This post is in reply to a message from my email bag. Elie asks the question, “How late may I show up after the face-off of an NHL game and be able to grab cheap tickets?” This question was asked in follow up to my article titled “Buying from a Scalper”. This question is a bit tricky. The best time to buy a ticket from a scalper at any event – regardless of the kind of event – is dependent…
While doing ticket resale research in 2006, I met with some friends at Tommy Doyle’s in Harvard Square to discuss the possibility of starting a website that aggregated ticket price data to find the best resale values. I knew it would be a cool idea, but the revenue model was fuzzy so I let it go by the wayside. Lucky for ticket buyers, others armed with similar ideas were willing to see the vision to fruition. There are two I…
A consistent trend in ticket resale journalism is the “drive-by” nature of reporting on the topic. Many journalists write about ticket resale (a.k.a. ticket scalping) with a seemingly narrow and incomplete understanding of the subject matter. The result is reporting that is less than complete and a public that does not truly understand what really fuels the secondary market and how it may or may not benefit the general public. A good example of incomplete reporting is John Seabrook’s piece…
This past week, TicketMaster reported it’s second quarter earnings were down seventy percent (70%!). This news combined with recent reports that resold ticket prices for popular acts are selling well below face value means it is ‘super value ticket’ time for fans. Here are a couple of pointers for playing into these market dynamics. First, if you prefer to buy from Ticketmaster or Live Nation and do not see the seats you want onsale right away, return to the site…
At last weeks Ticket Summit in Las Vegas, the leaders StubHub, Ticket Network and Razor Gator each explained that resold ticket prices are dropping on increased supply. Don Vaccaro, CEO of Ticket Network stated that “average [resold] ticket prices were down 15%.” This story is consistent with StubHub’s statement that average ticket prices are down $20 to $140 from last year. Lower prices coupled with increase supply suggests that growth in the secondary market means better values for fans. It…
This past week I had the opportunity to attend Ticket Summit in Las Vegas. I was prompted to attend the conference when I was invited to participate in a panel discussion on ticket pricing. Prior to being invited, I am embarrassed to admit I had only known of the National Association of Ticket Brokers (NATB). When I researched Ticket Summit, I quickly learned it was run by Ticket Network, a leading broker and provider of technology solutions to ticket brokers….
In the July 2009 issue of Rolling Stone, Steve Knopper points out that average concert ticket prices have more than doubled in ten years from $32 to $67. While the increase in ticket prices is not always pleasing to concert goers, the more pressing issue is that of ticket mis-pricing. Simply stated, concert tickets traditionally have a face value that is based on a guess, and a poor one at that. This means that some tickets are priced too low…
Last week, Mark Gimein wrote an article titled “Is Scalping All That Bad?” that touched on both the politics and economics of ticket scalping. While the article raised new thoughts about old issues, it failed to address the question posed by the title. I argue that the question is not the right one. It is not about whether scalping is “good” or “bad” ; that is one of those questions they ask in business school that has no right or wrong answer. The more interesting question to ask is: if ticket scalping is a problem, why are primary ticket sellers (such as Live Nation and Ticketmaster) supporting and engaging in the practice?
As a Wall Street Journal article from last week correctly suggests, Miley Cyrus is Ticketmaster’s guinea pig; will the test be successful? Though there is not enough information on hand to know for sure, it is clear that the decision to sell “paperless tickets” for all of Miley Cyrus shows has raised the eyebrows of fans and resellers alike putting Ticketmaster on the defensive while ticket resellers try to figure out how to carve a market in a paperless ticket system. I…
Who likes ticket scalpers? Pose that question to a room full of average Joe’s and the showing of hands will be few. Call them mean, sharks, cheaters, or the lowest of the low, the reality is, they have little issue with their reputation. And name calling will not get you the tickets they have for the event you want to see. The fact is, most scalpers are very shrewd business people with excellent negotiating skills. Like a stock broker they…