Reverse tiers? A brainstorm.

[Elliot]

.
What would happen if the tickets were sold first-come-first-served, but with the tiers reversed? The first 10.000 tickets out the door would sell for $420, the next 10.000 for 360 and so on.

No flaming, please -- I'm brainstorming, not necessarily suggesting.

[Nipple]

Hah! I think you'd end up with a weird game of like... reverse liar's poker.

I think that's a RAD idea.

(But I don't think I could take another round of people coming out of the woodwork to complain about change.)

[remi]

I think that's a swell idea. Perhaps a little too late to implicate for the 2012 burn..

[Bounce530]

http://eplaya.burningman.org/viewtopic. ... 90&t=52450

[trilobyte]

I think you'd get tens of thousands of people holding off as late as possible on their ticket purchase in the hopes that other people would buy up the pricier tickets, and then a mad panic when 30K people tried to buy the last 10K tickets a week before the event. Madness, pandemonium, desperation, and probably plenty of tears and sob stories. While the idea's got some merit, it also sort of punishes the planners and rewards those who don't. And from a practical standpoint, it would probably significantly delay the influx of cash that the BMOrg gets from early ticket sales.

[Elliot]

http://eplaya.burningman.org/viewtopic. ... 90&t=52450

Ah, I missed that one. Thank you. Would have been strange indeed, if I had been the first to think of it.

My thinking was that plenty of burners who are not strapped for money would happily buy the full-price tickets early, and the rest of the matter would sort itself out reasonably well. But then, I may be in my Pollyanna mode this morning.

[Ugly Dougly]

It's crazy and it might work. Bumblebees and all that.

[5280MeV]

I know I am not the first to propose this idea, but I would be in favor of keeping the "lottery" distribution but reversing the tiers. In such an auction, everyone would first sign up for the highest tier that they were willing to pay.

First the $390 tickets would be distributed, and if there were any losers of the $390 lottery, they would be added to the $320 pool. Then the $320 tickets would be distributed, and all losers are added to the $240 pool.

People willing to pay $390 still have the best chances at getting a ticket while the person who can only pay $240 will have better chances of winning then in the current system, since this person is competing with 25,000 less people who were already awarded tickets.

On the other hand, all of this depends on *why* there are tiers in the first place. If the tiers exist solely to reward early buyers, then the current system is optimal. If the tiers exist solely to help people who cannot pay the average ticket price, then the distribution order should be reversed. This is the part I don't understand - the philosophy behind the existence of the tiers is unclear to me and I have seen conflicting explanations from various sources.

[wh..sh]

yeah, I mentioned this reverse ticketing idea in the panic thread... but everyone was too busy panicking.
Logically speaking, this would be a better idea which would sort of ensure that people who can only afford $240 will get a fair shot at it.

[trilobyte]

Part of the problem with running the drawing in reverse order is it would only encourage those with means to game the system via multiple registrations. It's also kind of punitive - not everybody who is checking the highest tier is some kind of fat cat rich dude who has money to burn (so to speak). Just because one individual scrimped and saved for 2-3 months to have enough money to pay up to $390 if he or she has to does not mean that person should potentially be denied the opportunity to purchase tickets at a lower tier. Running the drawing from highest tiers to low effectively does that - the first 15K names drawn never had a shot at tiers 1 or 2, and then 15K more people are denied a chance to get a tier 1 ticket.

Personally, I don't think getting rid of tiers would necessarily be a good thing. From experience, I know the tier system gives people who might not otherwise be able to afford it a chance to go. That was the story of my first burn, and fortunately I was able to get through the big crush and there was still something I could afford when I got there.

The way the registration and selection process is set up now seems pretty fair. You make your decision on what the most you can afford is, submit your registration, and the system tries to get you a ticket at the best price that it can.

[graidawg]

i think having the tiers as 3 seperate draws would make sense, if you get low tier ticket great if not then you decide if you can afford the next tier and so on. at least then the spirit of the idea of pay asmuch as you can lives on in theory even if in practice it means the rich people who have money in the bank at month end can just get the best tickets.
meh. im just poor and want to go. hey i am weeeeeEEEEEEEEEE

maybe we could means test the tickets you pay a % of your total annual income

[Elliot]

maybe we could means test the tickets you pay a % of your total annual income

They would have to send me some cash along with the ticket!