How to Put a Dent in Scalping

MrBill64 · Post by **MrBill64** » March 11, 2006 9:03 pm

OK Jimmy, here is how u can help out your fans to get tickets at face value. It's called presale. No fan club is needed just a limited amount of tickets available via presale. But here is the catch. Presale tickets that are sold can only be picked up at the venue via will call the day of the concert by the person who bought the tickets.

Each venue determines how many tickets can be distributed the day of the event via the will call window and that is how many tickets are sold during the presale. This eliminates brokers buying up tickets and reselling them at enormous markups.

Since a majority of the fans show up at the venue many hours before the concert, the venue should be able to distribute a good chunk of the tickets the day of the show without much trouble. Why JB doesn't implement this method is beyond me, but this will work.

Comments welcome.

Bill

spartan1979 · Post by **spartan1979** » March 11, 2006 10:09 pm

ANd so, the guy that legitimately bought the tickets, had something come up and couldn't go is SOL?

MrBill64 · Post by **MrBill64** » March 11, 2006 10:25 pm

spartan1979 wrote:ANd so, the guy that legitimately bought the tickets, had something come up and couldn't go is SOL?

Yep, that guy is out of luck. If you feel you don't want to take this risk don't buy presale tickets. Hey, it beats giving the brokers/scalpers free reign at getting tickets.

Bill

Buffett PHan · Post by **Buffett PHan** » March 11, 2006 10:41 pm

I agree it would work. Another thing that would work too.....is to have all tickets sold only at the venue box office. It used to be that way. And Ticketbasterd would be eliminated.

Sam · Post by **Sam** » March 11, 2006 10:46 pm

Or just pull a "Bruno and Rocko" number on the scalpers and take their cash too and stun gun them into la-la for good measure, add in a good dose pepper spray too. Remember to neuter them while you at it, so they can't procreate and successfully breed and maybe claim you were protecting yourself from being robbed and raped...

Most unfortunately, shooting them is against the law in most places, so other than NOT DEALING with them to start off with...I don't know what else will work....

MrBill64 · Post by **MrBill64** » March 11, 2006 11:06 pm

Sam wrote:Or just pull a "Bruno and Rocko" number on the scalpers and take their cash too and stun gun them into la-la for good measure, add in a good dose pepper spray too. Remember to neuter them while you at it, so they can't procreate and successfully breed and maybe claim you were protecting yourself from being robbed and raped...

Most unfortunately, shooting them is against the law in most places, so other than NOT DEALING with them to start off with...I don't know what else will work....

OK, you lost me. I didn't say completely do away with scalpers/brokers, I said put a "dent" in scalping. There will always be a market for brokers but when the brokers/scalpers are getting soooooo many tickets, it just seems the fans are getting screwed and this would be a way to lessen the amount of tickets being resold. This plan will help more fans get tickets at face value.

Although the neutering thing is something to think about

Bill

parrothead216 · Post by **parrothead216** » March 11, 2006 11:22 pm

Personally

I think Jimmy likes the FEEDING FRENZY to get his tickets. It is tangible proof of the magnitude of his success! He sells out every venue he chooses to play. His tickets are the toughest to get and the brokers make a bundle selling then on the secondary market. All kinds of heavy hitters want to be at THE SHOW of the YEAR so they pay. All these things feed Jimmy's ego. and even Jimmy with his laid back style has an EGO.

I personally think Jimmy will never curtail how his tickets are sold. I really think he doesn't care if his fans are inconvenienced. Monetarily,Travelwise or any way else. After, all Jimmy said it himself "Parrotheads......DeadHeads with an American Express card!"

If you look at the makeup of the posters on this board, it seems to me that very few people are scraping by to try to see Jimmy. The attitude is if you don't like( fill in the Blank) don't buy the tickets, IT leaves more for us to have. Also, no one ever seems to mind a ROADTRIP! and all the time and $$$$$ that that entails.

Beside I have it from good contacts that JIMMY and HIS people sell off a lot of premium seats to brokers. So if you are part of the problem, you CAN'T be part of the solution.

We can't travel to see Jimmy because of Family obligations, so it was Pittsburgh or nothing this year. Well it's nothing, and even tickets at face, would have been a hardship financially.

I guess there is a new definition of a Parrothead.........Money to burn, jobs that they can tell the boss when they will be there, no family responibilities to get in the way and the ability to be wherever they want , whenever they want to, and I guess WE don't fit the profile. So it seems we have seen Buffett for the last time. Truly, sad!

Just our humble opinion and some venting on a day that could have been a day of some well deserved happiness. Sorry.

blackjack · Post by **blackjack** » March 11, 2006 11:24 pm

Here's another thought...

Since JB can sell out just about any venue in under 10 minutes, sell the tickets one or two days before the show rather than 5 months in advance (Camden).

Less time for scalpers and ebayers to take advantage. Sure, travel plans would be tough for some, but hey, it's a thought.

Mr Play · Post by **Mr Play** » March 11, 2006 11:39 pm

Buffett PHan wrote:Another thing that would work too.....is to have all tickets sold only at the venue box office. It used to be that way. And Ticketbasterd would be eliminated.

What about people flying in from out of town for the concert?

Buffett PHan · Post by **Buffett PHan** » March 12, 2006 7:48 am

I'd say fly into town to buy your tickets too.

tequilatom · Post by **tequilatom** » March 12, 2006 8:01 am

The only way you can put a dent into scalping is.......1) people have to stop selling there tickets to scalpers, brokers or a stubhub 2) people have to stop buying from them......that would lower there prices supply is higher than the demand....and with that it would cause the scalpers to think twice about buying up all these tickets..........in a perfect world we can do it........but it will nver happen!!

davesnik · Post by **davesnik** » March 12, 2006 8:02 am

I know several pholks who travel to the venue and buy tickets there that day and usually for less then face value. I don't know that I want to take that risk because I'm just not that lucky. But some people have had great success with that method. just MHO.

Cubbie Bear · Post by **Cubbie Bear** » March 12, 2006 8:08 am

i have not used a ticket service since 1991. We always go to the lot. Once we got under face. Several times for face and a couple of time greatly over face value. But mostly 10-20 bucks over. My fear is starting at 126.00 if it tuns out to be a greatly over year, now I am shooting $400 for just the tickets. Add to that 4 hours each way to drive, lodging food and spirits and its a $1000 trip easy

MrBill64 · Post by **MrBill64** » March 12, 2006 8:24 am

tequilatom wrote:The only way you can put a dent into scalping is.......1) people have to stop selling there tickets to scalpers, brokers or a stubhub 2) people have to stop buying from them......that would lower there prices supply is higher than the demand....and with that it would cause the scalpers to think twice about buying up all these tickets..........in a perfect world we can do it........but it will nver happen!!

I agree with you on your points. But what I am trying to accomplish is not to do away with Brokers/Scalpers, I just want fans that are going to the concert not have to compete with these guys for tickets the day they go onsale. Brokers are not going to buy presale tickets if the only way they can be picked up is the day of the show via will call. And people that buy via the presale are not going to sell their tickets to brokers because they basically can't.

This method just gives fans an opportunity to buy tickets before the 1000's of "resellers" gobble up tickets the first day they go onsale. Other artists have a similar method of selling to their fan clubs. I am not advocating starting a fan club, this is not what this thread is about.

As far as only being able to buy tickets at the venue, too many people travel to see these shows and it would be tough to make travel plans ahead of time. This method provides you the chance to purchase tickets in advance but not have access to the tickets until the day of the show.

Bill

SanibelIsland · Post by **SanibelIsland** » March 12, 2006 9:08 am

You are aware brokers only take up roughly 5-10% of the tickets sold for his shows and that even if the broker was gone all together, the other 10% freed up would be sold quickly to other fans. Then if you are a fan and could not get a ticket at all either on the on sale or the presale and are completly closed out because the broker is not there to supply you with a ticket, you are saying they are just out of luck??

Seriously, if you think the reason you did not get tickets is because of a broker you are doubting just how many fans this man has worldwide. The demand for a show FAR out numbers the amount of tickets available, scalper or no scalper.

MrBill64 · Post by **MrBill64** » March 12, 2006 9:28 am

SanibelIsland wrote:You are aware brokers only take up roughly 5-10% of the tickets sold for his shows and that even if the broker was gone all together, the other 10% freed up would be sold quickly to other fans. Then if you are a fan and could not get a ticket at all either on the on sale or the presale and are completly closed out because the broker is not there to supply you with a ticket, you are saying they are just out of luck??

Seriously, if you think the reason you did not get tickets is because of a broker you are doubting just how many fans this man has worldwide. The demand for a show FAR out numbers the amount of tickets available, scalper or no scalper.

No, I was not aware that brokers take up only 5-10% of the tickets sold, I would have thought it to be higher. And if brokers couldn't get tickets it would only seem logical that fans must have obtained those tickets instead, and at face value, which is the ultimate goal.

I do not doubt how many fans this man has worldwide. And I realize demand far out numbers the supply of tickets. I did obtain tickets to Mohegan Sun, so I was not completely shut out. I just don't understand what is wrong with having a presale and picking up those tickets at will call. If I get shut out during a presale, so be it. At least if I get shut out from a presale there's a good chance that another fan got my ticket and at face value.

Thanks for the comment.

Bill

RAGTOP · Post by **RAGTOP** » March 12, 2006 9:30 am

why not just join a local Parrothead Club????????????

NYCPORT · Post by **NYCPORT** » March 12, 2006 10:36 am

The presale thing has been proven not to curb what you are trying to do.
All the brokers do is become members and arrange a place to meet the clients right next to the box office after picking them up. For the profits they make it's worth the time for them to personally show up for the exchange.

blackjack · Post by **blackjack** » March 12, 2006 10:41 am

Even if brokers have 10% at a place like Tweeter in Camden that holds 25,000, that amounts to 2,500 tickets that would be freed.That's more than I need.

MrBill64 · Post by **MrBill64** » March 12, 2006 10:41 am

NYCPORT wrote:The presale thing has been proven not to curb what you are trying to do.
All the brokers do is become members and arrange a place to meet the clients right next to the box office after picking them up. For the profits they make it's worth the time for them to personally show up for the exchange.

Yes, if tickets are distributed the day of the presale. My method has presale tickets sold ahead of time but made available only the day of the show through will call. How many brokers are going to risk getting tickets the day of the show with only that day to resell them?