]

Yaaaaaaaaaay. I love you N8.

Remember that day you laughed so hard you cried?!? (Maybe you don't). It was the funniest, best thing ever. There is a KILLER photo of you and Danny laughing.

I will have a total of three patches in a day or so. This is enough for me to get hold of a Girl Scout sash (I have a shirt!) and go to town.

[curiousgnate]

oh I remember! Amazing!

[Snow]

Someone, just yesterday, offered to buy any leftover Trojan Horse schwag. I thought it a very strange request.

[JStep]

He's just selling the info packet, I don't have a problem with it. Maybe he went with a partner and they have one they're keeping so they're selling the extra one. Maybe he went and TTITD just wasn't for him so there's no sentiment attached for him, it's just stuff with a dollar value. Either way he's just selling something that is worth less to him than what he can get for it monetarily, meh. More power to him, I don't care. If he were appropriating the name or logo and selling that, that would be a different story. What he's doing is no different than selling the ticket stubs and program from a historic ball game or political event at auction. No Burners were hurt in the making of this cash.

[lazerfox]

I'm incredulous at the fact that he made $100.

[This Woman]

Holy shit! Last time I looked it was at $20. Perhaps some folks are messing with him.

[MyDearFriend]

By the way C.f.M., I chanced by Terminal City, and I was thinking of stopping by to say hello to you or leave a message saying hello, but I never got my nerve up. I thought it would be too awkward. So, this is my hello to you. Hello.

Oh dear god, are we that fucking scary?

Yes. Yes you are. I thought you meant to be. If it weren't for Foxfur I would never have made it past the corner...

[theCryptofishist]

Okay, I know I can be a big snarky meanie on line...
But in the scales the major problem is that I"m not good with people and can't remember the faces from one meet'n'greet to the next. So next year, stop by Terminal City, or whereever I'm camped, say "hi" and watch that blank stare turn into an attempted recognition. The good news is that since I'm awkward with people, that if you actually want to talk to me, there's a good chance that I'll have time to sit down for a chat.

Honestly people, (oh crap, I hate when people say "people") I'm just a nerd who happens to have the talent of when I through out thousands of lines, a few hundred come back amusing.

[lazerfox]

By the way C.f.M., I chanced by Terminal City, and I was thinking of stopping by to say hello to you or leave a message saying hello, but I never got my nerve up. I thought it would be too awkward. So, this is my hello to you. Hello.

Oh dear god, are we that fucking scary?

Yes. Yes you are. I thought you meant to be. If it weren't for Foxfur I would never have made it past the corner...

am I the only one who wasn't scared?? I think this proves there is something weird/strange about me?

[theCryptofishist]

By the way C.f.M., I chanced by Terminal City, and I was thinking of stopping by to say hello to you or leave a message saying hello, but I never got my nerve up. I thought it would be too awkward. So, this is my hello to you. Hello.

Oh dear god, are we that fucking scary?

Yes. Yes you are. I thought you meant to be. If it weren't for Foxfur I would never have made it past the corner...

am I the only one who wasn't scared?? I think this proves there is something weird/strange about me?

No, it proves you're sane. Okay, I suppose that's strange, but a good kind of strange.

[lazerfox]

No, it proves you're sane. Okay, I suppose that's strange, but a good kind of strange.

Strange is always good...and I suppose everyone is strange in their own way. The levels are want need be squared away from person to person, arggh
(we need a pirate smiley!!!!)

[Radical Self]

Great question! And an important one to our community. Our fellow burners have given some great answers thus far and have shown that they are people of principle. I 'popped my cherry' this year and have been fascinated by the Ten Principles and by the words of Larry Harvey, looking to them to answer all the questions like this that I have had about my participation in this community. Considering that this year's theme was Rites of Passage, I have turned this whole experience into a bit of a pseudo-religion. Honestly, though, I feel that this is a great way to live and what has really drawn me to this community. So here are some quotes from the Ten Principles and some words from Larry Harvey that will help us answer the question:

"We make the world real through actions that open the heart". -from the explanation of the Participation principle

"In order to preserve the spirit of gifting, our community seeks to create social environments that are unmediated by commercial sponsorships, transactions, or advertising... We resist the substitution of consumption for participatory experience." -from the explanation of the Decommodification principle

"You know, the first cities by and large were not devoted to commerce, they were ritual centers devoted to the sacred. If you wanted to critique consumerism, you'd call it 'simony,' which is an unhallowed trafficking in sacred things." - Larry Harvey

I think the big question is whether the cited eBay transaction was "hallowed" or "unhallowed".

As for the purchaser: Was he or she someone who went to Burning Man and did not get the schwag or lost it and wants to have a physical record of the memories? I would say that this is "hallowed". Or is this someone who is "substituting consumption for participatory experience"? Unhallowed, and the sort of thing we should be discouraging. Worse yet, is this someone who is purchasing this as memorabilia now and counting on increased valuation for future resale? Way unhallowed.


As for the seller: This is most likely someone who went to the event and therefore paid for the printing of those materials in the cost of the ticket, so it is his or her right to do so, while the ethics of doing so are dependent on intention. If it helps them pay for the ticket and thus their participation for next year, I could see this as hallowed. Selling a gift would be a whole different story, especially one that is a representation of Burning Man (like a patch or a sticker). Selling a gift would be a commercial transaction that betrays the trust of the community and would be disrespectful of the one giving the gift.

Further, I think we should be willing to say "no thank you" to the giving of a gift if we know we are not going to keep it as a concern for "Leaving No Trace". At the very least we should try to find someone else who would really appreciate such a gift. And the giver of the gift should understand the denial of a gift and not take it personally.

By the way, if anyone wants what I have left of this kit (map, book, stickers, and ticket), I will gladly send it to them. As a gift. Unconditionally free. Just please make sure that this is a "hallowed" transaction.

[Sail Man]

No. Hell no! FUCK NO!




Word's I also hate hearing my wife say

[Bob]

Ten Principles

Pretty much, you can substitute "blowjob" for every instance of "gift".

[lemur]

I will sell you 2010 pre event and during the event ice pogs. If you somehow get a time machine you'll have all the ice you want.

$250. paypal is OK

I will sell you a 2010 inner circle burn night laminate

$500

I will sell you a 2008 thru 2011 SET of Lamplighter Charms

$1000

I will sell you a Lamplighter coin, pictured below..

$1500



IMPORTANT EDIT: package deal, get them all for $2500.

[C.f.M.]

Final selling price was $102.50. I will be listing some stuff m'self. That's 1/5 of the damn plane ticket, if I go in 2012. Never too early to start getting it together.

Moonrise, you are way too kind, thank you for the compliments.

Robrob, pm your address.

Lazer, like you need to bribe for a tour! You got better than a tour, backstage, all-access pass to PWR. And, I mean, I like you so no bribe could accomplish that.

[pinemom]

Wanna hear another fuckwad movement? Here in reno/tahoe Cl there were multiple ad's from Sept.1st on, 100.00 for a torn ticket and their EarlyEntry armband to get in...

WTF!!!!

[Foxfur]

They'll have to pry my 2011 inner circle burn night laminate from my cold dead paws.
That was given to me by a very dear new friend and I could never bring myself to sell it at any price.
I gifted a Booby Bar patch to my oldest friend and it was almost like giving away a child. She totally deserved it and is going to wear it with pride on her falconry vest as her hawk sends bunnies to the great briar patch beyond.
There is nothing that I could ever sell. The only way it ever leaves my posession is by gifting it or losing it.
I'm just a sentimental fool...

[Minxy]

They'll have to pry my 2011 inner circle burn night laminate from my cold dead paws.
That was given to me by a very dear new friend and I could never bring myself to sell it at any price.
I gifted a Booby Bar patch to my oldest friend and it was almost like giving away a child. She totally deserved it and is going to wear it with pride on her falconry vest as her hawk sends bunnies to the great briar patch beyond.
There is nothing that I could ever sell. The only way it ever leaves my posession is by gifting it or losing it.
I'm just a sentimental fool...

I don't think you're a sentimental fool. I think you just fucking get it.

[C.f.M.]

Booby Bar had patches this year?

[ygmir]

Booby Bar had patches this year?

http://www.turbophoto.com/Free-Photos/10FreeStockImages_935F/Eyeball.jpg

[LanceThruster]

Shit, I forgot -- you can buy my schwag here:

http://www.cafepress.com/everythingbob

Is it just me, or does the picture of Bob Stahl ("Staring Down Nixon) look as if it could be the bastard step-child of Larry Storch and Fred Willard?

[LanceThruster]

Shit, I forgot -- you can buy my schwag here:

http://www.cafepress.com/everythingbob

Is it just me, or does the picture of Bob Stahl ("Staring Down Nixon) look as if it could be the bastard step-child of Larry Storch and Fred Willard?

For the record I love Bob's pic. It makes me smile every time I see it and it is both visually pleasant and disturbing somehow at the same time. For the life of me I can't explain why. Great picture and superb artistic reinterpretation.

[mdmf007]

Cant buy a memory.

[Ugly Dougly]

Meh. "Free" means "do what you want with it".
"Gifting" something with conditions is not really gifting.

[LanceThruster]

Meh. "Free" means "do what you want with it".
"Gifting" something with conditions is not really gifting.

I agree entirely. People at work will sometimes give me food they've made and then say that I am bound by whatever restrictions they want to impose. I tell them that once they give it to me, it is mine to do with as I wish. It sometimes pisses them off but it is important to stand firm on the concept. To do otherwise is just too much of a headache.