Selling ashes from the Man on eBay

Flux · Post by **Flux** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 4:26 pm

Here's somebody selling ashes from the Man on eBay! Claims all proceeds will be used to help burners who can't afford to go. Even if that's true, which I sincerely doubt, this is totally inappropriate imho.

She's also trying to auction a BMan calendar ($15.00 at burningman.com). Minimum bid $9.99 plus $3.00 s&h; I assume that this is a test run to see whether she can get enough to turn a profit by reselling them. (That's my cynicism speaking; maybe she bought two and only needed one.)

Just for the heck of it, I made this a poll, too.

herself · Post by **herself** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 4:36 pm

I don't think that's appropriate and should probably be reported to staff, don't you guys think?

Flux · Post by **Flux** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 6:30 pm

Wow, it's gone already! Sweet!

Alpha · Post by **Alpha** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 10:06 pm

Here's my thinking on that: ashes from Burning Man are MOOP. One way or another, it's got to be removed from the playa. What does DPW do with all that ash? Surely it goes to a landfill. So the ash itself is not something of value.

Is it explotative to sell cinders from the Man? I dunno... I can't imagine anyone looking at a pile of ash and getting the wrong impression. It's just ash, after all -- not like pictures where we might fear that they convey the wrong meaning of the event or, god forbid, attract lookie-loos to the event.

The one thing about it that rubs me the wrong way (and believe me, most rubbing is acutely appreciated so it's hard to go the wrong way) is the notion that a BM participant would use something from the event for their own financial gain. That seems to violate the notion of no commerce. But what if the proceeds from ash sales were to go toward Gerlach schools? I don't think I would object to that.

herself · Post by **herself** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 10:13 pm

but it's just ash. setting up the logistics to sell it and distribute the proceeds would be a hassle. let the dpw have it if they want it, otherwise just dispose of it properly. do we want to be so grossly sentimental that we buy ash? ash is dirty. let's not over romanticize things.

Jane Eric · Post by **Jane Eric** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 10:16 pm

Besides, it coulda just come outta someone's fire pit. Who knows. You want man ashes? Get yer own.

SED · Post by **SED** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 10:23 pm

Tempest in a teapot, by the looks of it.

But as long as we're fussing over it, does anybody wanna buy a chunk of cement which I swear to God was part of the Berlin Wall? It's been dipped in sacred streams at four Rainbow Gatherings and had placenta puree drizzled over it under an eclipsed moon in Madagascar.

Can we start bidding at $100, a box of whippets and BART fare to Alice's?

herself · Post by **herself** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 10:25 pm

that's hilarious sed, reminds me of that scene in slackers where that dippy chick is trying to sell madonna's pubic hair

Kinetic II · Post by **Kinetic II** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 10:27 pm

(Yawn!) It's gone, let's move on.

SED · Post by **SED** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 10:28 pm

Actually, I was very nearly in Slacker. I lived in Austin then and spent time with about half the cast at one point or another.

So, $90?

Flux · Post by **Flux** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 10:41 pm

I have a couple of little necklace bottles of ash from the Man and the Temple, given to me by my dear friend Lora (aka Das Bus). I like them, wear them, and plan to keep them. They're cool!

What disturbs me is not that someone might have some ashes, or that the ashes inaccurately represent Burning Man, but that someone is trying to make a quick buck from them. If the BMOrg decided to sell bottles of ashes, I wouldn't dig that either, but that's their perogative. Some individual selling ashes for their own gain is, I think, counter to the spirit of Burning Man, and I have no reason to believe the line about the proceeds going to help burners.

I would feel the same way about people selling playa dust, phony BMan tee shirts (which I have also seen on eBay), Alien Love Nest necklaces, etc. It's cheesy and sleazy and not in keeping with what I consider the Burning Man culture.

Illegal? No. Preventable by the organization? If they take the trademarked images from the bottles, probably not. Sleazy? In my opinion, yes.

stuart · Post by **stuart** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 11:35 am

I ran a cheesy souvenir shop at BM this year. Available were bottles of ash, smoke, and playa dust from various years. Packaged very nicely if I do say so. Of course, all bottles were filled from the nearby burn platform upon arrival. I was amazed at the percentage of people wandering into the shop who believed they were authentic.

Flux · Post by **Flux** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 6:04 pm

stuart wrote:I ran a cheesy souvenir shop at BM this year. Available were bottles of ash, smoke, and playa dust from various years. Packaged very nicely if I do say so. Of course, all bottles were filled from the nearby burn platform upon arrival. I was amazed at the percentage of people wandering into the shop who believed they were authentic.

Cool! I especially like the idea of getting a bottle of three-year-old smoke. That's pretty funny.

Kinetic II · Post by **Kinetic II** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 6:30 pm

"There's a sucker born every minute" - David Hannah

http://www.historybuff.com/library/refbarnum.html

Flux · Post by **Flux** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 6:35 pm

Kinetic II wrote:"There's a sucker born every minute" - David Hannah

http://www.historybuff.com/library/refbarnum.html

Fascinating! Wouldn't it be fun to pull off a hoax like that?

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Wed Oct 29, 2003 2:32 am

Burning Man Festival 2003 Elongated Penny
Item number: 2199942099
Starting bid: US $1.25
History: 0 bids
Location: Elk Grove, CA
United States /Sacramento

Burning Man 2003 Ravercandy
Item number: 3457568702
Starting bid: Two Fifty
History: 0 bids
Location: Bivalve, CA
United States /Petaluma

Green Wood · Post by **Green Wood** » Fri Aug 27, 2010 9:44 pm

If you are lucky to stay after the burn and get on the Burning Man clean up crew you might be lucky to find one of the mans tears made out of aluminum. Even the man cries! He cries for all of you! He burnt for your pleasures!

Selling ashes from the Man on eBay

Is it cool to sell ashes from the Man on eBay?

Selling ashes from the Man on eBay