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Why scalpers can get tickets

404media.co

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Re: Why scalpers can get tickets

#251

Post by maven29 »

patrickscoleman wrote: post #247
rs999gti wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Simple fix then, ban reselling. The artist and TM still get the revenue, but the scalper gets inventory they can't move. What about the fans? Similar to airlines, let people buy standby tickets, at the event, check attendance, if there is space let the stand bys in. TM still gets paid twice, scalper has garbage, and fans get in. What about fans who can't go? Buy the insurance at checkout, if you can't go the insuranc…

Also actual fans sometimes can’t make a show and need to resell their tickets

What is stopping the existence of a refund mechanism there?

Re: Why scalpers can get tickets

#252

Post by envsubst »

fallingknife wrote: post #169
analog31 wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From a cynical marketing standpoint, the perceived composition of the audience is part of the product. The same is true, oddly enough, for universities. Whom you're sitting next to matters, or whom others think you're sitting next to.

Great point. Harvard could charge $500K per year and easily fill out their classes, but they never will because their value proposition epends on being perceived as the smartest, not the richest.

> Harvard could charge $500K per year

They do, they just price discriminate.

Re: Why scalpers can get tickets

#253

Post by bigstrat2003 »

chongli wrote: post #236
SoftTalker wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The artists may not be MBA types but their managers are. If the artists really cared they could do like Garth Brooks (?) and book repeated nights in one venue until the shows no longer sell out. (I may be wrong about the artist but recall reading about at least one act that toured like this).

If you want to see what it looks like to be a musician whose fanbase is all rich people, look no further than your local symphony orchestra.

Which, honestly, is a much more pleasant experience than going to the concerts under discussion. I don't enjoy the music as much, but I also don't have to jump through hoops, compete with scalpers, or put up with the rank smell of weed hanging over the concert venue.

Re: Why scalpers can get tickets

#254

Post by ChrisArchitect »

emodendroket wrote: post #234
ChrisArchitect wrote: post #229

Aside: Why are all of 404media's posts popular "outrage" articles? It continually sours me on this new news outlet

This is a pretty straightforward account of how scalpers operate. Are they only supposed to write about lemonade stands and firefighters rescuing kitties from trees?

No. But I don't need another news outlet doing the same Ticketmaster etc story as everyone else. Just don't need it. There's been plenty of mainstream/tech news stories on the ticket problem, Taylor Swift etc, c'mon.

Re: Why scalpers can get tickets

#255

Post by Spooky23 »

josephcsible wrote: post #4

Why do the organizations putting on events like these leave so much money on the table? Why don't they just charge the market-clearing price themselves, leaving no room for scalpers to make any profit?

Not every event is Taylor Swift and prices are dynamic.

Great example: I bought a bunch of tickets to take my little league to a Mets game, which turned out to be the game where David Wright retired. I sold the leftover tickets, which I purchased for between $12 and $30, for a minimum of $350. We built a batting cage with the proceeds.

On the other side, whenever I’m in the city for a few days, I’ll try to score a cheap premium ticket from a season ticket holder who can’t make the game - and frequently do.

IMO the biggest issue with tickets is that it’s 2023 and we live in a pseudo libertarian business climate. It’s a market that should be regulated, as the ticket platform has an incentive to optimize their own self-dealing. The platform gets a vig for each transfer, so maximizing transactions is the optimal path. I worked for a company whose successful entry into event ticketing prompted a buyout by Ticketmaster.

Re: Why scalpers can get tickets

#256

Post by xzel »

maven29 wrote: post #251
patrickscoleman wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also actual fans sometimes can’t make a show and need to resell their tickets

What is stopping the existence of a refund mechanism there?

Everyone in the entire chain. From artist to venue to promoter/booker to ticket platform. None of them want to refund. Not just for the obvious, but they make a killing selling ticket insurance.

Re: Why scalpers can get tickets

#257

Post by emodendroket »

ChrisArchitect wrote: post #254
emodendroket wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a pretty straightforward account of how scalpers operate. Are they only supposed to write about lemonade stands and firefighters rescuing kitties from trees?

No. But I don't need another news outlet doing the same Ticketmaster etc story as everyone else. Just don't need it. There's been plenty of mainstream/tech news stories on the ticket problem, Taylor Swift etc, c'mon.

It's not really about that; it's more of a breakdown of the ways that they are actually able to circumvent measures meant to prevent scalping. If there have been a lot of such stories then I missed them.

Re: Why scalpers can get tickets

#258

Post by charcircuit »

emodendroket wrote: post #243
charcircuit wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It also is up in the air of the market value is really what people are paying or if it’s being inflated by scalpers Then use some form of a Dutch auction to sell them.

When you consider how fashion- and trend-driven music is the optics of tickets getting slashed in price because they haven’t sold for a month are terrible.

You could have it go from $10k to $50 over a single weekend. It's not bad optics if you don't sell out a venue at $10k per ticket.

Re: Why scalpers can get tickets

#259

Post by sundvor »

Analemma_ wrote: post #245
emodendroket wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That would just return them to the status quo ante where scalpers sell through third parties.

If you tied tickets to names and required ID at the venue (allowing refunds in case you couldn't make it), this wouldn't work and scalping would basically end overnight. The fact that neither Ticketmaster nor the performers nor the venues has ever taken this simple step is the proof that it's not in their interest to do so. Note that events where the promoters are actually interested in having people show up instead…

Yup if you applied for a refund, your ticket(s) could go back in the pool for someone wanting to get one/some last minute.

If it/they are picked up, you get your money back minus transaction fees and perhaps a small penalty, and if it doesn't, you don't - but at least you tried and someone else had a chance to get it.

Ticketmaster obviously doesn't GAF / care.

(The above was for a last few hours or days cancellation type scenario; there could be variations to this where if the event is months out, you could get an instant almost full refund etc - benefits could very well be linked to a premium subscription service perhaps. Lots of ways here to play.)

Re: Why scalpers can get tickets

#260

Post by emodendroket »

charcircuit wrote: post #258
emodendroket wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you consider how fashion- and trend-driven music is the optics of tickets getting slashed in price because they haven’t sold for a month are terrible.

You could have it go from $10k to $50 over a single weekend. It's not bad optics if you don't sell out a venue at $10k per ticket.

Having to slash the prices so drastically is also embarrassing and doesn't build hype the way the tickets being instantly sold out everywhere does.
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