E- Scalpers!!!

ColoradoBass · #1 03-23-2008, 08:52 AM

How is this legal?
My wife, a life long Duran Duran fan logged on to Ticket Master to get tix for their Denver show as soon as they went on sale, hoping to get some good seats. That however was not possible because every thing really good was already sold out.. within a few minutes of the tix going on sale!
Now sure, DD is a good band, but this isnt the 80's anymore and I just dont see tix going that fast. So we log onto E-bay and sure enough there are tix up for sale there for several times face value... just minutes after they went on sale!
I ask again, how is this legal?

tplyons · #2 03-23-2008, 08:54 PM

Depends on the state that the seller is in. In New Jersey, one cannot resell tickets for more than face value. That means eating the Ticketmaster charges if you can't make a show.

I notice a lot of them are in CA, which drives me nuts that a company in CA would buy tix for a show just to scalp them. I agree, it should be illegal if it isn't. It just sucks. Ticket prices are high enough without having to buy them from a cheapskate.

IanStephenson · #3 03-24-2008, 02:29 PM

Yeah it sucks, and yes it is usually illegal. I'm not really sure WHY it's illegal - why do tickets for shows get special treatment under the law, making it illegal to sell them for more that the sticker price?

Can we get the same rule applied to 62 Jazz basses? Surely it must be illegal to sell them for more than the original sticker price?

Ian

i_got_a_mohawk · #4 03-24-2008, 02:35 PM

It sucks. Thankfully they are making it harder to do over here (you have to show a picture of yourself with the ticket or something on ebay, sometimes you need to list the ticket number and some events do not allow the sale of tickets on ebay).

I thought ticket master only allowed people to buy a certain number of tickets per address or credit card?

lord toranaga · #5 03-24-2008, 04:58 PM

with ticket master, you should check back every day, or multiple times a day.

Many times, people will use credit cards to reserve tickets, and then the credit card fails to approve the transaction.

MAny times I have scored great seats, just days before the show.

lunarpollen · #6 03-25-2008, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IanStephenson

Yeah it sucks, and yes it is usually illegal. I'm not really sure WHY it's illegal - why do tickets for shows get special treatment under the law, making it illegal to sell them for more that the sticker price?

Can we get the same rule applied to 62 Jazz basses? Surely it must be illegal to sell them for more than the original sticker price?

Ian

Deliberate hoarding and price gouging is different than selling a vintage instrument. The latter is dependent on an already long-existing market for 62 Jazz basses, outside an individual seller's control. The former is a deliberate act by one or a few individuals to control and manipulate an entire market.

Liko · #7 03-25-2008, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lunarpollen

Deliberate hoarding and price gouging is different than selling a vintage instrument. The latter is dependent on an already long-existing market for 62 Jazz basses, outside an individual seller's control. The former is a deliberate act by one or a few individuals to control and manipulate an entire market.

Yes, and that describes this case, but why does that prevent the guy who bought four tickets because he thought he'd need 'em from selling them at "market" instead of face value when it turns out he didn't? If Metallica's playing at Nokia Theater in Dallas the show's gonna sell out in about five seconds without any e-scalpers involved and thousands of people are still going to want tickets. If you bought four and only need two, people desperate to see the show will gladly pay double or triple face value.

There are also "concierge" companies who specialize in getting tickets on the cheap for companies, who turn around and give them away as fringe bennies or use em to woo clients. If the concierge company buys the ticket and their client firm doesn't want it, they have to eat it unless they can find a buyer on the open market. eBay becomes your greatest friend for offloading that kind of thing, and you get whatever the buyer will pay.

Neither scenario applies here. The company is buying every last ticket they can get so that they can broker em out at THEIR price. That's price gouging, and even if a free market society tolerates it, all it means is the guy with 10,000 can buy out the theater and then turn around and double his money. Neither the performer nor the venue sees a penny of the upcharge, and in the Internet age, e-scalping doesn't even add the value of not having to wait in line. It serves no purpose and only works because the scalper corners the market.

Guiseppe · #8 03-26-2008, 12:08 AM

I remember a few years back when Simon & Garfunkel toured I planned on treating my (then) squeeze and getting front row-center seats. I arrived at the local Ticketmaster outlet in plenty of time and was at the front of the line when they opened. When the agent looked up the available seats, the ENTIRE 100/200 levels were ALREADY SOLD OUT!

By the time I got home and looked online, the tickets I originally was prepared to play $200 each for were going for $800 each.

I don't know how it can go on, but this was a HUGE discouragement for me to ever go see a big-name act live again.