Ticket Scalping

[Off The Couch]

Some smart alecs are making a mint using bots to buy the tickets and then resell them.

How does a bot get past the 3 x "pick the squares with cars in them"

 

[Illinois Nazi]

How does a bot get past the 3 x "pick the squares with cars in them"

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/the-man-who-broke-ticketmaster

 

[Off The Couch]

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/the-man-who-broke-ticketmaster

Wow

 

[Flash of power]

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/the-man-who-broke-ticketmaster

So essentially all the bot catchers only slow down genuine buyers and the bots get through anyway, useful.

That was a really interesting read.

 

[Silent Alarm]

The people who get the angriest about this stuff are the ones who consider charging $200 for a $130 ticket on Gumtree...

 

[Flash of power]

The people who get the angriest about this stuff are the ones who consider charging $200 for a $130 ticket on Gumtree...

Why would they be the ones that get angry?

 

[Silent Alarm]

Why would they be the ones that get angry?

I know a lot of people who want to go to something and get angry about having to pay excess for it and say how they hate scalpers.

Then when they sell something else at cost price they keep talking about it like they gave the thing away.

 

[Damon_3388]

I know it's unpopular, but I have zero problem with scalping, and don't think it should be illegal or frowned upon.

IMO, once you've bought a ticket for an event, the promoter has got their money for their agreed price, and the ticket should be yours to do what you like with. If that is on-selling to another party who agrees to pay a higher price, so be it.

I do think there should be one single sale date for events though (no pre-sales or special member offers or later releases), and limitations on how far ahead events can go on sale (I feel six months is a fair maximum, for both the public, promoters and venues). This way for example, all tickets go on sale at 9am six months from Event X, and it's purely first in best dressed until sold out.

 

[Flash of power]

I know it's unpopular, but I have zero problem with scalping, and don't think it should be illegal or frowned upon.

IMO, once you've bought a ticket for an event, the promoter has got their money for their agreed price, and the ticket should be yours to do what you like with. If that is on-selling to another party who agrees to pay a higher price, so be it.

I do think there should be one single sale date for events though (no pre-sales or special member offers or later releases), and limitations on how far ahead events can go on sale (I feel six months is a fair maximum, for both the public, promoters and venues). This way for example, all tickets go on sale at 9am six months from Event X, and it's purely first in best dressed until sold out.

I agree to a point, the problem is it isn'r first in best dressed, you can be first in the queue and get nada, at least in the old days when you had to line up it was like that, the more desperate you were the earlier you got there and the more likely to get a ticket.

 

[Off The Couch]

I know it's unpopular, but I have zero problem with scalping, and don't think it should be illegal or frowned upon.

IMO, once you've bought a ticket for an event, the promoter has got their money for their agreed price, and the ticket should be yours to do what you like with. If that is on-selling to another party who agrees to pay a higher price, so be it.

I do think there should be one single sale date for events though (no pre-sales or special member offers or later releases), and limitations on how far ahead events can go on sale (I feel six months is a fair maximum, for both the public, promoters and venues). This way for example, all tickets go on sale at 9am six months from Event X, and it's purely first in best dressed until sold out.

I don't have a problem with people making a dollar off an event that they no longer wish to attend. What I have an issue with is buying multiple tickets to events that you never have the intention of attending but solely for the purpose of making money.

 

[Damon_3388]

What I have an issue with is buying multiple tickets to events that you never have the intention of attending but solely for the purpose of making money.

Aside from if it limits your ability to get tickets for a specific event, I don't get why people are so against this.

 

[Off The Couch]

Aside from if it limits your ability to get tickets for a specific event, I don't get why people are so against this.

Can I put my whiny voice on and say "because it's not fair"

 

[Illinois Nazi]

Aside from if it limits your ability to get tickets for a specific event, I don't get why people are so against this.

That's pretty much exactly why people are against it.

 

[kickazz]

I don't have a problem with people making a dollar off an event that they no longer wish to attend. What I have an issue with is buying multiple tickets to events that you never have the intention of attending but solely for the purpose of making money.

Agreed, it's the artificial scarcity created by scalpers that is the really bad part.

I mean, if you wanted to get all free market supply/demand about it, then you'd have some sort of bidding system where they are all available at once. I'd be interested to see what the price outcomes would be in this scenario. (caveat - only the purchaser can use the ticket).

 

[kickazz]

When demand outstrips supply, you need to find a way to determine who most wants to go to the concert and see that they get the tickets. That seems fair.

So how to determine this? In the old days it was how long you were prepared to camp outside ticketmaster. So it was about giving up you time and discomfort.

Another measure is how much you are prepared to pay. Provided it's not too prohibitive, it seems reasonable that someone willing to pay a little bit more should be given preference.

Then there are other ways - are you a member of a fan club? DO you own albums / have been to gigs before?


It all seems a bit hard. I think the best solution is a combination of a random ballot and names printed on tickets.

 

[Starburns_]

When demand outstrips supply, you need to find a way to determine who most wants to go to the concert and see that they get the tickets. That seems fair.

So how to determine this? In the old days it was how long you were prepared to camp outside ticketmaster. So it was about giving up you time and discomfort.

Another measure is how much you are prepared to pay. Provided it's not too prohibitive, it seems reasonable that someone willing to pay a little bit more should be given preference.

Then there are other ways - are you a member of a fan club? DO you own albums / have been to gigs before?


It all seems a bit hard. I think the best solution is a combination of a random ballot and names printed on tickets.

I've always thought that the decline in album sales could've been partially rectified by leaving codes within album sleeves (or via email receipts for digital purchases) that could be used to gain priority access to tickets.

Similar systems are used with vinyl records to redeem a free digital download, so I can't help but wonder how feasible it would be and whether it'd have an actual impact.