From: fspck@acad3.alaska.edu
Newsgroups: misc.forsale
Subject: Re: Scalping (Was Re: U2 tickets for sale, August 23, Foxboro Stadium)
Date: 21 Jul 92 06:54:30 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of Alaska Fairbanks

In article <235@rd1.interlan.com>, browner@rm1.interlan.com (Michael Browner) writes:
> In article <92198.145604SPW103@psuvm.psu.edu>, SPW103@psuvm.psu.edu writes:
>     lots of stuff deleted
> |> 
> |> Scalping is _not_ the same as artwork.  When you buy a ticket to a concert,
> |> you are paying for a service -- entertainment.  If scalping were legal, you
> |> would have huge scalping firms buying up all the tickets for concerts, plays,
> |> sporting events, and even movies.  Then they'd sell them for a huge profit,
> |> and people would buy them because they have no choice.  In that situation,
> |> both the custumer and the supplier (theater,stadium, etc.) lose.  Everyone
> |> loses except the scalper.
> |> 
> 
> I got bad news for you there are huge scalping firms who buy up all the good
> tickets for many events.  They avoid the state laws that prohibit scalping by
> providing limo service to the concert, etc.  Most the the time people buying
> these packages skip the limo ride and just grab the tickets.  The scaplers er
> I mean travel agents (the guise they commonly use), make there money buy 
> selling these overpriced packages and hoping no one wants the limo.  There
> are also other variations of this scam.  When was the last time anyone not
> connected got into a Superbowl game.
> 
> As for who gets hurt, it is mainly the fans.  The people waiting in line all
> night get the shaft because all the good seats are held back.  Or the scalpers
> will send in guys for $5.00 bucks and hour to get as many tickets as possible.
> The venues never loose since all the tickets are sold, if the scalper is left
> with unsold tickets, that is the cost of doing buisness, and profit has been
> determined to take this into account.
> 
> I do not agree with this system.  It sucks basiclly, but it is up to the groups
> and the fans to stop it.   The groups by dictating how tickets will be sold and
> the fans by just not buying into this shit from the scalpers.  No concert
> or sporting event is worth an extra $100 or $200 dollors above the face
> value of the ticket.
> 
> |> >This is a capitalistic society.  Anything should be able to be sold to the
> |> >highest bidder.
> |> 
> |>    Scalping should be illegal precisely because
> |> this is a capitalistic society.  Scalping interferes with the exchange of
> |> goods and services between supplier and consumer.
> |> 
> 
> One more point, there are alot of things that interfere with the exchange of
> goods and services.  Do you buy your groceries directly from the 
> manufactuer (the last person to add value) or from the middleman (i.e. the
> grocery store).  Did the last car you buy come directly from GM or did
> you go to a dealer (someone who really doesn't add any value to the car).
> 
> Just my two cents.
> 
> Michael B.
> -- 
> Michael Browner     		browner@sun1.interlan.com or
> (305) 846-6848                  browner@rd1.interlan.com
> Racal-Milgo, MS E-142, 
> P.O.Box 407044, Ft Lauderdale, FL 33340  

Economics states that nothing will sell over the valued alternatives lost for
choosing an alternative.  In laymens terms, if the people don't value the
tickests, they won't sell.  The monopoly (created by the scalper) buys up all
the tickets to a given event.  Then jacks up the prices.  I am not going to go
pay $200 for a concert.  I just saw Hammer and Boys II Men for $30 last friday. 
I wouldn't have paid much more (actually, a friend took me, I didn't pay). 
But, if the concert is worth that amount of money to people, then it will be
bought.  Scalping is just a way of making money.  Just a middle-man, like a
grocery store or computer outlet.  Middlemen add services, and venues for
complaints, etc.  If the concert is sold out, and you want to go, you will pay
up to a certain price, but, if the scalper wants too much money for the
tickets, he has just lost a lot of money.  No complaints can really be made. 
If you beat them in line, then you get tickets!
  This is a capitalistic society.  Supply and Demand always prevail.