I really dislike places like stubhub

[cantstoplt021]

Or other aftermarket ticket sales places. One of my favorite artists will be playing in NYC this month. Tickets were originally 33 dollars, but sold out on the first day. Now the only tickets left are on stubhub for 150 dollars. Seems like if you have no interest in going to the show you shouldn't be able to buy a bunch of tickets and sell them for 500% markup

 

[chillybilly]

And don't forget the 'convenience charge' of at least $25 per!

 

[Dave Shoop]

I agree. It's legalized scalping isn't it ?

 

[Lephty]

I don't even understand how it's legal.

 

[moosewayne]

I don't even understand how it's legal.

They buy a ticket broker license, then pay tax on their income.
Whenever you wonder how or why something shady is legal, just follow the money.

 

[sanhozay]

it's a service that i've used in the 11th hour to score some incredible seats at great prices

you have to use it like a game of chicken, and if you're patient can do pretty well

ticketmaster is the worse place to buy tickets. if you can buy direct from the venue, lots of clubs & halls have their own commerce site.

but stubhub fills a void for stray tickets to desirable events. and if the timing is right - like ebay auctions - you can score big

 

[chillybilly]

but stubhub fills a void for stray tickets to desirable events

...and the not-so-desirable.

College football programs, for example, are getting in bed with the ticket brokers as it allows them to keep a glut of tickets from hitting the market. Cheap tickets = no 'donations' (read: legalized extortion) guaranteeing choice of tickets next season.

 

[GuitarGuy66]

eBay.

 

[tiktok]

I don't even understand how it's legal.

Why would it be illegal?

 

[cantstoplt021]

I get how its legal and all that it just sucks. I've wanted to see this artist for a long time and the only place they will be playing close to me sold out on the first day. Now the tickets are 500% more expensive. I mean what else can you buy and then flip for a 500% markup? Drugs? Other than that what?

 

[Dave Shoop]

Why would it be illegal?

It either is or it isn't. I believe in some states scalping is illegal and in others it isn't. Ticket resellers have a license to do it so it is legal. To me it is scalping. I go along with the legal system but that doesn't mean I always agree with it.

Many venues and performers limit the number of tickets an individual can purchase because they see the issue and attempt to be fair in the availability of tickets.

If there was a shortage of bread and someone went into a store and bought every available loaf of bread and then sat out front charging twice the price would that be acceptable ?

At sold out events this is what happens.

 

[Unnecessary]

You could look at it as "I didn't get on my **** and buy a ticket the moment they went on sale, and even though the even is sold out, I still have the opportunity."

That being said, I wouldn't spend that much on a concert without a meet and greet and some merch included.

 

[taez555]

You could look at it as "I didn't get on my **** and buy a ticket the moment they went on sale, and even though the even is sold out, I still have the opportunity."

Of course in most cases the only reason the event sold out so fast with the best seats gone is because the ticket resellers bombard the servers and bought all the tickets before the average person had a chance. Thus ensuring that anyone who wants a ticket will have no alternative but to purchase the inflated prices through the reseller.

Getting your **** together isn't always just a matter of being on-line, or on the phone at the exact minute tickets go on-sale.

Personally I'm conflicted by the whole thing. I understand the free market, blah blah blah, but... scalping is still illegal for a reason. And even if they are licensed, it really is just legalized scalping.

 

[bsacamano]

I still don't understand why concerts and sporting events haven't all gone ticketless. You buys your tickets, you show up with your ID and you get in, just like an airplane ticket. If you buy 10, all 10 have to be with you when you present your ID to get in. No more ticket brokers buying up all the tickets, no more scalping. If you can't make it, you just get a refund (up to a certain amount of days before the event) and pay a small fee.

 

[Mark Robinson]

The ticketing business is filled with the greediest scoundrels I know of. They add next to zero value, and skim the economy, cheating the artists and the folks who wish to pay the artists. A bunch of weirdos, zero respect coming from me. In my opinion, anybody involved with Ticketmaster, Stub, Vivid or any other aftermarket ticket SCAM/business is a seedy parasitic rodent, plain and simple.

 

[phil_m]

Part of the issue is it seems that venues are underpricing the tickets to begin with. Resellers wouldn't have incentive to scoop them up if they knew they couldn't make a hefty profit off of them.

 

[bayAreaDude]

Stay away from the Emporium then.

 

[Pat Healy]

The only thing that will change this is the sports teams and artists deciding that they want to keep a bigger piece of the pie. Currently StubHub, TM, and TM's secondary market brands like TicketsNow hike up the prices, keep the difference, and add no value. If I were an artist or sports team selling tickets, I'd be very interested to capture that revenue rather than letting StubHub keep it, so I think this is just a matter of time.

The mobile internet has now made it so that no one really NEEDS ticket brokers to sell their tickets. Louis CK did a beautiful job of selling tickets directly at one fixed price with no scalping allowed. Promoters like selling via brokers because they get short-term cash - a quick $100K in cash from a ticket broker is far preferable to slowly selling thousands of concert tickets over two months. Essentially it's a short-term cash float to the promoter. What is needed is 1. a better short-term borrowing mechanism for promoters, 2. a way for promoters to get broad internet visibility for their tickets (this already exists), and 3. a clear value proposition for sports teams and artists to keep more of the money, so that they'll exert the needed pressure to make it happen.

Put those in place, and the secondary market goes away. So does Ticketmaster, for the most part. This is a market fix, not a legal one, IMO.

 

[chrisjw5]

I still don't understand why concerts and sporting events haven't all gone ticketless. You buys your tickets, you show up with your ID and you get in, just like an airplane ticket. If you buy 10, all 10 have to be with you when you present your ID to get in. No more ticket brokers buying up all the tickets, no more scalping. If you can't make it, you just get a refund (up to a certain amount of days before the event) and pay a small fee.

My Philadelphia Eagles season tix are paperless. But as I can't make it to all of them, I list the extras on StubHub. I download the PDF from the Eagles, and upload it onto StubHub. The buyer gets instant download and I have my money - charge-free - from PayPal in 3 or 4 days.

Things you should know: StubHub marks up my price (10 or 12%) AND takes 10% of the sales price.

But still, I don't sell them for face, unless its the day before the game (or preseason; I'm happy to get 50% for those). I just sold my $95 seats to Eagles/Titans for $160 each. I'll get $288.

I have my Eagles/Cowboys tickets listed for stoooopid money ($450 each). I never miss that game, but if someone wants them for that (and pays half of my whole-season bill), more power to them.

I've tried to use NFL TicketExchange (it's a TM brand) but it sucks. StubHub kills them. Prices are the same for both, but in the pre-Eticket days I used to list on both simultaneously and someone on StubHub always bought first. In fact, I never moved a ticket on NFL-TE.

Here's why I hate Ticketless + ID:

I bought ticketless for John Mayer at MSG on Valentine's weekend a few years ago as a gift for my wife. We had a blizzard and couldn't get in. The only method we had was to sell back to TM (because they required ID) and have TM reissue them to the new buyer with their ID.

So I paid $30 in TM surcharges to buy the tickets, then 10% to them on the resale. It ended up costing me almost $75 for a show I didn't see.

 

[Dave Shoop]

My Philadelphia Eagles season tix are paperless. But as I can't make it to all of them, I list the extras on StubHub. I download the PDF from the Eagles, and upload it onto StubHub. The buyer gets instant download and I have my money - charge-free - from PayPal in 3 or 4 days.

Things you should know: StubHub marks up my price (10 or 12%) AND takes 10% of the sales price.

But still, I don't sell them for face, unless its the day before the game (or preseason; I'm happy to get 50% for those). I just sold my $95 seats to Eagles/Titans for $160 each. I'll get $288.

I have my Eagles/Cowboys tickets listed for stoooopid money ($450 each). I never miss that game, but if someone wants them for that (and pays half of my whole-season bill), more power to them.

I've tried to use NFL TicketExchange (it's a TM brand) but it sucks. StubHub kills them. Prices are the same for both, but in the pre-Eticket days I used to list on both simultaneously and someone on StubHub always bought first. In fact, I never moved a ticket on NFL-TE.

Here's why I hate Ticketless + ID:

I bought ticketless for John Mayer at MSG on Valentine's weekend a few years ago as a gift for my wife. We had a blizzard and couldn't get in. The only method we had was to sell back to TM (because they required ID) and have TM reissue them to the new buyer with their ID.

So I paid $30 in TM surcharges to buy the tickets, then 10% to them on the resale. It ended up costing me almost $75 for a show I didn't see.

Ahhh, that's part of the business I didn't recognize. The guy I know who does it has people manning the phones 24 hours a day to get a jump on great seats to sell them at a mark up.

I was clueless about private ticket holders using them as a selling tool when they can't make a show.