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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 Wednesday November 15 2017, @09:32AM (8 children)
To who? All it does is replace early-buying fans by high-paying fans, with the scalpers pocketing the difference. It doesn't benefit the people behind the event itself, and it disadvantages the would-be early-buying-fan when the scalper gets in first.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday November 15 2017, @02:16PM (7 children)
Ok, so why don't you think that is a benefit? High-paying fans who made last minute plans shouldn't be allowed to go to a concert? What you're willing to pay for a ticket is a strong indication of your desire for that ticket. My working example here is airline tickets which implements a system called dynamic pricing so that people who make last minute travel plans have travel options, but they pay for that with higher ticket prices.
(Score: 2) by Wootery on Wednesday November 15 2017, @05:06PM (5 children)
It's zero-sum. I already asked you: where is the benefit in the high-paying fans being able to attend instead of early-buying (and possibly less wealthy) fans?
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday November 15 2017, @08:23PM (1 child)
They get tickets for things they want. And keep in mind that this whole mess started because early-buyers have access to all the tickets.
(Score: 2) by Wootery on Wednesday November 15 2017, @09:45PM
That doesn't answer the question. Again you're ignoring that it's zero-sum. There's no reason to favour high-paying late-comers over ordinary customers.
There is no 'mess', there's just natural scarcity.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday November 15 2017, @08:37PM (2 children)
This a strong indication something is broken. The additional revenue from the people willing to pay more could either be used by the parties who are running the concert (band or venue) or given back to fellow concert goers in the form of cheaper tickets. It should not be zero-sum.
(Score: 2) by Wootery on Wednesday November 15 2017, @09:53PM (1 child)
Do you have a concrete scheme in mind?
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday November 16 2017, @05:05AM
Another approach is to do as the airlines do, dynamic pricing, where tickets increase in price as more are sold and the concert date approaches.
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Wednesday November 15 2017, @05:34PM
Now that's just complete bullshit. That would only be true in a world without any significant income inequality.
Bill Gates could drop ten grand for tickets on a whim because it's Friday night and he's bored.
Someone who earns $50k/year can't do that, no matter how badly they want to go.
A better metric of how badly one wants to go is when they buy, not how much they pay. If you want the people who most want to go, look for the people that are *waiting* for that particular show, that are watching the band's website and social media pages waiting to see tour dates, who are willing to block out their calendar months in advance knowing that NOTHING could come up that's so important it would keep them from attending.