The scoop on ticket scalping

Ticket scalping has been around since the 1850s, and legal attempts to stamp out the practice were as futile back then as they are today. But now scalping has become bigger than ever, a booming multibillion-dollar business, thanks to lawmakers who say if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

The explosion of Internet ticket sales has made it almost impossible for authorities to enforce price caps limiting a seller’s markup over face value. In recent years, all but a handful of states have eased or eliminated restrictions on scalping, making it perfectly legal to charge whatever the market will bear for tickets to hit shows, concerts, and sporting events.

While you’ll still find individual ticket sellers working the crowd outside of stadiums, arenas, and theaters, modern-day scalpers are big Internet-based companies like StubHub, TicketsNow, and RazorGator that prefer to be called brokers or resellers. They’re regulated, tax-paying entities, and have gained added credibility by inking deals with major sports leagues be the “official” ticket resellers.

Proponents see only an upside to scalping moving out of the shadows. They contend that, regulated brokers, are safer, more reliable, and offer greater protections to consumers, while creating a fair, open market for tickets to marquee events.

Critics paint a different picture, suggesting it’s a system that favors the wealthy, putting even more events out of the reach of Joe Fan. Speculators motivated by greed, they argue, buy up season tickets and everything else they can get their hands on, strictly for resale, thus preventing real fans from having a fair chance to see their favorite performers.

What do you think? We at Consumer Reports would like to hear about your experiences—good or bad—with ticket resellers. Were you pleased or dissatisfied, did you encounter any unexpected problems, tricks or traps, and were you able to happily resolve any disputes? Your comments and advice might help other consumers avoid making mistakes in the future, and contribute to a story that we’re working on about the subject. So this is your chance to sound off. —Tod Marks

Comments

[mbchoe]

i would recommend you shop around. sites like ticket lodge or ticket city or ticketwood can find you a good price. stubhub is probably the most reliable.

buying tips: i don't recommend selecting the 'upgrade me' option.

also shop around on craigslist or ebay.

[Free to Choose]

All I know is that now I have the ability to buy tickets to any event anywhere vs. when I was younger and if any event was sold out my only choice was to use street scalpers. How can this be bad? Often I get baseball tickets for below face value during the summer, but I am also perfectly willing to pay way above face value to get great seats, usually for concerts. I think any selling regulations relating to face value are dumb anyway since the cost of acquiring tickets is not just the face value of the tickets, what about Ticketmaster convenience fees, shipping charges, etc.?

[Frank Edwards]

I have purchased tickets over the Internet with mixed results. Several years ago I read an article in Rolling Stones magazine where they recommended www.ticketpro.com. Since then I have had received nothing but exceptional service and price. They have a commitment to the customer to get them exactly what they want at a price that is affordable. All of the Internet sites seem to share the same inventory. I like the fact that ticketpro.com works with me as an individual, not just a number.

[Brad Schy]

I have owned a brokergage for 18 years. Before that I was attorney and I had used ticket brokerages.

"Critics paint a different picture, suggesting it’s a system that favors the wealthy, putting even more events out of the reach of Joe Fan. Speculators motivated by greed, they argue, buy up season tickets and everything else they can get their hands on, strictly for resale, thus preventing real fans from having a fair chance to see their favorite performers."

With regards to the above paragraph:
1. There is no doubt the system favors the wealthy. Surprise. We live in America. Most things do favor the wealthy. A ticket is just a piece of real estate one may enjoy for a few hours. Nicer the real estate, the nicer the cost of admission. Nice neighborhoods throughout America favor the wealthy. BTW, who is to say "Joe Fan" is any better of a fan than "Joe Wealthy Fan"

2. Speculators buy up many commodities throughout the world. This raises the prices for some and lowers them for others. If you speculated on the Miami Heat this season, you would be dying on the vine right now. Again, to assume that people that buy from Speculators are not "real Fans" is asinine. If "Joe Fan" is a real Heat fan, they actually can buy tickets for lower than face value for most games. It is amazing how most "Joe Fans" are not such fans when the team is not hot. Also, as is typical in commodity markets, many seats go below face value. This just occurred here in Anaheim for the Billy Joel concert on tickets which ran $350/ea.

Brad Schy
Musical Chairs Ticket Service

[jms]

What value do ticket "brokers" add to the product? When they buy from one fan and sell to another, then they have the ability to verify authenticity and ensure prompt payment (stubhub does this well).

When they buy directly from the ticket box office with the intent to resell, they have added nothing to the value of the product. If fans want to purchase tickets to an event, they know where to go. They do not need companies to buy the best tickets and then charge a markup for the sake of speculation.

I believe ticket brokers should not be allowed to purchase tickets directly from the box office. Just because some people are willing to pay more does not mean we should all be forced to.

[Phil]

If you want the lowest online prices on any sports, theatre, or concert ticket you have to goto: stubdepot.com

Shop around, you will find they have the lowest out the door prices of any online ticket broker.

[Bill]

I have had good sucess using ticket brokers. I have built up a great relationship with my contact @ worldticketbroker.com and use Admit1 also.These guys know what I like and looks out for great deals for me. WTB has even thrown me freebies from time to time. I have also had some sucess of CL although I find that more risky. Although many times I pay well above face, I often cant find those good seats on the primary market or anywhere else. The reason why they are so popular is because there is a market demand for them.

[Eric]

I buy tickets to nearly every event I attend at the game from a fan with extras. Over the last fifteen events I have attended (Kansas Basketball, Kansas Football, and Kansas City Chiefs football) I have paid under face every event and 90% of the time have paid below half of face value.

At all of these events there are ticket scalpers who earn a living from scalping and there are ordinary fans with extra tickets. At the Kansas/Missouri game a few weeks ago we scored a pair of lower level tickets on the 35 yard line for $45.00. The face value of the pair was $120.00. A broker would have charges $500.00 for the pair.

Buying from a ticket broker means paying for the owner's salary, employee salaries, and rent. Therefore, tickets are marked up extremely high. Just buy at the game and you'll be far better off. Most fans of football will tailgate before the game and try to unload their seats in the parking lot right as the game is about to start. They are generally wealthy and do not wish to haggle or wait around for a higher offer.

If an event is the hottest ticket in town all year this may not work, but for several sold out Kansas football and basketball games we have had no trouble getting in. In a few cases we obtained tickets to a sold out game for $5 a ticket.

There have been instances of fake tickets circulating at sold out events. While this is a potential worry, if you buy at the venue from a fan with extras you will save far more money over the long haul than you will lose from buying a fake. To avoid fake tickets simply buy from a fan who is with a group of friends or his family and is about to enter the stadium. Don't buy from anyone who looks shady or is attempting to sell off stadium grounds.

In conclusion, never buy from a broker unless it is an extreme circumstance. Even national championship football games such as USC vs Oklahoma in 2004 had tickets available for half of face value at the venue.

[Shantel Geren]

This is an issue I am trying to draw attention to. It seems someone should look into it further.
My husband and I were trying to buy concert tickets for Phish in
Hampton VA from TicketMaster. The tickets sold out in less than one minute then we were redirected to another site where we could buy tickets for 20x the face value from TicketsNow. When we called TicketMaster they offered to give us the phone number for TicketsNow if we wanted to buy tickets, but if we continue to try back TicketMaster would be releasing more tickets closer to the date of the concert. I thought it was strange for them to refer me to another company so I did some research and found that TicketMaster owns the scalping company TicketsNow! If more tickets were to be released later, are these possibly the left over tickets that were not scalped and then redirected to the parent company? Well this past week when more shows went on sale for Phish's summer tour we once again tried to buy tickets, this time to Asheville NC. The same thing happened where tickets were sold out by 10:01 am, but we were sent to TicketsNow to buy them for $800. I had some friends who went to the box office where 450 tickets were supposed to be sold, however only 20 people were allowed into the building. Then the other 100+ people, some of which had been camped there for several days, were told no more tickets were available. The next morning at 10 am Tickets went on sale for another show in Knoxville Tn through a company called TicketsUnlimited. We finally were able to buy these tickets! Then an hour later they were still being sold. This seemed very strange after so much trouble with the other dates. I looked on the Phish web site and noticed that 3 other shows were still not sold out after 24 hours and they were also being sold through TicketsUnlimited or LiveNation. The rest of the sold out dates had ALL been through TicketMaster! I am not denying that these are high demand concert tickets, but there seems to be a conflict of interests when the company who is supposed to sell tickets for face value is also the company "brokering". Am I supposed to believe people buy tickets and then get them up on TicketsUnlimited so quickly?