[interroboink]

> but I genuinely don't know of a better way to allocate a scarce good.

A lottery system is an alternative. Still need to generate enough money to cover costs, but could be done as a partial thing.

For instance, some national park areas in the US have lotteries to be allowed to camp in them. The fee is low, so it's not biased towards rich people.

A bit like how Billy Joel got tired of bored rich people in the front row seats, so he reserved them to be given to random real fans.

[hackernewds]

The lotteries for the national parks are abused by automated bots reserving in microseconds - at least in the PNW. Heck, I've even stumbled upon a secondary marketplace reselling them for thousands since they are transferable (fatal flaw). So the argument about equal access is moot.

I'm sure there's a reader here that is aware.

[afavour]

You could always make them… not transferable.

There will always be some people that find a way to slip through but it is possible to make it a significant difficulty to do so. It’s just that most places don’t care to.

[cmh89]

I know bots abuse the campground and permitted hike system but I don't how or why they'd try and manipulate the lottery. The cost is so high and odds so low of winning things like the the wave or the Enchantments.

What we really need is what my university had where if you grab a spot and no one shows up, you can't get a spot for a certain amount of time.

[interroboink]

One that I've done is the Enchantments (also PNW, but WA state, not national).

For that, it is not transferable; you can register for multiple people (eg: 5 campers for dates XYZ), but whoever's name is on the lotto ticket must be present in the group when you register at the ranger station.

[labster]

Have you considered setting up a laser link to your local park so you can reserve a campsite? If you can’t beat the HFTs, join ‘em!

[bombcar]

You have to put some limits in to prevent selling the lotteries, as if you’re going to have money change hands it might as well go to the source.

[HWR_14]

You could check ids and make the tickets non-transferable. Like at some concerts.