Presale Tickets - How Difficult?

[Various]

I'm planning on buying presale tickets this year to support the low-income program and hopefully avoid the individual sale --> fail --> Craigslist search. How impacted are presale tickets? Do I have to click the link at 11:59:59.872 exactly to account for my 128ms of ping to the Ticketfly server so I get into the queue at noon on the dot like in the Individual Sale, or can I relax and click at the leisurely hour of several seconds past 12:00?

[engineer2012]

Last year pre-sale I pushed the link exactly at noon, and was immediately send to the buy tickets page, no queue. You never know, however the last years, pre-sales were not sold out in minutes, but hours. Indeed the main sale is drama, reading the board. The most "secure" sale is the pre-sale. It is however a lot of money, compared to the main sale. I think the main sale will be even worse this year, as there are less tickets available then last year.

good luck!

[Captain Goddammit]

If you're gonna do it, I'd say don't lollygag, you've got nothing to gain by waiting.

[MrBeardy]

I'd be willing to bet they wont last long so i'd get on it right on the dot. You can always sell a presale ticket now that the event is selling out every year and people that were previously scared about not being able to sell it no longer have that issue. Add that to the fact that people this year in the presale can again hedge their admissions to BRC like last year by purchasing a presale ticket and then selling it off if/when they can score a cheaper ticket in the main sale or after market and you've got a playa duststorm. Why that loophole wasn't closed by BMorg is beyond me. It's a wicked game now and people just want their piece of the party. Best of luck to you and the rest of us!

[Leap]

MrBeardy ,

Since pre-sale can't be sold through STEP, would they test their luck on the open market if they wanted to do this?

[lucky420]

Yes the open market is where you sell the presale tix

[trilobyte]

Speaking personally, I think that buying a pre-sale to hedge your bets, with the full intention of later scrounging for a cheap ticket and then pawning the higher priced ticket off on someone who doesn't have other options... is a jerky move. It kind of embodies the idea of using your wealth and means to give yourself an advantage, and stick it to someone else.

If you subsequently turn around and sell that ticket on at full price, you're no longer supporting the event, you're forcing somebody else to do it. Sure, you aren't forcing anyone to buy your ticket... but at the time you're selling the ticket off the main sale has likely come and gone, and based on what we've seen in the past few years the people buying these tickets in the after-market are not rich, they're desperate. Pawning off a premium price on the desperate isn't very cool (again, my personal opinion).

If you can afford to purchase either a Pre-Sale or a Da Vinci artist ticket, that's awesome. Go ahead and buy it if you like the idea of supporting the event and the art and all that, or if you just feel like the premium price is worth the piece of mind.

Getting back to Various' original question... it's difficult to say, that depends entirely upon demand on the day of the sale. Historically, while the pre-sale tickets do sell out, they have not sold out instantaneously, so getting over there within a few minutes of the start of the sale is *probably* okay. Of course, Murphy's Law being what it is now that I've said that, maybe this is the year where demand is through the roof out of the gates. My advice would be to set appointment in your calendar for 15 minutes before the sale, giving you time to finish up whatever you may have been doing and get situated at your computer. Good luck!

Remember, you need to register first via your Burner Profile. Registration is open NOW through Friday, February 12, 2016 at 12pm (noon) Pacific Time.

[MrBeardy]

Totally agree with you trilobyte! I hope that the BMorg changes this in years to come so it is no longer an outlet to potentially have people abuse. No reason for people to be buying several presales and main sale tickets as well. Radical Self-reliance!

[Ratty]

Dear Mr. beardly, I think what you meant to say is, "Personally, I can't think of any reason for people to be buying several presales and main sale tickets as well." I can think of several scenarios that call for multiple sales.

[MrBeardy]

Dear Mr. beardly, I think what you meant to say is, "Personally, I can't think of any reason for people to be buying several presales and main sale tickets as well." I can think of several scenarios that call for multiple sales.

How right you are I forgot about all the rich people buying extra tickets to sell to plug-n-players for even more marked up prices!!! I kid, I kid!

[BBadger]

At my plug-and-play camp, we'll be forced to reserve our "Da Vinci" artist ticket specifically for lighting up our Cubans (cigars) while soaking in our champagne-filled private hot tubs. Such are the sacrifices we have to make in these difficult financial times.

[Leap]

Any chance of last year's cold and dust reducing demand this year?

[Meat Hunter]

Possibly....

[Leap]

Possibly....

I see you are at 88NV! I plan to do a shift early in the week and maybe again. I've filled out my profile and corresponded with Slapshot. The interceptor role looks well suited for me. Is it easy to get a shift?

[Meat Hunter]

To get the job, the day and the shift that you want, keep watching for when Shiftboard opens.

Prime jobs and times fill pretty fast. Slapshot would know.

[Leap]

Thank you! Happy hunting.

[kiilroy]

If dust lowers demand... bring on the dust every damn year!

[Jackass]

A good wet snow @ 30F would probably do the trick...

[BBadger]

And have that wet snow start on Saturday afternoon and require everyone to wait it out until Wednesday while the roads dry up. It's gotta catch the weekender crowd and force them to spend a week.

[trilobyte]

Typically, the increase in demand is lower following a year with rough weather. That doesn't mean reduced demand, just that it increases by a smaller amount than in a year with great weather. Shiny awesome pictures and videos posted online also play a part, especially in cases when things make the rounds or go completely viral right before a sale.

The difficult part is that while demand usually increases year-over-year, once again in 2016 the city's population cap is the same. It's sort of like playing musical chairs, except that instead of taking away a chair, you have the same number of chairs but increase the number of people playing in each round.

There are other factors too - for example, it's not yet clear if the entertainment tax will reduce demand or not. There have been a fair number of people online calling for boycotting, or suggesting that Burning Man should cancel, but until the sales happen we won't really have an idea on whether there would be an impact or not. There have only been two times when the event saw a significant decrease in attendance: in 1990 when they moved from SF's Baker Beach to the black rock desert, and in 2009 when the whole housing and financial crisis was in full swing.

[Raoul]

Speaking personally, I think that buying a pre-sale to hedge your bets, with the full intention of later scrounging for a cheap ticket and then pawning the higher priced ticket off on someone who doesn't have other options... is a jerky move. It kind of embodies the idea of using your wealth and means to give yourself an advantage, and stick it to someone else.

I dunno. It wouldn't necessarily be a jerky move if the "savings" are redirected rather than pocketed. If unexpected access to regular-priced tickets allowed me to purchase two for less than the price of one, I could give one to a friend who wouldn't otherwise be able to go, something I couldn't afford to do at $990 a ticket. There's also the possibility of being able to contribute more to camp infrastructure or support an individual art project if additional cash becomes available via the pre-sale --> regular sale --> sell the pre-sale ticket route.

[DrYes]

Totally agree with you trilobyte! I hope that the BMorg changes this in years to come so it is no longer an outlet to potentially have people abuse. No reason for people to be buying several presales and main sale tickets as well. Radical Self-reliance!

The BMORG isn't interested in radical self-reliance in Annual Burning Man Ticket Competition, or at least they (fairly reasonably in my view) prioritize convenience over it. That shows in the fact that you're allowed to buy two tickets per person, rather than one, making it easy for someone to do nothing to acquire tickets while a significant other or friend does the work.

I think the only way they could effectively stop people buying in the pre-sale and then the other sales too (with the intention of reselling the pre-sale to someone unknown at the time of purchase) would be to tie tickets 1:1 to a person, and require a picture of the ticketholder go onto the tickets, making them completely non-transferable w/o the BMORG's help via STEP or something similar. Otherwise it's trivial to end-around anything they do. Got a spouse? Great - one of you buy in the pre-sale, the other in DGS or main sale. No spouse? How about a friend who will let you use her card and address for delivery? Super easy to do.

Tying tickets 1:1 to purchasers has its own problem though, including slowing Gate down and increasing the hassle of using STEP. No more gifting tickets to friends either, or even choosing who you sell a ticket to (so no selling your ticket to a friend who suddenly wants to/is able to go to the Burn).

Personally, in the past, I've bought tickets in the presale, knowing that I'll get cheaper tickets elsewhere too, because I always have friends who decide they're able to go well after the sale is over, and I like to help my friends go to the Burn. Unsure if I will this year, as $990 starts to really push the boundaries for me personally. (Which is as it should be....they should continue to raise the price of the pre-sale tickets until they barely sell out if it means they can keep normal and low-income tickets where they're at.)

[Jackass]

Like I said, a big wet heavy snow should do the trick. Otherwise, roll the e-dice and see if you come up with a ticket. Tell your friends," Burning Man's all played out, it's gone corporate, "they"sold out, it sucks, don't go!" That's my message. Now please help spread the word, before it's too late

[Bemerritt]

Well, today is the day. Hoping it is nice and smooth.

[lucky420]

Good luck! Let us know how it goes...

[Leap]

Good luck!

[Bless]

I hopped on at 12 pm Pacific and had no problem. T'was a breeze.

I wonder if the sale is still open now.

[Jovankat]

Yep. There's still at least 4 each of the $990 tickets and VPs available.