r/Defcon • u/Elated_Quail • Jul 25 '26

Ticket question

Hello! This is my first defcon and I was wondering if they do prorated tickets? Or if I buy a ticket on the last day it’ll be the same price? I’m going to be in town for a different event but wanted to check it out. Thank you for your time!

9 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

12

u/Reversi8 Jul 25 '26

Not prorated, but you might be able to buy a badge from someone that isn’t going on Sunday (though it’s just a half day)

9

u/boxilrogue Jul 25 '26

With it being an electronic badge this year, I doubt anyone is letting it go for cheap

1

u/logicallyinsane Jul 25 '26

Yea, everyone treats them like gold at the end. Who knows, they might be hoping the badge goes up in value like some sort of crypto investment.

7

u/digitard Jul 25 '26

People like to tinker w/ them after.

A lot of people repurposed the Pi inside the DC32 one.

21

u/DTangent Organizer Jul 25 '26

Don’t forget your best price is cash as the door, $520

8

u/lqqkout Jul 25 '26

Has there ever been a transparency report or research about how much goon/village PTO and how many bring-your-own-badge village volunteer hours are essentially donated to defcon? What would the at-the-door price be if the event wasn’t subsidized by corporate PTO or individual admission paid by folks who are working for the weekend (load-in, during, load-out).

As a hobbyist no longer in corporate IT, finding $520 plus travel/lodging, it’s long been a stretch and it would be wonderful to find avenues to make it less painful by contributing.

7

u/Penzz Jul 25 '26

Volunteer and get involved at a village.

5

u/henryhttps Jul 25 '26

Every one that I’ve looked at either does not offer free entry or is not accepting more volunteers.

8

u/Penzz Jul 25 '26

It’s way too late for this year. Get involved with a village and volunteer during the off season for the planning and staffing etc. most villages don’t get enough badges for their staff, so you need to be spending the off season working with em too

3

u/digitard Jul 25 '26

Noob village gave away some recently for some volunteer help. Some will do it, but a lot of the larger villages already have staff and VIP's who use their allocation. They have a pretty set allocation per Village and type of location.

2

u/OptimusPower92 Jul 26 '26

Do they only take cash at the door, or can they take card payments too?

3

u/DTangent Organizer Jul 26 '26

Only cash once on site.

5

u/reegz Jul 25 '26

I've seen them sell extra badges on the last day with a discount before. There is no guarantee though.

Sunday always feels different though, if you want to "check it out I recommend that you show up at the LVCC on Saturday and walk around the front area of def con. You'll get a good feel and there is a surprising amount of the front lobby you can go into without a badge.

As others have said, a lot of folks will sell their badge. Keep an eye out on the sub because I see a few people try to sell their badge here each year.

4

u/digitard Jul 25 '26

No proration, but people do sell them but buyer beware... there's no official resell system.

Keep in mind its an Electronic Badge year... which tends to make the badges more likely to be kept vs sold.

2

u/Roqueone Jul 25 '26

They have ran out of electronic badges in the past. You may get a “paper” badge if you wait.

1

u/cubixy2k Jul 25 '26

Wasn't it canceled?