About our ticket prices
Our aims
PyCon UK's ticket pricing structure is our attempt to come up with a satisfactory way to meet both of our two key aims.
We want to make the conference:
- as equitable and affordable as possible
- sustainable and financially secure
As anyone who has run such a conference will be aware, that's a tricky balancing act.
We have had some queries, as we do every year, about our ticket pricing. This page is intended to answer some of those questions.
Business, individual, and unwaged rates
Our standard, full-price ticket rate is the Standard rate. Companies can account for tickets as a legitimate business cost, which has tax implications. Businesses can also claim back the VAT we are obliged to charge.
We offer discounted prices for Individuals, people who have to pay to attend out of their own pockets, and who can’t absorb the cost of the conference into their operating business finances the way corporations can, or claim back VAT.
Finally, we offer further discounts for people who are Unwaged.
We believe this arrangement is fair. At any rate, it's the best we have managed to come up with.
All tickets are subsidised
It's worth noting that even the full Standard rate is less than the cost per person of the event.
In other words, a full-rate ticket is sold for less than it costs us to have an attendee at the conference - even at the highest rate, you are literally getting more than you have paid for.
The difference is made up by the generous sponsorship we rely on.
Non-profit, volunteer-run
PyCon UK is a non-profit event. Any surplus funds are rolled over to the following year's budget.
The organisers of PyCon UK are all unpaid volunteers. We do this in our spare time (and will buy our own tickets to the event).
Where the money comes from and is spent
Nearly all of our income is from ticket sales and sponsorshop, with a small amount coming from our merchandising shop.
Our two largest expenses are catering and venue hire. These are followed by financial assistance grants, and then by essential services, such as audio-visual support, STTR, the crèche and so on.
Have we got it right?
Each year, PyCon UK sells out well in advance, and we expect the same to be the case this year.
However, we don't imagine that we've come up with the perfect solution, and we'd be glad to hear if you can suggest improvements.
Still, we're very proud of the fact that year after year we manage to put on a first-rate PyCon for the UK community. It benefits everyone in it, and is organised with enormous attention to detail and runs as smoothly as any professionally-staged event - and we manage to do it at a far lower cost of entry, and with a very high value for money, for everyone.