While no one enjoys paying for tickets above face value, there are those that sell tickets reputably and others that sell them in not such a reputable manner.
Ticket brokers are extremely reputable and often pertain to companies such as Razorgator, Tickets Now and Live Event. They purchase tickets in bulk based on the public's demand, also called their inventory. Brokers also often give you the ease of purchasing online, over the phone or in person at their offices. Not only do brokers sell tickets well in advance but you can also trust that the tickets will be real. If not, fans can expect them to honor their mistake because scamming customers is always bad for business.
Ticket scalpers, on the other hand, are shysters. What many people don't know is that many scalpers themselves are season ticket holders. That means they are already paying less than face value for the tickets they are selling you. And in case you didn't already know, when you see a man on the corner with a sign that reads 'I need tickets', that is code for 'I have tickets'. This discreet code is due to the fact that scalping tickets is technically illegal in most states. Ticket scalpers are expected to hold licenses by state law and approximately 0% of them are licensed. Ticket brokers are, however, and pay annual dues to the government in order to conduct business.
If you sit back and think about it, ticket scalpers are also viewed in a dim light for tax reasons. Why is a bookie a shady character in the gambling realm? The bookie doesn't pay taxes and neither do ticket scalpers. Their sales are 100% profit and there are scalpers in big cities that make a full time living scalping tickets. Ticket brokers are fully insured and have all of their earnings reported to the IRS at the end of the calendar year.
Today, technology is attempting to put a stop to the outrageous ticket prices on the secondary market in two ways; paperless ticketing and dynamic pricing. Dynamic pricing is a model followed by many hotels; when hotels go un-booked, the rooms get cheaper. The same thing will be applied to the events market. Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants saw a huge jump in revenue when they experimented with dynamic pricing.
Two criticisms of dynamic pricing is that many fans will eventually be able to purchase tickets for less than a season ticket holder purchased them for. In that case, why purchase season tickets? At the other end of the spectrum, the franchise will be guilty of scalping their own tickets when the demand for a certain game increases.
Paperless ticketing prevents the re-sale of tickets by requiring the purchaser of the tickets to swipe their credit card upon entering the venue. What happens if the purchaser suddenly cannot attend the game? How would fans give tickets to family and friends as gifts? Not only will this system cut down on the redistribution of tickets but it will also encourage fans to purchase tickets at the last minute.
Times are changing on the secondary ticket market. Hopefully for the better from here on into the future.
John Mann invites you to share your thoughts on the seats you sat in at NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL events at FromThisSeat.com. Your feedback helps other fans decide where to sit before they purchase their tickets. It is absolutely free and easy to use. All you need are your old ticket stubs.
Follow me on Twitter @FromThisSeat.
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