If I were buying a fundraiser CryZtal Buzzz I wouldn't care where the money went because that is something I actually wanted and chose to buy. My issue is the entire AM field being taxed for the benefit of the Open payout.
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If the main value of a tournament is the "experience" then what value do I gain with $10 tacked onto my entry fee with the return of coozie, towel, bottle opener, etc? These are $3 junk items but they have a retail value of much higher. If they were removed and the AM entry was $30 instead instead of $40 would the AM player have less of an experience? However if the AM players pay an extra $10 and the profit is shifted to the Open purses they get a much greater value.
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I was burnt by this a few years ago. We paid something like a $50 entry in AM2 and were given an absolute garbage player pack. It didn't even have a disc, it was just a bunch of random crap that might have added up to the PDGA guidelines for payout. It was pretty obvious where the added cash in the Open divisions came from. It's a shame because I enjoyed the course, and would love to play an event on them again, but I can't see myself playing it ever again for this reason.
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I can sympathize with you if an event half-assed it on the player pack and prizes, especially for the price you paid. But I disagree with the notion of painting all TDs with such a broad brush because of one tournament. Just because one TD/tournament did a poor job of providing value doesn't mean they all do.
Also, I think there needs to be a differentiation between actual value and perceived value in discussions like this. Just because an item has no value/use to you personally doesn't mean it has no value at all. I'm not going to defend stuffing a player pack with cheap knick-knacks and calling it good, but I've heard the same argument about otherwise quality merch like discs and shirts and other gear and it doesn't work.
Let's say you pay $40 to enter a C-tier and get a player pack comprised of a Lucid EMac Truth (MSRP of $16.99) and a custom printed 32 oz Nalgene bottle (MSRP of $14.99), plus there's a prize purse for the division valued at $10 X the number of players in the division. By my math that's $32 player pack plus a $10 entry to win more prizes plus your PDGA player fee ($2) covered by a $40 entry. Based on your previous posts, you'd rather pay $30 so that the TD doesn't add the $10 retail mark-up margin to the pro purse or use it to buy dinner for his family or buy a six pack for his staff. Even though you objectively got fair value for your money.
That seems an unrealistic point of view to me.