Comment by prawn | Hacker News Reader

Comment by prawn | Hacker News Reader

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I have always wondered about a market for an auction platform that serves events/similar. After the success of the restaurant Alinea in Chicago, the owner's next project (Next) actually sells tickets to eat there:

'Whether Mr. Achatz’s fans will be similarly loyal remains to be seen. Next will have a highly unusual online-only booking system that sells nonrefundable tickets, rather than accepting reservations. Once a seat for Paris 1906 is bought on line, if the baby sitter cancels or the girlfriend doesn’t feel like going out, it can’t be canceled. It can, however, be sold, scalped or bartered. “We are very interested to see what that secondary market might bring,” said Mr. Kokonas, who devised the system.'

Restaurants that oversell inventory could use a similar tactic but with an auction platform for some of their seats to allow people a chance with last-chance bookings if they're willing to pay. I know I would definitely have considered it when I was heading to Chicago and couldn't get a booking weeks in advance.

The Next ticketing system is a good idea for Achatz because it eliminates an obstacle to purchasing tickets: the near total uncertainty as to when you might get a table. A seating for 4 people at Alinea might require a month or two advance notice; a prime date perhaps even more. So it's a win to be able to look at a website and see when you might be able to get a table --- or, with the new Sicily menu, quickly discover that there are no seatings to be had.

Incidentally, if you're hoping for last minute seatings, there's always the strategy of just calling them at the last minute or even just showing up to see if they've had cancellations. I've gotten lucky at least once.

I'm from South Australia, so when I'm near exceptionally popular restaurants, it's usually while travelling so I have a fixed window and won't usually have locked that window in until a week or two beforehand.

And the reason I hate calling is that I imagine I'm one of a string of no-chance hopefuls just being a nuisance. And the staff are on the other end thinking "Doesn't this guy know who we are?! You're two months late, bozo."

Would love a web-based system to get around all this!

(Only been to Chicago once and quite liked it despite the weather at that time of year. We enjoyed Avec and The Violet Hour. Had a chance to go to Moto but bailed in the end.)

> And the reason I hate calling is that I imagine I'm one of a string of no-chance hopefuls just being a nuisance. And the staff are on the other end thinking "Doesn't this guy know who we are?! You're two months late, bozo."

Speaking from personal experience, once you get past barriers in yourself like that, life opens up to you. Using the internet as a crutch to avoid social interaction with a possibility of embarrassment is unhealthy.

You're right and luckily I'm only like that with phones. Generally sociable, well-rounded and out-and-about otherwise. Just the phones...

Of course, if I worked the phones at a restaurant like that, you can bet I'd be driven nuts by all the calls and wish people would give it up or the boss would devise another system!

Avec and Violet Hour are both such great places. Glad you liked our city. I do too! :)

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