Toronto Scalpers are Scum

pjam

A friend of mine and I decided to take a last minute trip to toronto and try to score some tickets to the show. I set out on what was supposed to be an 8 1/2 drive from CT. Due to traffic and other delays it took about 15 hours in the car to get there. Before I go on I admit that driving 8 hours or 15 hours without tickets is not the smartest thing to do. That being said we arrived in Toronto about 4 pm friday afternoon and went to the venue. I tried from 4pm till 10pm to score tickets and the cheapest I heard of were 300 for a single lawn seat. The scalpers in Toronto are the biggest group of A__holes I have ever crossed paths with. Besides the the prices they were just idiots. They were bragging how much they made for the night. They would tell you make them an offer then insult you for only offering 3 times face value. I have seen 30 something pearl jam shows and at least another 100 non pearl jam shows and never come across people like that. I'm proud that I didn't give in to those prices since I can't afford 300 for a ticket and still enjoyed hanging out on the side of the venue with some fellow Pj fanatics that were also shut out. Like I said before I know its my fault for going that far to a show without a ticket but since I hadn't been shut out before I did not see that coming. I just wish there was a way to stick it to those scalpers.

Snoopy Died For Our Sins

You can go to the 10C window and point the scalpers out to 10C staff and have them picked up by security/police...

JW0422

hopefully they got stuck with a lot of tickets because people didn't want to pay those outrageous prices they were trying to get for the tickets, maybe they were just bull-sh-ting about how much they made, I hope that was the case!

guitar101

well that makes me feel a little better about not being able to track down a ticket. we were about an hour away and almost resorted to wandering around looking for tickets from scalpers on the street but decided against it as i was recently burned at another show w/ a fake ticket. Sounds like i missed one hell of a show ...but i decided that night to join the 10c so that it wouldnt happen again.

LoveBoatAdmiral

Snoopy Died For Our Sins wrote:

You can go to the 10C window and point the scalpers out to 10C staff and have them picked up by security/police...

When I went to pick up my tickets around 5 oclock, there were at least 4 scalpers standing NEXT TO the 10C table offering me 250 a ticket. I drove 12 hours to be there, so I wasn't giving them up for 2500 a ticket, but the scalpers there were aggressive and there were A LOT of them. Most of them were trying to buy tickets, not sell them, so the popularity of this show might have caught even the scalpers off guard.

Zillah13

They're still a bunch of BASTARDS!!!!! I was one of those people waiting in line hoping that extra tickets were going to be released. And.... nothing! Those scalpers are a bunch of Aholes!!!! They wanted anywhere between $250-$900 for lawns!!!!!! UNBLEEPINBELIEVEABLE!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't afford that!!!!
All I wanted was to go & see my favourite band..... AND I couldn't!!!!
Scalpers need to be shot or something. It's us...... the fans who in the end get screwed!!!!!!!!!!

southp

One scalper offered my $1000 for my 7th row 10C seats. I kindly refused his offer... there was no chance in hell I was going to give those up!

MayDay10

I agree. Walking up to the 10c tables, I was asked every 25 feet if I had extra tickets.



I looked for extra tickets since just after they were on sale. There was a few people I wanted to get into the show. I would check ticketmaster every day, tickets were never released. I also checked the secondary market sites regularly. I have never seen a PJ show with prices for the worst seats (lawn) that high. They never lowered.... even with sclapers outside the venue. Unbelievable

nevmiles

LoveBoatAdmiral wrote:

Snoopy Died For Our Sins wrote:

You can go to the 10C window and point the scalpers out to 10C staff and have them picked up by security/police...

When I went to pick up my tickets around 5 oclock, there were at least 4 scalpers standing NEXT TO the 10C table offering me 250 a ticket. I drove 12 hours to be there, so I wasn't giving them up for 2500 a ticket, but the scalpers there were aggressive and there were A LOT of them. Most of them were trying to buy tickets, not sell them, so the popularity of this show might have caught even the scalpers off guard.

Yeah, literally SECONDS after I picked up my 10C tix, there were scalpers asking if I was selling them . . . I was like hell no!

guitar101

i also checked every day on ticketmaster for the last month as well as all day the day of the show and saw no tickets released at all. very disapointing, but i guess thats what happens when you dont get tickets right away.

LukinFan

I hate scalpers in general. They are usually the biggest assholes around. They treat you like shit and could care less about that particular band or sports team- I just wish they would get a real job

Horse2345

I don't get it, Scalping is Illegal in Ontario why don't the cops just get rid of all the scalper scum? Would be pretty easy to at least minimize it there. Here in BC its legal so you can't really do anything about it accept not buy.

chico mendes

we won the lottery in section 101 row g and i know the couple behind us paid $1500 for their seats which would be fan club seats. Kinda disappointing when fan club members sell their seats.

fife

i understand the hatred of scalpers i was happy that i got a ticket to the show by a great 10 club member for face vaule. so many scalpers came to me to see if i needed tickets. do what i do everytime some one asks if i have tickets say yes but tell them that there was another guy who asked me if i had extras then point to another scalper and say he needs some. it is very funny.

JaneNY

Horse2345 wrote:

I don't get it, Scalping is Illegal in Ontario why don't the cops just get rid of all the scalper scum? Would be pretty easy to at least minimize it there. Here in BC its legal so you can't really do anything about it accept not buy.

I would guess the reason is resources and cops can't go after every little thing. Weed is also illegal there too but plenty of that around at shows (I don't use, but I don't care if someone else does).

Gary Carter

LukinFan wrote:

I hate scalpers in general. They are usually the biggest assholes around. They treat you like shit and could care less about that particular band or sports team- I just wish they would get a real job

Don't blame the scalpers, blame people buying from them. As long as a sucker buys from them, the scalpers will have jobs.

liquidsilver

As soon as I picked my tickets up I was offered $500 for a single by a scalper...I told him "hells no, you're in the wrong place to find people willing to give up tickets"

keeponrockin

Yeah they were all offering to buy. I wouldn't have given up my seat for $1000. Especially after hearing the EV preset!

NWOntario

I was offered $500/ticket at the TenClub window, then between $400-$900 later on; I have no idea how many Toronto concerts I've seen, but I have never seen the scalper market like this. Also, as people have pointed out, there weren't any drops (at least that anyone here could find). That's highly unusual as well. I guess Pearl Jam really was the hottest ticket in town this summer.

As an aside, though, a friend of mine tagged along to see if he could find a single and he found one in the 400s for $140. That seems entirely reasonable to me, especially given the inflated market. Ultimately, if you're being offered $350 to sit on the lawn (which he was), it's up to you to say no (which he did, repeatedly), just like it's up to you to say no when you're offered $1,000 cash for your fan club seats.

NWOntario

And one more thing: you should've seen my family's reaction when they heard how much money I turned down for my TenClub tickets. It was inconceivable to them that I wouldn't have even entertained the thought of selling. At the Vic, I was offered $600 for my wristband and responded (I believe) with, "I start talking at $10,000." You should've seen his reaction (don't worry, I wouldn't have sold for all the tea in China).

Sean1987

When I was walking around around Molson Amp I heard $250 for lawn (guessing lawn) then as we got closer to the entrance it was $350 for lawns $500 for seats where, I have no idea. So many scalpers were asking if I was selling, Not a chance in hell even if I had an extra to sell its face value to a fan not some guy trying to make a quick buck...My dad kept telling me to sell them so I could get snow tires then the next day I was watching Immagine in Cornice at the end with Neil Young's Keep on rocking in the free world cover when it finished he started it from the start...so glad i got lucky on ticketmaster

polaris_x

the scalpers must've made a killing that night which is why they wouldn't budge even after the show started ... having said that tho - there aren't a lot of venues where you can actually hear it fairly decently without paying ... so, hopefully - you got to listen to the show without actually being in the venue ...

also - this is clearly an issue with pearl jam's booking team ... if there was a second show - no way would scalpers get what they did ... the demand was sooo high - they were for sure gonna make a killing ...

MayDay10

another strange element is the fact that tickets were available here at 10c for so long...

I guess its nice validation that our favorite band is in such high demand.

RD171825

I picked my 10C tix up around 1pm or so and was offered $1000 bucks for mine (203 row L) I just laughed in the guys face and kept on walkin.

NWOntario

MayDay10 wrote:

another strange element is the fact that tickets were available here at 10c for so long...

I think that's because either a, the 10% rule wasn't in effect, or b, it isn't in effect in Canada (I believe b to be the case, but a must be true as well since there were so many TenClub members in attendance). It was like that in 2006, as well: both Toronto shows were still on sale well after tickets because available. There probably should've been a second show; we'll just have to start an official petition on here.

Child Of The 90s

What really pisses me off is that the promoters do nothing about it. They hire security to give the fans a ton of grief, but they don't give a fuck about the sleezy scalpers right outside the door. The security was so uptight that I wasn't even alowed to have a lid for my water so it didn't spill. That's just one example of many where it seemed like the promoters, etc were going out of their way to be a pain in the ass.

How about re-evaluating priorities.

I really loved the show once I was at my seat, but the atmosphere before and after was shit. If it's not a scalper trying to sell you overpriced tickets, it's an underpaid teenager harassing you to sign up for credit cards or buy overpriced beer. What the fuck happened to rock and roll?

There seems to be no shortage of resources when it comes to making it difficult for patrons to partake in certain activities, so why does it have to be so difficult to stop scalpers from buying up all the tickets so they can rip people off.

I understand that the scalpers are outside of the venue, but this shouldn't be an excuse to let it happen. If there were 50 homeless guys agressively harassing everyone that walked by, I guarantee that the police would be involved.

I have no problem with Pearl Jam or the Ten Club, just the promoters who are as sleezy as the scalpers themselves.

Child Of The 90s

pjam wrote:

I just wish there was a way to stick it to those scalpers.

Not giving them your money would be a start.

I realize that you want to see the show, but buying from scalpers will only make the problem worse in the long run.

While I hate the fact that scalpers rip people off, that's not my main beef with them. What I hate the most is that they buy up so many tickets so that it becomes nearly to impossible to buy regular priced tickets if you want to.

spryguy09

NWOntario wrote:

MayDay10 wrote:

another strange element is the fact that tickets were available here at 10c for so long...

I think that's because either a, the 10% rule wasn't in effect, or b, it isn't in effect in Canada (I believe b to be the case, but a must be true as well since there were so many TenClub members in attendance). It was like that in 2006, as well: both Toronto shows were still on sale well after tickets because available. There probably should've been a second show; we'll just have to start an official petition on here.

I had scalpers approaching me as well. A 2nd show would definately be called for. The problem with so many 10clubbers in attendance, it drives up the demand for the general public. The whole point of 10C is to remove the scalping element from the best seats. But it also creates a demand that scalpers can easily cash in on for the remainder of the venue.

Hawk123

There's a scalper who is at almost every leafs game and all major concerts. He drives a lamborghini and must be the ring leader.

cdp1223

pjam wrote:

I'm proud that I didn't give in to those prices since I can't afford 300 for a ticket and still enjoyed hanging out on the side of the venue with some fellow Pj fanatics that were also shut out. Like I said before I know its my fault for going that far to a show without a ticket but since I hadn't been shut out before I did not see that coming. I just wish there was a way to stick it to those scalpers.

Were you by any chance sitting on the slope/hill behind the back gate next to like a lagoon? We were in town as well and thought about getting tickets, but were not going to buy from scalpers. We thought since the Ex was happening, we would be able to hear a bit from inside Ontario Place. We rounded a corner near the kiddie area and mini golf and found this hill that was like the best place ever to watch from. We saw the whole concert (with the exception of the opening, which I didn't realize wasn't Ted Leo after all) for free with a group of fans and kids and casual observers. It was one of the most memorable concert experiences of my life! I'm glad you were able to catch the show after all.

milarso

Right after we picked up my 10C tickets, I got offered $1,000 for both (they weren't great. 100 section, left side). We thought about it for about half a second, then cursed ourselves for not trying to pick up a pair of TM tix...
Passed on the cash- experienced an amazing show.