ATTENTION ALL TICKET BROKERS:

Good Morning!!!!
I want to start by saying that I love the passion of this board!!! While I was fortunate to get tickets through the Ten Club sale this week, I certainly have been in your shoes. I thought I would share my humble opinion on the subject. Scalping has always been a hot topic. No, I'm not a scalper, and if I do have to sell tickets, I will sell them for what I paid. The problem is not the scalpers (for the most part), it is your local governments that do not enforce the laws they have in place. While scalping is legal in many states, many states have limits to the amount they can resell a ticket above its face value. In PA, the limit is 5% above face value. Needless to say, these "laws" are not enforced. Lately, the large companies have created their own "scalping" sites; the NFL, MLB, NHL, and NBA all have places that fans can go and resell their tickets for whatever they want. Of course, these sites get a very nice fee on each sale. Your local governments will not go after these entities as they provide jobs and revenue. The question I ask myself is, "Why would someone want to become a ticket scalper in the first place"?
I try to humanize "the enemy" in an effort to understand their ways and thinking. Many of these people are spouses, they are parents, brothers and sisters; you get the idea. They are just trying to earn a living like the rest of us. They are not alone in buying or making something and selling it at a large profit. You would be shocked at the profit margin of some of the products you purchase at your local supermarkets. The reason this particular salesman's prices sting so much is because you are so very passionate for the product. I feel your pain. I have been there, and undoubtedly will get shut out at some point or another before all is said and done. I'm not defending the practice. I just thought I would provide another perspective on the subject.
Finally, I hope you all find your tickets without having to sell the farm. Someone on here made some good points on how to pay less for your tickets when buying from scalpers. Wait until the last possible minute, etc. Check it out if you get a chance. Have a great day my friends. Good luck, and rock on Pearl Jam!!!!!!!!

The Dude Abides,

Lebowski

I wish I was a ticketbroker. I'd make a killing on this board alone. lol...

Then I wouldn't have to get ass-raped myself for tickets...

If this was Facebook, I would totally click the "like" button

I don't think that ticket brokers get ANY tickets before the sales start. If they have tickets for sale on their website, it's more than likely that they are hedging their bets - that they figure they have many people out there that are willing to sell their tickets for a marginal profit to the ticket broker who then turns around and sells them at even more of a profit. Keep in mind that pretty much all ticket brokers are probably working from the same "pool" of tickets...I'm fairly certain of this because I've bought from a broker before (tickets that were listed on about 10 local broker's website in the same section and aisle), and when I called to purchase the tickets, the guy said he had to call and make sure they were still available...which means, he probably had to call the person that actually owned them, pay that guy a small profit so he could reap the bigger profit by selling them to me. if all ticket brokers work from the same pool, they can all have a huge "inventory"...and that inventory is either owned in small increments by many different brokers or they are hedging their bet that they can purchase those tickets from schmucks like us who have bought 2-4 and had a couple friends bag out on us so we sell to these brokers for less than face just to recoup some money and not have to deal with ebay/SH and shipping. Just my 2-cents...

One more suggestion...start a thread on fans who want to see EV for face value and have everyone list the number of tickets they want...I tihkn that there are plenty of people who bought tickets for the concert 2-3 months away that eventually will need to get rid of them because of different circumstances (friends bagged out, change of plans, flights cost too much, etc...) and would rather sell them to someone here on the boards (i.e., "true fans") as opposed to an unknown that may just be looking to flip them for a profit. In fact, I've got a pair that I bought thinking I could go to two shows in 2 nights in Chicago - but my wife said only 1 night...so I have to get rid of the second pair...and would rather sell them at face to someone here than screw someone here that didn't get in (and I'd still be able to keep them out of the hands of scalpers AND help someone avoid those scalper fees).

1. Brokers posting tickets before a public sale are speculating. They dont always have tickets, but they can get a seating chart and post specific seat locations. They post high price to create a market for higher priced tickets.
2. Brokers have software that allows them to bypass the security codes and buy tickets while you are waiting for the security code screen to appear. Yes in that time 1000's of tickets can be bought.
3. Brokers are in the 10c. A lot more than you think.
4. Brokers always have all the presale passwords.
5. Brokers buy tix from people that have access to tickets that are never offered to the public.
6. After all is said and done, when tix go onsale to the public, you are talking about a relatively small % of the tickets. Hypothetically, it could be 10% for venue hold, 15% for sponsor hold, 15% for promotional hold, 10% for VIP hold, 10% to the fan club (or other presale), for some artists, add another hold for "platinum, gold or silver packages." That is 60% of the tickets before a sale even happens-Id bet in markets like NYC the % of tickets on "hold" is even greater. Most of these include some of the best seats in the house. This is where most brokers get the bulk of their tickets IMHO and this is what PJ is up against at pretty much every venue.
7. TM does not intentionally funnel tickets to brokers (except maybe a few employees). TM does not like folks that resell their product without sharing the profits.
8. TM is trying to capture all the profits made by the brokers. That is why they have raised prices so much and bought tickets now (I dont think they own stubhub-ebay does).
9. Lest we not forget, our government approved the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. No anti-trust issues there :roll:
10. While consumers are getting screwed neither state or federal government agencies seem to give a rats ass about what it costs to attend a show, event, concert, walking with dinosaurs...etc. It is simply not a priority right now.

JV130312 wrote:

I wish I was a ticketbroker. I'd make a killing on this board alone. lol...

Then I wouldn't have to get ass-raped myself for tickets...

Abso-fucking-lootley scooby funkin doo lowest form of life is a cocksucking ticketbroker!

Cob wrote:

If I can't get tickets to shows of bands I like (Phish, Pearl Jam) through the bands, I just show up to the show and try to buy them from the box office or someone out front, I don't deal with Ticketmaster. Someone ALWAYS has an extra, if there are scalpers selling at least I can try to talk them into a certain price from them, it's better than buying from a broker online.

You would be surprised at how much ticket prices drop out front of a venue once the show has started, the scalpers panic because they don't want to get stuck with a ticket, I know it SUCKS to have to deal with getting tickets, but if you work the system, you won't have to deal with BS, you just have to be patient. I have a good friend in Houston that has been a ticket broker for years, he told me people will be getting into the Final Four this weekend for CHEAP, the people that were patient and didn't buy tickets months or weeks ago will get into the games for face value or cheaper.

Indeed. The BCS Championship Game may be an exception, but if you're willing to wait, you can buy many BCS tickets for $50 or less.