Not really sure what to think here – I think it's reasonable to object to ticket scalping (it's hard to see how people spending extra money, which goes to some random middle-man is good) but "I...
“It’s literally ticket gouging, just from the buyer’s end,” he said. “I just got the offer and I was like, ‘Eww, this is gross and skeezy and opportunistic.’” When another person proposed $200, Chapman seethed with anger, responding that “decommodification goes both ways.”
Not really sure what to think here – I think it's reasonable to object to ticket scalping (it's hard to see how people spending extra money, which goes to some random middle-man is good) but "I should have a right to re-sell my ticket at the price I purchased it for" isn't clear to me.
Ya this guy is delusional, it's common for festival tickets to resell for half price last minute. I agree people lowballing are annoying... But people lowball everything.
Ya this guy is delusional, it's common for festival tickets to resell for half price last minute. I agree people lowballing are annoying... But people lowball everything.
People who aren't used to reselling stuff always seem to get really offended by this, but yeah it's incredibly common. Many moons ago, I worked for an estate sale company to help pay for college....
People who aren't used to reselling stuff always seem to get really offended by this, but yeah it's incredibly common. Many moons ago, I worked for an estate sale company to help pay for college. Every sale we would have at least one person come in and offer $10 for a $100 item. Sometimes an item would end up overpriced, but not so egregiously to justify an offer like that.
There's a lot of reasons for it, but from experience I think it comes down to the fact that some people just aren't willing/able to spend money, but have an abundance of time they are are willing to spend hunting for the best deal. It's also sometimes just someone bad at haggling, starting off way too low and immediately shutting down the deal by pissing off the seller.
But inexperienced sellers always assume it's some cheap asshole who wants to buy something but doesn't actually want to spend anything, and get all worked up thinking about it. Those people absolutely exist, but they aren't everyone. For example, there's a lot of poor people who spend their time on the resale market making really low-ball offers because that's all they can afford, and because occasionally it works. Eventually it happens enough that you just learn to stop caring, and ignore or decline as necessary.
I've made some super low-ball offers on eBay a few times for items that I only kind of want that are marked as used; I figure if it's used there's a chance the seller wants it out of their attic...
I've made some super low-ball offers on eBay a few times for items that I only kind of want that are marked as used; I figure if it's used there's a chance the seller wants it out of their attic more than they want to make a profit. Often it auto declines but every once in a while it works out.
This makes me wonder if I came off the wrong way one time on eBay. There was an obscure piece of sports memorabilia listed at $80 or "make me an offer," so I sent a $25 bid with the note "$80 is...
This makes me wonder if I came off the wrong way one time on eBay. There was an obscure piece of sports memorabilia listed at $80 or "make me an offer," so I sent a $25 bid with the note "$80 is too much, but I'm interested if you are willing to haggle." I expected to end up somewhere in the middle (40-50), but they accepted the $25 offer almost immediately. Now I wonder if I just came across as cheap.
I don't believe promptly accepting the offer is compatible with considering you "cheap". If they thought you were cheap than why would they accept the offer?
I don't believe promptly accepting the offer is compatible with considering you "cheap". If they thought you were cheap than why would they accept the offer?
How long was the item in question up for sale/auction? I've put up car parts on Craigslist or FB Marketplace because I sold my project car and the new owner didn't want the extra parts I had, so I...
How long was the item in question up for sale/auction?
I've put up car parts on Craigslist or FB Marketplace because I sold my project car and the new owner didn't want the extra parts I had, so I tried selling those parts on Craigslist or FB Marketplace. These parts would be sitting there for weeks on end because not many people need a console lid for a 1996 Acura TL in beige faux leather.
Eventually, say two months after I put it up, someone will reach out and offer $7 and I'd take it. Even though it probably cost me upwards of $50 to acquire the item nine months earlier. At this point I'll take anything for it just to get rid of it since I have no use for it. I didn't think the person who offered me $7 was cheap.
There are plenty of things that I wouldn't mind paying $5 for, but wouldn't dream of paying $50 for. Like for an old PC monitor. So at an estate/yard sale it makes sense to lowball. Often...
There are plenty of things that I wouldn't mind paying $5 for, but wouldn't dream of paying $50 for. Like for an old PC monitor. So at an estate/yard sale it makes sense to lowball. Often leftovers end up as freebies shortly after anyhow because more often than not 'getting it gone' is a higher priority.
Really depends on the seller. For instance the guy I worked for made it a point to never accept low-ball offers. He straight up didn't want low-ballers showing up to his sale; his philosophy was...
So at an estate/yard sale it makes sense to lowball
Really depends on the seller. For instance the guy I worked for made it a point to never accept low-ball offers. He straight up didn't want low-ballers showing up to his sale; his philosophy was that it overall didn't hurt his bottom line since bad offers don't make money, and it saved him time since he didn't want to deal with low-ballers anyways. Yes...he himself was an insufferable asshole, and that's not a defense of him by any means. But it did sort of work in his favor, he played hardball and I watched it work more often than not, even if it meant some things never sold.
Estate sales are kind of the wild west of the resale market. I've walked away with $200 worth of stuff myself for $10. I've also paid $20 for something that didn't even work lol. Every company has its own blind spots and its own strategy/personality when it comes to the sale, and they vary pretty wildly. You have to remember that these are companies which have operating costs (labor, commission fees etc.) and they have to get something out of the sale somehow.
Yard sales are usually a lot less pressure, but that goes both ways. Sometimes the seller doesn't have pressure to sell because they can just hold onto something if they don't get the offer they want.
Yeah, festival tickets are an excellent example of something with no intrinsic value. Admission to Burning Man is worth whatever an individual is willing to pay for it. In my case you’d have to...
Yeah, festival tickets are an excellent example of something with no intrinsic value. Admission to Burning Man is worth whatever an individual is willing to pay for it. In my case you’d have to pay me a fair amount to convince me to go.
My hypothesis, as former burner, it cost a lot to go and a lot of people don't have the fund to go due to the economic slowdown. There is a lot of techies out at the burn, there's been a whole...
My hypothesis, as former burner, it cost a lot to go and a lot of people don't have the fund to go due to the economic slowdown. There is a lot of techies out at the burn, there's been a whole string of layoff across many industries. It's seems pretty reckless to go to the burn if you are unemployed or strapped for cash.
"Attendance has faltered post-pandemic due to extreme weather events, from heatwaves to flooding, which last Labor Day Weekend sent many burners, including comedian Chris Rock and DJ Diplo,...
"Attendance has faltered post-pandemic due to extreme weather events, from heatwaves to flooding, which last Labor Day Weekend sent many burners, including comedian Chris Rock and DJ Diplo, fleeing from the Nevada desert."
Let's not forget the (hilarious) TrueAnon rumor that there was an Ebola outbreak that had Diplo at ground zero, which spread like wildfire on Twitter for a day or so. Little breakdown at the 30...
Let's not forget the (hilarious) TrueAnon rumor that there was an Ebola outbreak that had Diplo at ground zero, which spread like wildfire on Twitter for a day or so.
I recently saw some headline pointing at reluctance after people got stuck there last year. Unfortunately I didn't read the actual article to give details.
I recently saw some headline pointing at reluctance after people got stuck there last year. Unfortunately I didn't read the actual article to give details.
Most of people I know who went loved the rain. The news articles always make it seems much worse than it actual was. Only people this deterred are sparkle ponies (people who packed 2 suitcases of...
Most of people I know who went loved the rain. The news articles always make it seems much worse than it actual was.
Only people this deterred are sparkle ponies (people who packed 2 suitcases of outfits, but lack basic survival skills and expect people pick up their slack.) There is no real loss there. This year event is still larger than when I went in 2014.
Well yeah, I mean I'm repeating what I hear from friends since I'm not going. But I'm still in the community, which is better source than some of the news. Going to the burn takes a lot of work...
Well yeah, I mean I'm repeating what I hear from friends since I'm not going. But I'm still in the community, which is better source than some of the news. Going to the burn takes a lot of work organizing and collective effort to build art and community. So, when people don't do anything or become a liability, they sparkle. It's a colloquial term we either say as term of endearment or to mean they are a pain in the ass.
Edit: I want to point out, you need to bring all your water and food out there for at least a week in the desert. It's part of self reliance principle of ten principle. There is a hand full of folk who go out to burn with inadequate supplies, erroneously thinking that the playa provides. Which anyone who does backpacking or camping know inadequate supplies is dangerous. The festival is incredibly fun and rewarding, but babysitting isn't.
Last year I read that Burning Man is really harsh on the local environment. The locals do not want them there either. At the time, I also read localized Burning Man events were popping up. It...
Last year I read that Burning Man is really harsh on the local environment. The locals do not want them there either. At the time, I also read localized Burning Man events were popping up. It could be a good thing for the environment if the latter replaces the former.
Yes, locals have never liked Burning Man. Bad behavior by attendees coming and going doesn't help. I'm out of touch (only went once during the dot-com era), but I was under the vague impression...
Yes, locals have never liked Burning Man. Bad behavior by attendees coming and going doesn't help.
I'm out of touch (only went once during the dot-com era), but I was under the vague impression that the organization did a pretty good job cleaning up? Or used to, anyway.
Their core tenet is to leave no trace. Of course, the onus is on the guests to clean up after themselves but as far as I know, the organisation does make sure there's nothing left.
Their core tenet is to leave no trace. Of course, the onus is on the guests to clean up after themselves but as far as I know, the organisation does make sure there's nothing left.
My home regional has been going on 20 years now and I've been to I think 8 of them. I've never had any temptation to go to the thing in the desert, though.
My home regional has been going on 20 years now and I've been to I think 8 of them. I've never had any temptation to go to the thing in the desert, though.
Not really sure what to think here – I think it's reasonable to object to ticket scalping (it's hard to see how people spending extra money, which goes to some random middle-man is good) but "I should have a right to re-sell my ticket at the price I purchased it for" isn't clear to me.
Ya this guy is delusional, it's common for festival tickets to resell for half price last minute. I agree people lowballing are annoying... But people lowball everything.
People who aren't used to reselling stuff always seem to get really offended by this, but yeah it's incredibly common. Many moons ago, I worked for an estate sale company to help pay for college. Every sale we would have at least one person come in and offer $10 for a $100 item. Sometimes an item would end up overpriced, but not so egregiously to justify an offer like that.
There's a lot of reasons for it, but from experience I think it comes down to the fact that some people just aren't willing/able to spend money, but have an abundance of time they are are willing to spend hunting for the best deal. It's also sometimes just someone bad at haggling, starting off way too low and immediately shutting down the deal by pissing off the seller.
But inexperienced sellers always assume it's some cheap asshole who wants to buy something but doesn't actually want to spend anything, and get all worked up thinking about it. Those people absolutely exist, but they aren't everyone. For example, there's a lot of poor people who spend their time on the resale market making really low-ball offers because that's all they can afford, and because occasionally it works. Eventually it happens enough that you just learn to stop caring, and ignore or decline as necessary.
I've made some super low-ball offers on eBay a few times for items that I only kind of want that are marked as used; I figure if it's used there's a chance the seller wants it out of their attic more than they want to make a profit. Often it auto declines but every once in a while it works out.
This makes me wonder if I came off the wrong way one time on eBay. There was an obscure piece of sports memorabilia listed at $80 or "make me an offer," so I sent a $25 bid with the note "$80 is too much, but I'm interested if you are willing to haggle." I expected to end up somewhere in the middle (40-50), but they accepted the $25 offer almost immediately. Now I wonder if I just came across as cheap.
I don't believe promptly accepting the offer is compatible with considering you "cheap". If they thought you were cheap than why would they accept the offer?
How long was the item in question up for sale/auction?
I've put up car parts on Craigslist or FB Marketplace because I sold my project car and the new owner didn't want the extra parts I had, so I tried selling those parts on Craigslist or FB Marketplace. These parts would be sitting there for weeks on end because not many people need a console lid for a 1996 Acura TL in beige faux leather.
Eventually, say two months after I put it up, someone will reach out and offer $7 and I'd take it. Even though it probably cost me upwards of $50 to acquire the item nine months earlier. At this point I'll take anything for it just to get rid of it since I have no use for it. I didn't think the person who offered me $7 was cheap.
There are plenty of things that I wouldn't mind paying $5 for, but wouldn't dream of paying $50 for. Like for an old PC monitor. So at an estate/yard sale it makes sense to lowball. Often leftovers end up as freebies shortly after anyhow because more often than not 'getting it gone' is a higher priority.
See also: My backlog of Steam games.
Really depends on the seller. For instance the guy I worked for made it a point to never accept low-ball offers. He straight up didn't want low-ballers showing up to his sale; his philosophy was that it overall didn't hurt his bottom line since bad offers don't make money, and it saved him time since he didn't want to deal with low-ballers anyways. Yes...he himself was an insufferable asshole, and that's not a defense of him by any means. But it did sort of work in his favor, he played hardball and I watched it work more often than not, even if it meant some things never sold.
Estate sales are kind of the wild west of the resale market. I've walked away with $200 worth of stuff myself for $10. I've also paid $20 for something that didn't even work lol. Every company has its own blind spots and its own strategy/personality when it comes to the sale, and they vary pretty wildly. You have to remember that these are companies which have operating costs (labor, commission fees etc.) and they have to get something out of the sale somehow.
Yard sales are usually a lot less pressure, but that goes both ways. Sometimes the seller doesn't have pressure to sell because they can just hold onto something if they don't get the offer they want.
Yeah, festival tickets are an excellent example of something with no intrinsic value. Admission to Burning Man is worth whatever an individual is willing to pay for it. In my case you’d have to pay me a fair amount to convince me to go.
I can't seem to find any info on why attendance is so low this year?
My hypothesis, as former burner, it cost a lot to go and a lot of people don't have the fund to go due to the economic slowdown. There is a lot of techies out at the burn, there's been a whole string of layoff across many industries. It's seems pretty reckless to go to the burn if you are unemployed or strapped for cash.
The event is not worth going into debt for.
"Attendance has faltered post-pandemic due to extreme weather events, from heatwaves to flooding, which last Labor Day Weekend sent many burners, including comedian Chris Rock and DJ Diplo, fleeing from the Nevada desert."
Let's not forget the (hilarious) TrueAnon rumor that there was an Ebola outbreak that had Diplo at ground zero, which spread like wildfire on Twitter for a day or so.
Little breakdown at the 30 min mark if anyone is interested.
I recently saw some headline pointing at reluctance after people got stuck there last year. Unfortunately I didn't read the actual article to give details.
Most of people I know who went loved the rain. The news articles always make it seems much worse than it actual was.
Only people this deterred are sparkle ponies (people who packed 2 suitcases of outfits, but lack basic survival skills and expect people pick up their slack.) There is no real loss there. This year event is still larger than when I went in 2014.
No offense to you, you are just repeating what you heard.
"sparkle ponies" what a phoney baloney gatekeeping term.
Well yeah, I mean I'm repeating what I hear from friends since I'm not going. But I'm still in the community, which is better source than some of the news. Going to the burn takes a lot of work organizing and collective effort to build art and community. So, when people don't do anything or become a liability, they sparkle. It's a colloquial term we either say as term of endearment or to mean they are a pain in the ass.
Edit: I want to point out, you need to bring all your water and food out there for at least a week in the desert. It's part of self reliance principle of ten principle. There is a hand full of folk who go out to burn with inadequate supplies, erroneously thinking that the playa provides. Which anyone who does backpacking or camping know inadequate supplies is dangerous. The festival is incredibly fun and rewarding, but babysitting isn't.
Might be people are afraid of a repeat of last year's flooding.
Same.
Last year I read that Burning Man is really harsh on the local environment. The locals do not want them there either. At the time, I also read localized Burning Man events were popping up. It could be a good thing for the environment if the latter replaces the former.
Yes, locals have never liked Burning Man. Bad behavior by attendees coming and going doesn't help.
I'm out of touch (only went once during the dot-com era), but I was under the vague impression that the organization did a pretty good job cleaning up? Or used to, anyway.
Their core tenet is to leave no trace. Of course, the onus is on the guests to clean up after themselves but as far as I know, the organisation does make sure there's nothing left.
My home regional has been going on 20 years now and I've been to I think 8 of them. I've never had any temptation to go to the thing in the desert, though.
I had no idea that the localized Burning Man gatherings were that old. Thanks for posting!