OT Ticket Scalping

[B1GEast]

Best tips to score sold out tickets and not get scammed. Any thoughts?

Boston and New York

 

[polycom]

Depends on the events. If you have a Platinum AMEX or Chase Sapphire Reserve the concierge is helpful to get tickets to "sold out" events.

 

[gampelcrazies]

just bite the bullet and buy on stubhub

 

[B1GEast]

just bite the bullet and buy on stubhub

Can't get the number of seats in the same section

 

[Dogdeacon]

What is the current state of outside venue ticket scalping? It'd seem to me that for regular sporting events it is not sustainable for scalpers to peddle fakes. I'm sure b/c it is easier to fake tickets it is more commonplace these days, but it still should be possible to find 'regular' scalpers and be relatively certain of getting usable tickets. Otherwise the market effects of sustained sales and possible police action deter the fakes market.

On the other hand, given the ease of on-line resale I'd bet there are less fans selling tickets, so at a venue you almost have to deal with the scalpers and pay a little more than fan-to-fan. But I'd bet paying a scalper outside a venue is still less than the convenience premium you pay for advance ticket site purchases AND scalpers are still very able to hoard tickets en mass to make sure they have product. Lastly I'd think the inflated sports ticket prices is a bit of a governor on street level scalping. There's got to be a limited # of people walking around with $300+ cash that it'd take for decent seats these days and it'd seem to me the sheer absurdity of exchanging too much cash on the street acts as a natural restriction on street ticket pricing.

 

[dvegas]

for concerts, re-releases. the performers block seats for their use, and sound/speakers. A few days out, they know what they aren't going to use, and put them up for sale. Requires constant checking of venue websites/ticketbastard, but 95% of the time I can pull good seats to sold-out shows a few days in advance, or sometimes day of show. That's for shows that are not hard sell-outs (sells out day of on-sale). If a show does not hard sell out, even if it sells out, only a fool would pay over face value (i.e., UCONN football and basketball last 5 years, Villanova game at Hartford this year prime example)

At casinos, they will invariably hold tickets for high rollers, and re-release them when there are no takers. Second row center for Stevie Wonder a day before a Mohegan Sun a few years ago. $120. Similar seats were >$600 on StubHub at the same time ;-)

 

[k-walk]

I think you guys are missing the point, scalping in general is inhumane

 

[uconnphil2016]

I think you guys are missing the point, scalping in general is inhumane

Everyone’s gotta make a buck. It’s not like working at most of CTs jobs in defense related industries is exactly advancing the cause of world peace. Scalping is pretty innocuous in the grand scheme of things

 

[Dogdeacon]

Everyone’s gotta make a buck. It’s not like working at most of CTs jobs in defense related industries is exactly advancing the cause of world peace. Scalping is pretty innocuous in the grand scheme of things

I think this was a literal interpretation.

Aside there is technology afoot that could make ticket resellers a thing of the past very soon. If tickets are tied to people and only passable person-to-person then the teams/owners/arenas always at least stay in the chain of ticket custody & ultimately arrest the 3rd party profits. Its coming for both profit and safety reasons.

 

[uconnphil2016]

I think this was a literal interpretation.

Aside there is technology afoot that could make ticket resellers a thing of the past very soon. If tickets are tied to people and only passable person-to-person then the teams/owners/arenas always at least stay in the chain of ticket custody & ultimately arrest the 3rd party profits. Its coming for both profit and safety reasons.

Right. I have a soft spot for scalpers. The guys who scalp in Hartford make just a little money and are generally pretty poor. I’m sure folks have bought tickets from Terry at XL or the meadows (he’s like 6 ft 8) and a great guy. Does suck when the cops give a hard time over it