Same Same But Different Festival Cuts 2027 Prices With Its Own Ticketing Platform

Same Same But Different is making its 2027 tickets cheaper, and it built a ticketing company to do it.Days after wrapping its 2026 edition at Lake Perris State Park, the independent Southern California festival opened its 2027 Community Tier, with general admission priced at $295 all-in.

That’s $60 below last year’s opening Community Tier price, according to a press release shared with EDM.com.The festival credits ShopTickets, a Shopify-based ticketing app developed by SSBD co-founder and CEO Brad Sweet, who worked in investment banking and tech before launching the festival.

SSBD says a GA ticket last year carried roughly $56 in fees.The fee built into the new $295 price is 75 cents, and the festival says it’s passing the difference on to fans.

“Ticketing fees have gotten disconnected from the actual cost of selling a ticket,” Sweet said.“We realized that instead of complaining about it, we could build something better.

So we did.” SSBD sold its 2026 tickets through Tixr.ShopTickets, listed in the Shopify App Store since December 2025, charges a flat per-ticket fee rather than a percentage cut.

Since May 2025, a Federal Trade Commission rule has required live-event ticket sellers to display total prices, mandatory fees included, up front.What ShopTickets changes is how much of that total goes to fees.

SSBD holds an equity stake in ShopTickets, extending the ownership model it applied to the festival itself.Through a WeFunder campaign that launched last fall, SSBD raised more than $690,000 by selling equity to fans.

ShopTickets is built on Shopify infrastructure and can support festivals, promoters, venues and touring events, from general admission to arena-scale reserved seating.There are no long-term contracts, so promoters can use the platform without being locked into a multi-year ticketing agreement.

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