I hate a-holes like these. This is why the best seats sell out quickly, hope he gets mugged next time he's out there.

OBVIOUS

Ebay = Scalping

Did you even read the article Screaming?

I've always had great luck buying tickets to pro sporting events from scalpers. I've never paid over face (or even close to it). Granted, the seats aren't always great, but what can you expect when you show up on a whim at game time?

this guy is a pro. if what he says is true, it ain't just for hustlers and idiots. i kind of like the way it works

Too much work for me... I'd rather design websites!

honor among theives........

Cool article - economics in action. I had an economics prof. once say that scalping should be legal for exactly this guy's reasons.

It's those tickets hogs that stand in line or dial into Ticketmaster at 10:00am Saturday mornings and get all the great seats while honest people like me have to settle for the nose bleed sections because I am to proud to pay this piece of shiat any extra for a ticket! What makes me even more mad is the fact that Ticketmaster outlets have to hold a lottery if there are more than 2 people in line!! I was at a local Ticketmaster yesterday, got there at 9:00am, tickets (The Who with Robert Plant in Columbus Ohio) went on sale at 10:00am. There was NOBODY else in line since I was in Cincinnati trying to buy tickets for something taking place 100 miles north!! 10 mins before the tickets go on sale, 2 more people line up behind me. 2 mins before 10, there are still us 3 standing in line and the lady comes out and gives us tickets so she could hold a lottery for 1st in line. I was like WTF? I ended up THIRD in line and I was waiting the longest of all of us! So I end up with 20th row seats while the smuck in front of me gets the 5th row seat! Bullshiat I tell you!

Yes, I read the article. The guy puts polish on it, but he's still a scalper. Some of the people selling him tickets are the same ones that buy blocks solely for that purpose, and dump their extras to guys like him, he's part of the chain.

If you believe he doesn't sometimes sell tickets for more than face value, I have a bridge to sell you.

Pff... you know not of which you speak. I've dabbled in independent ticket resale, and if done correctly (nothing over face, no-pressure sales) everybody wins. Those with extras will make back some money, and those who come at the last minute may still get a deal.

Ahh...something on Fark that's well written and pays attention to grammar. It's been a long time.

ScreamingInDigital-may be hard to believe but, some people actually have morals and stick to them. Have a little more faith in humanity. Just a little.

Oh, yeah: We're all doomed.

I've seen and dealt with quality scalpers, not all of them are bad, you just need to learn to recognize what the bad ones usually look like and stay away from them. This guy is friendly with the guards and has business cards, he's got to be doing something good!

Oh. My. God. An article I submitted has actually been accepted. I think I'm going to lie down in a dark room with a damp washcloth on my forehead.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Yeah, Stamos,in this case, that is hard to believe. I quote: "I'm a reliable clearinghouse for people with extra tickets -- brokers who overbought, tour groups that canceled, or just some guy who couldn't get a date."

Note: "Brokers who overbought". If this guy is dealing with brokers, giving them an out for their extras, he goes right into the food chain that is ticket scalping.

Feeling faint?

Abybody got an extra pair for the Big East Finals?

methinks he protests too much. looks like a scalper, etc.

Actually, perhaps I'm too harsh. I won't call him a scalper... how about, oh, I don't know... maybe "scum-sucking weasel"?

This guy is rad.

u gotta love how he was a drug dealer b/f he became a ticket reallocationist. i tell u nothing helped my math skills like buying a pound of ganja.

Nothing'll teach you economics like slinging bud :)

OK, Slayer, how exactly are scalpers bad for the music scene? As a recovering Libertarian, I can't see why a reseller of luxury goods like concert tickets shouldn't charge all the traffic will bear. It's not like he's reselling charity food in a famine-stricken country, or running up the price of gasoline on September 11-12 of last year.

Oh please. ALL scalpers (including this bozo) are part of organized crime. They pay "ice" (bribes) to venue workers to illegally withhold from public sale vast sums of tickets so that they can acquire them themselves. Have you ever been first in line to find all the tickets are already sold out?--this is why. Scalping is a parasitic profession because they don't actually provide any product or service of value. They live off of profits stolen from musicians and athletes and production companies and venues and so forth. It is pure exploitation of the consumer (consumers would in general have no problem acquiring tickets, even at the last minute, if it weren't for the scalpers hoarding them), and in most cases numerous laws have been broken in the process. Scalpers might not deserve the death penalty like spammers do, but they do deserve to be prosecuted under the RICO statutes. They are unadulterated scum, and the laws against them need to be strengthened.

Lotta anger here against a guy I percieve as a legitamate business man. Heh. Always wanted to use that line. Seriously though, doesn't seem to me like he's doing anything wrong. If he wasn't providing a valuable service noone would go to him. Sure it's technically against the law, but the law is off base on a lot of things.

Points for discussion.

1) Enron did the same thing, they created a market for everything. Hurricanes, sunshine, whatever. And they became the 7th largest corp. in the us. before you jump down my throats, i am well versed in what happened. the fall of enron is due to accounting practices not a bad business model.

2) There is a prof. in Arizona that put out a paper stating that all sports teams could "perfectly discriminate" by auctioning off all their tickets. basically cut out the scalpers market.

3) How are scalpers different than the stock market, head hunters, anything. they create a market

So this "free market", pro-scalper argument is that a performing group (or entertainment provider of whatever flavor) should have no say in what people pay to see them, or who can afford to see them... is that the argument? That if ScalperCo is able, through whatever means they can devise, to obtain blocks of tickets, they may then resell them at whatever price they can get? Hate that... from both a performer and fan standpoint, that sucks must hugely. Actually, this all but removes the idea of "fan" completely from the equation.

well, as free market theory goes, that there has to be some trade-off for a limited good.

for arguments sake, take bread in the old ussr. sure, it was free, but you had to wait three days to get it (a cost). in america, it costs a buck a loaf (cost), but you can get it whenever. if we extend this to tickets, sure, you can sell tickets for $5 and everyone can afford them, but then there is gonna be huge lines and some people are not going to get the tickets anyway. further, a wealthy person could pay someone to wait for them. all im saying is that as long as there is some cost, it should be money.

i want the performers to start "scalping" (ie. legal auctions) the tickets. let the market decide what its worth.

does the performer have any input on who buys tickets currently?

scaplers in Houston got burned a couple of years ago. A couple of them got the bright idea to round up some homeless men to stand in line for them for rodeo tickets. Gave them the cash for the tix, gave them a small amt of money for standing in line and in return they took their ID's.

What they didn't know was that it costs $16 to get an ID and there are at least two churches that will give these guys checks to get the ID for free. The bums ran off with the money and the scalpers were left with several homeless-man ID cards. Damn, I love that story! Any scalper that damn dumb deserves to be robbed blind.

Here is a great report from the New York State Attorney on the problem, called "Why Can't I Get Tickets?"

Personally, I don't have a problem with having names printed on event tickets, just like airplane tickets, and requiring ID at the door. But I'm open to other solutions.

any chick got a nice pair?

It should be legal to beat scalpers with sticks, like it is with lawyers and talk show personalities.

I weigh in with the scalpers. Just don't see how they differ substantially from Ticketmaster, etc. They buy low, sell high. It's the American way. If people are foolish enough to pay hundreds of bucks for rock tickets, why shouldn't an enterprising guy get a %? That's business. I can recall before ticketbastard waiting in line for hours in zero degree cold for Bob Dylan tickets. Think I was going to only get the two I needed after that wait? No way. I was gonna buy the maximum allotment. I had a distinct lack of sympathy for late comers who wanted tickets at my cost.

As far as comparing ANYONE to Ticketmaster goes, there is no lower level of hell in my book. (What exactly is the difference between a "service" charge and a "convenience" charge anyway? Anybody?) But that another story...

In Texas, it's perfectly legal for ticket brokers to scam up as many tickets as possible, then turn them around for whatever they can get, whether it's 2x the face value, 3x, 4x or more. However, if I end up with a spare ticket for an event, and attempt to sell it for face value or even less AT THE VENUE, I am subject to arrest--it's technically breaking the law. That's bullshiat. I frankly wish venues and entertainers would band together however necessary to prevent brokers from intercepting tickets when there is legitimate demand at the agreed upon (face value) pricing. The current system makes for disappointment for average fans who end up with crappy seats (if at all), and a less exciting experience for event attendees as a result of a bunch of rich swells taking up the best seats, as opposed to the more dedicated fans who they supplanted only because of their fatter wallets.