scalpers a foot

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Thu Apr 10, 2014 7:57 am

Read two request for ticket/pass.. One was asking for a ticket and pass.. The next said they had gotten a ticket, needed a pass.. Both were posted in the same wording/phrasing and layout.. Problem???? Each post was under a different name and were first post for both.. I smell a rat..

GreyCoyote · Post by **GreyCoyote** » Thu Apr 10, 2014 9:20 am

unjonharley wrote:Read two request for ticket/pass.. One was asking for a ticket and pass.. The next said they had gotten a ticket, needed a pass.. Both were posted in the same wording/phrasing and layout.. Problem???? Each post was under a different name and were first post for both.. I smell a rat..

"...Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get you..."

"...Sure I'm paranoid, but am I paranoid ENOUGH?..."

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Thu Apr 10, 2014 9:31 am

GreyCoyote wrote:
unjonharley wrote:Read two request for ticket/pass.. One was asking for a ticket and pass.. The next said they had gotten a ticket, needed a pass.. Both were posted in the same wording/phrasing and layout.. Problem???? Each post was under a different name and were first post for both.. I smell a rat..
"...Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get you..."

"...Sure I'm paranoid, but am I paranoid ENOUGH?..."

why don't you attempt aerail intercouse with a rotating pastry..

GreyCoyote · Post by **GreyCoyote** » Thu Apr 10, 2014 10:17 am

unjonharley wrote:
GreyCoyote wrote:
unjonharley wrote:Read two request for ticket/pass.. One was asking for a ticket and pass.. The next said they had gotten a ticket, needed a pass.. Both were posted in the same wording/phrasing and layout.. Problem???? Each post was under a different name and were first post for both.. I smell a rat..
"...Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get you..."

"...Sure I'm paranoid, but am I paranoid ENOUGH?..."
why don't you attempt aerail intercouse with a rotating pastry..

Sounds messy, but might be fun.

remi · Post by **remi** » Thu Apr 10, 2014 11:12 am

Um.. is this surprising for anyone?

I'm more interested to see how many scalpers try and join STEP because they can sell they can re-sell that STEP ticket and just transfer who it. And I guarantee if they sell said ticket for 400-500$ people will buy them. "Nobody is that stupid" you say? The answer is "YES".. people are stupid. I' m sure someone will ask the buyer to show all the appropriate emails confirming they have the ticket, then they can double check by calling the ticket people to ensure that the ticket was transferred in their name. I'm not saying that I agree with that, or I support it. In fact, I'm the opposite. But in order to catch the scalper, one must think like a scalper.

I always wondered if it would be possible to "attempt" to buy a ticket, get all the info from the seller that was trying to sell it, give all that info to the ticket people and ask them to cross reference same and email to find the sellers ticket and cancel it.

Also, with all the tickets that are being cancelled due to scalping.. are they doing straight into STEP?

EDIT: I understand why they made STEP tickets transferable this year for the last minute changes. I just disagree with that move because I think it opens another door for people to game the system.. and people DO game the system. If someone needs to cancel last minute playa plans.. their fault.. send them to kijiji or eplaya to try to sell the ticket at face value or eat the cost. Just my opinion.

Post by **trilobyte** » Thu Apr 10, 2014 11:53 am

@remi - your misplaced sense of moral outrage has already been duly noted. As I think was mentioned elsewhere, being able to change the name on a STEP ticket order is not new. And Burning Man scrubs registration lists against lists of known scalpers (and their proxies), as they've done for the last couple years now. And just as has been done for the last two years, tickets from voided ticket orders are fed back into STEP. The scalp-ocalyptic scenario you're prophecizing is no more likely to happen in 2014 than it did in 2013.

remi · Post by **remi** » Thu Apr 10, 2014 1:19 pm

trilobyte wrote:tickets from voided ticket orders are fed back into STEP.

Sexy.

I don't know why I assumed STEP orders in 2012 could only be returned back into STEP. Maybe I had a dream that was so real.. I didn't pay attention to the 2013 ticket fiasco because I wasn't attending.. so I can't really comment on how the STEP vs Scalper situation happened. All I know is in 2012 it seemed that quite a few people from the forum were recipients of STEP tickets.. which is fuckin' rad!

Personally, I think the idea of scalping burning man is kinda funny, seeing as any real burner would neglect to pay over face value.. I'm just trying to stimulate conversation that will hopefully, in the end, put more tickets into hands of deserving burners.

Post by **Eric** » Thu Apr 10, 2014 2:09 pm

remi wrote:I don't know why I assumed STEP orders in 2012 could only be returned back into STEP.

In 2012 that was correct - and once STEP closed, you were s.o.l. if you couldn't make it, because those tickets couldn't be transferred (so if your child took ill, your spouse was in an accident... too bad)

By making them transferable, it gives people a way to recoup their costs if something unexpected comes up at the last minute - and it does for a lot of people. It's usually not someones "fault" they have to cancel their plans at the last minute - no more than it was my fault in 2008 when my job unexpectedly laid me off a week before I was supposed to attend. The world doesn't spin around our petty plans, and to tell people "too bad" when they've just had the universe shit on them is a little... harsh... especially when the scalping problem is a bigger issue in peoples heads than it is in reality.

remi · Post by **remi** » Thu Apr 10, 2014 2:19 pm

I must say.. you guys spend a lot of time thinking about the people that attend your festival.

It would be easier for you to say, NO TRANSFER, but now that they are transferable, that puts quite a bit more work on everyone involved, however, you're doing it not because it's more work, but because it's better for the person/people attending.

From a avid festival goer as myself, this is a fresh breath of air.

Comparing this to my "stomping grounds" festival called shambhala in BC, Canada.. it seems as they're doing everything they can to make it easier on themselves. I could give plenty of examples, but I'll cut this post short and just say "way to go BM! keep up the good work."

GreyCoyote · Post by **GreyCoyote** » Thu Apr 10, 2014 6:25 pm

unjonharley wrote:why don't you attempt aerail intercouse with a rotating pastry..

Note to those who may attempt: Terminal velocity of all pastries thus-far tested was significantly less than Vt for a free-falling human. Bagels however, were not only far better matched to human Vt, they were also less messy and attracted fewer ants upon landing.

Research is still being conducted on ways to cancel the down-range offset that seems to be induced from the un-streamlined and asymmetric deployment of the male member inherent in this experiment. In honor of UJH, we provisionally call this effect "thread drift". Film at 11...

Post by **Eric** » Thu Apr 10, 2014 7:00 pm

remi wrote:I must say.. you guys spend a lot of time thinking about the people that attend your festival.

Quick note: all the Mods, and Trilo (the admin), are volunteers. None of us "work for" the Org, and all the thinking about this stuff is done by the staff at HQ, not us. We're just regular members of ePlaya who are trying to help keep the board running smoothly (while still having our own opinions on stuff and things). That said, the Org does think a lot about the people that attend, since we're what make the event what it is. Participation, and all that rot, and it does make a nice change from an event run to make a profit.

gaminwench · Post by **gaminwench** » Thu Apr 10, 2014 7:01 pm

GreyCoyote wins this page!

Quigibo · Post by **Quigibo** » Thu Apr 10, 2014 9:24 pm

unjonharley wrote:Read two request for ticket/pass.. One was asking for a ticket and pass.. The next said they had gotten a ticket, needed a pass.. Both were posted in the same wording/phrasing and layout.. Problem???? Each post was under a different name and were first post for both.. I smell a rat..

I assume that my request for just a pass is one of the posts in question here. This will be my first year attending the event and so until recently I have not been a member of this Forum. Since deciding to attend I have been here reading various treads to help get a better idea of what to bring and expect, but i rarely feel the need to voice my opinion in forums due to the types of responses most get. I have no need to argue with people I don't know. But being as I need a vehicle pass, I thought would give this method a try. It seems better than chancing the OMG sale or paying $200 for the pass on stubhub.

All that being said I am really looking forward to the event and meeting all the varied people that are so passionate on these threads.

BBadger · Post by **BBadger** » Fri Apr 11, 2014 12:21 am

remi wrote:It would be easier for you to say, NO TRANSFER, but now that they are transferable, that puts quite a bit more work on everyone involved, however, you're doing it not because it's more work, but because it's better for the person/people attending.

From a avid festival goer as myself, this is a fresh breath of air.

What's also a breath of fresh air is reading that someone else finds that a breath of fresh air. Usually what is heard is something along the lines of "because X other festival does it, the only SOLUTION to fight the scalper menace is to make tickets non-transferable and will-call ONLY."

Post by **trilobyte** » Fri Apr 11, 2014 8:30 am

@Quigibo - the post/thread was less about you (or anyone) individually, and more about raising an alarm about what was thought to be someone attempting to game the system in order to get tickets. It would be easy to dismiss unjon's concern as someone who was being paranoid, but sadly people do try to play those games. I applaud his great intentions, and also for posting in a separate thread and not naming any names (rather than accusing people in their own ticket threads without anything to back it up).

The best way to raise a flag on what you may feel is a suspicious post... is to flag it. Click on triangular icon with the exclamation point in it. Pick a reason from the drop-down menu, and then provide further information in the text box below that. If something is really obvious (spam, etc) you don't really need to add anything, otherwise please let us know what you're seeing that's suspicious. The mod team will take it from there. We'll look into the specifics and check it out, and take action if we feel it's necessary. If not, we'll clear out the flag and get back to you.

For more information about scammers and scalpers, please see this post. Please do not post your own scam warning threads on ePlaya. Thanks.

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