Scalper?

September 24, 2009

This guy bought lots of tickets for all his mates and then suddenly had no mates. Pixies and Fleetwood Mac. Is this actually legal?

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Music-instruments/Concert-tickets/auction-242836442.htm

Look at all the comments/questions.

September 24, 2009

Don't get me started!!! I had missed out on Pearl Jam tickets for the standing area by 10.30am on the day they went on sale cause of all these picks buying lots of tickets either in one go or on several credit cards etc. As you say, there seems to be some people our there who suddenly loose all their friends and have to sell the tickets they have at a large profit.

got tinnitus · September 24, 2009

Apparently it isn't legal.... Read the back of a ticket.

Hence, don't buy tix off TM if the serial number is shown in the auction.

You should read some of Trent Reznor's comments on the sale of concert tickets 'industry' (I'm not talking scalpers here). The fans are way down the food chain... Or at the top depending on which way you look at it.

BTW, I have nothing against scalpers.

Get them on their bad day and you'll get a bargain.

chopper30 · September 24, 2009

Man! emotions sure run high when there are scalpers about. Especially when it's a sought after gig like The Pixies.

According to the man from trademe being interviewed on BFM this week it's not illegal except for special events like the World Cup. Whoever got that weird law made was certainly creative.

I was in Real Groovy a couple of years ago when the U2 tickets went on sale and remember thinking if there was one band who's tickets I'd really enjoy scalping, U2 would be it.

I didn't though -I most have a moral or two left in me I suppose

otisredding · September 24, 2009

Best thing to do is bid and then not pay and tell all your friends to so the same.

I detest scalpers.:mad:

September 24, 2009

Luckily I got my Pixie's tickets ok. It just pisses me off when you can't get onto the website to buy tickets then when you finally do they are sold out and the best you can do is paying at least 50% on TM.

Declannz · September 24, 2009

chopper;104011 wrote:

Man! emotions sure run high when there are scalpers about. Especially when it's a sought after gig like The Pixies.

According to the man from trademe being interviewed on BFM this week it's not illegal except for special events like the World Cup. Whoever got that weird law made was certainly creative.

I was in Real Groovy a couple of years ago when the U2 tickets went on sale and remember thinking if there was one band who's tickets I'd really enjoy scalping, U2 would be it.

I didn't though -I most have a moral or two left in me I suppose

I could justify scalping U2 tickets. lets face it, the whole band are scalpers, so it fits. The Pixies though... not so much. They're the kind of band that when you get to the front of the queue you expect to be buying the tickets from the drummer, who happens to be carving them in stone one by one as he signs and sells them to you.

*wake up declan. wake up. dreams are for kids*

cortisolman · September 24, 2009

Heh, we had a look at this in economics. Scalpers increase economic efficiency in the market, and make everyone better off. What's the difference between a scalper and a hi-fi shop who puts on massive margins? (just trying to give another view point, don't hate me, hate the veiw)

Electra · September 24, 2009

cortisolman;104040 wrote:

What's the difference between a scalper and a hi-fi shop who puts on massive margins? (just trying to give another view point, don't hate me, hate the veiw)

Hi fi shops offer service, scalpers offer a disservice? ( is that a correct term? )

HiFi shops operate generally as the owners sole income, or at least, their main income. Scalpers are just making a quick buck, often selling on at a big profit before they have to pay their CC bill.

Scalpers remove the chance for others who are unable to afford ridiculously inflated prices. Hifi shops offer entry level right up to the ridiculously

priced items.

aarond1553552714 · September 24, 2009

cortisolman;104040 wrote:

Heh, we had a look at this in economics. Scalpers increase economic efficiency in the market, and make everyone better off. What's the difference between a scalper and a hi-fi shop who puts on massive margins? (just trying to give another view point, don't hate me, hate the veiw)

There is no hate on this forum, only love and tolerance.

However, I must say, IMHO, that you have chosen a very poor analogy here to illustrate your point. How do scalpers increase economic efficiency?

The difference is that the scalper is profiting from the rarity and one-off nature of the product that cannot be obtained otherwise.

A Hi Fi shop with a 'massive margin' would generally just lose sales to other, cheaper sources of the same item. Or people could choose an alternate product from somewhere else. Or they may chose to buy the item from the Hi Fi store with 'massive margin' added because it actually has perceived value in terms of the after sales service, or it may even represent a good price once all the costs of direct importing the same item from overseas are taken into account.

e.g my bottlehead preamp kit was $US600, it eventually cost me $NZ1500 to get it into my hands. Poor exchange rate contributed, admittedly, but the extra costs were signifcant wiith GST, customs, internal freight etc.

September 24, 2009

Sorry I don't buy the Hifi store putting huge markups on argument, that's just bollocks IMO.

HiFi retailers are making a living.

Scalpers are greedy f*cks.

chopper30 · September 24, 2009

Declannz;104026 wrote:

I could justify scalping U2 tickets. lets face it, the whole band are scalpers, so it fits.

My thoughts exactly. It was weird that day in Real Groovy. Hundreds of people queuing outside and me the only one in there buying records. It would have been sooooo easy to make a quick $1000 profit but scalpers are scumbags at the end of the day.

Actually this could start a new thread "Which bands are morally acceptable to scalp"?

got tinnitus · September 24, 2009

It just pisses me off when you can't get onto the website to buy tickets then when you finally do they are sold out......

What about a brick bat to the promoters who allocate a huge chuck of the room (up to 75%?) to credit card companies who then on sell the tickets to their 'loyal clients' days before general release?

I learnt this the hard way; I now have a Visa AND Mastercard plus I signed up to Ticketek, Ticketmaster and Frontier.

These days if you hope to buy tickets the traditional way (in the hope of being at the front on the queue) then you are on the back foot even before the gig is announced.

Scalpers are very minor players in the scheme of things (1% of all tickets I'd suggest?) but thanks to TM they are the most visible.

got tinnitus · September 24, 2009

OK, I just checked TM.

Assuming all scalped Pixies tickets are up for sale right now. We'll say 14 tix.

12000 seat room; thats appx 0.1% of all seats available.

Even if we say 500 seats scalped (highly unlikely) then this is still less than 5%.

NeilNZ · September 24, 2009

cortisolman;104040 wrote:

What's the difference between a scalper and a hi-fi shop who puts on massive margins?

Not this again, if you really think there are massive margins in Hifi, why are there so many going out of business? Where's my Aston Martin?

You're dreaming if you think you can get rich in Hifi retail....

Scalpers are greedy cts and should be hanged...

minimoke · September 24, 2009

got tinnitus;104066 wrote:

12000 seat room;

tickets sales at $90 will reap over $1m for a concert - lots or people are clipping the ticket all along the way. In the spirit of free enterprise this guy is seeing how supply/demand works for what is percieved as a rare commodity. He's set a value which isn't being met by the market since there are no bidders so clearly his tickets, at this point, aren't worth $200 each. Compare that with the price of a Rugby World Cup final ticket which wil probably start around $800 each.

nixon76 · September 24, 2009

cortisolman;104040 wrote:

Heh, we had a look at this in economics. Scalpers increase economic efficiency in the market, and make everyone better off.

What type of nonsense is that? The same freewheeling 'capitalist running dog'* economics that caused that little recession we had lately? Hahha, just because they 'teach' it doesn't mean it's true. See how popular an MBA is these days.....

Seen in a microcosm scalping is a perfect example of supply and demand (which is where your 'economics' reference comes in). But reality is different (funny that). Say nobody buys the scalpers tickets either a) because the prices are too high or importantly b) because even though he's lowered his prices, nobody is around to buy them. So what's happened is that a block of tickets has been taken out of the market, thus removing the opportunity for fans to buy those tickets at a set price. This does not make the fan better off. However the originators of the tickets couldn't give a monkey, as whether they sold to scalpers or fans doesn't matter (again probably a reason this came up as a good thing in 'economics'), unless they are 'feeling' for their fans that is :rolleyes:.

* 10 points for the first person to name the country who routinely uses this hilarious slogan PS. If you're interested in trivia I can tell you why that countries 'insults' are always so amusing....

cortisolman;104040 wrote:

What's the difference between a scalper and a hi-fi shop who puts on massive margins? (just trying to give another view point, don't hate me, hate the veiw)

:confused: Wha...?

As for the "don't hate the player, hate the game" nonsense, please..... :rolleyes:

jcooze · September 24, 2009

China?

nixon76 · September 24, 2009

jcooze;104083 wrote:

China?

Close....(geographically that is)

minimoke · September 24, 2009

nixon76;104085 wrote:

Close....(geographically that is)

Lets try North Korea then.

nixon76 · September 24, 2009

Yep

The reason for their somewhat antiquated insults is their insularity. The last NK->ENG dictionary they have was written in the 60s. So when they come to translate their NK insults into English it has a somewhat more 'polite' and for us now, bizarre wording.

As my wife keeps telling me, I'm full of useless information

cortisolman · September 25, 2009

Okay, first off, I'm not a great fan of scalpers either, and I don't think HI-fi stores have massive margins, they'll have just the same as other simmilar shops. I just want to put the veiw out there.

Ok, bad example, but: A hi-fi shop buys goods from source, or distributer, and then puts on a margin, so that you can get the goods more conveniently. You pay extra money for the service, and convenience. Saves you the trouble from importing it or whatever.

Good example - A dairy can buy goods from the supermarket, and put on a margin. No-body complains about this, because there are usually more goods at the supermarket, BUT people still buy these more expensive goods, because they are willing to pay extra for the good, to save in time and or petrol.

So if people are willing to pay extra for tickets why stop them. The problem seams that it is scalpers making money from nothing, but they arn't. They get paid for waiting in line, and getting the ticket to someone more conveniently.