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from the no-wonder-I-couldn't-get-tickets dept.
Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984
When Adele fans went online to buy tickets to the pop superstar's world tour last year, they had no idea what exactly they were up against.
An army of tech-savvy resellers that included a little-known Canadian superscalper named Julien Lavallée managed to vacuum up thousands of tickets in a matter of minutes in one of the quickest tour sellouts in history.
The many fans who were shut out would have to pay scalpers like Lavallée a steep premium if they still wanted to see their favourite singer.
An investigation by CBC/Radio-Canada and the Toronto Star, based in part on documents found in the Paradise Papers, rips the lid off Lavallée's multimillion-dollar operation based out of Quebec and reveals how ticket website StubHub not only enables but rewards industrial-scale scalpers who gouge fans around the world.
CBC News obtained sales records from three U.K. shows that provide unprecedented insight into the speed and scale of Lavallée's ticket scam.
Despite a four-ticket-per-customer limit, his business snatched up 310 seats in 25 minutes, charged to 15 different names in 12 different locations.
The grand total? Nearly $52,000 worth of tickets at face value.
Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/paradise-papers-stubhub-1.4395361
(Score: 2) by Wootery on Tuesday November 14 2017, @05:06PM (4 children)
No. Whatever scarcity you think the scalpers are introducing (none, as far as I can see), the legitimate vendor could do the same. Scalpers have no magic power to make their tickets more valuable than legitimate ones. All they have is a price-gap that they can exploit.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 14 2017, @06:52PM (3 children)
The scarcity is extremely evident. Tickets available to a sold out concert! When the concert is sold out due to scalpers, then the scarcity is artificially created. Let us extend this logic to something else. Why don't all the billionaires get together and buy out the majority of food supplies? They can then double the prices and make a killing! Answer is at least twofold. 1. Food is so widely available such a scheme is difficult, although megacorps are already doing a decent job of it and 2. people would riot.
There is a reason why humanity created morality and ethics. Actually it wasn't quite humanity, even many animals have their own sense of right and wrong. This modern age of nihilism and horrors for the sake of profit is disgusting and should not be defended. Such explanations / defenses should only be conjured up when trying to figure out how to fix the system to prevent unethical actions.
(Score: 4, Touché) by Osamabobama on Tuesday November 14 2017, @07:26PM (2 children)
It seems like you are against monopoly power in a market when it comes to scalpers setting prices high, but you don't recognize the same power in the concert organizer. The first round of ticket sales represent a monopoly, where the price can be fully controlled (to the extent there is a market demand at that price or higher). The scalpers then buy the tickets and mark up the price. The scarcity is there the whole time, but it isn't priced into the first round of ticket sales.
The problem with finding an efficient price point (where the supply and demand curves intersect) is that it typically prices normal people out of the market entirely. A pop star has to cater to her fans by allowing them into her concerts. Playing concerts for only the wealthy isn't compatible with the marketing plan.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 14 2017, @07:34PM
I never said there wasn't a monopoly from the original ticket sellers, but there is a big difference between the production level monopoly (more natural) and a middle man retailer who corners the market so they can artificially pump up the price and profit while providing no added value. I guess we're calling it "rent seeking" these days, but at least actual homeowners need to keep the homes they rent in decent condition so they provide at least some value.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 15 2017, @02:14AM
So what? As if it is a human right to attend a concert. Plus the scalpers have an incentive to get butts in seats too, if they price too high, unsold seats are worthless.