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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: 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.