Ask the (former) ticket scalper.

As requested in another thread here.

I used to scalp tickets for many years a while back ago.

I guess the first thing I’ll cover is some of the evils of how the regular Joe never really has a chance when it comes to buying tickets. The cashiers selling the tickets are paid off and so are the security managing the long line waiting to buy tickets.

I can remember one time I paid off a manager of Sears ticket outlet to put a sign on the window stating: “Ticket machine broken. Sorry for the inconvenience. Management” This meant I had this outlet all to myself to buy for a Rolling Stones concert that sold out in just a few minutes.

FTR: I’m not particularly proud of any of my past shady dealings.

So ask away folks.

If it was so lucrative, why are you a former ticket scalper?

I know all about how prime tickets go direct to scalpers. What isn’t as well known is some artists sold the tickets to the scalpers directly- scalpers didn’t work hard to get those seats.

What is interesting now is some artists figured out that if someone will pay a scalper $200 for a ticket to their show then they just charge $200 as face value thereby cutting the scalper out of the transaction.

BTW, a group of 4 scalpers in NJ just got busted for hacking the ticketmaster website.

Back when I started, competition was pretty slim. The only people I really had to contend with were the actual fans. Which as stated above, wasn’t a problem for me.

The problem started when other ticket savvy scalpers started to flood the Dallas market. It became too hard to make a buck after that.

My friend who used to go to concerts in NYC said he thought it was funny the cops ignored scalpers and instead went after guys selling non approved concert T shirts.

Was scalping a crime at the time/place you did it? If so, did you ever get caught?

For a highly-anticipated event, how does pricing go as you get closer to the event? I would expect higher and higher, reaching the highest price just before it started.

However, I’ve heard it tends to crest earlier and then diminishing returns as it gets very close and then selling below asking after the event started. Any truth to this?

I imagine there is a great deal of variability, but can you give some general trends? Maybe early sellouts vs ‘average’ events like mid-season basketball games.

It’s only a crime if you try to sell tickets on the property of the venue hosting the event. And even then it’s only a crime if you try to sell the tickets above face value.

And yes I’ve been arrested. Just an overnight stay in jail. There were some venues I wasn’t allowed on the property, period. It didn’t matter if I was trying to sell tickets or not. If a cop recognized me; I was going to jail.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Sorry I had to.

Well, if it’s truely an anticipated event. The tickets will be sold many days ahead of time. Keep in mind, the guy I worked for had an actual store in a strip mall. It’s not like you see on TV where it’s some shady guy in a trench coat walking the streets trying to sell you tickets. We’re in the Yellow Pages FCOL!

The problem is the opposite. It’s the scalper who are the ones trying to buy more tickets through special release.

You never got convicted of a crime or if you did you were only fined? (based on saying you only spent a few nights in jail)

Yes I was convicted (misdemeanor) the night spent in jail was time served.

Has the method of having computer-printable tickets with a bar code killed off your business? I sure as hell know I would never buy a piece of paper ticket from someone non-official or who I didn’t know personally, and I doubt many people would want to buy one from me either. It just seems too easy to print out 50 copies and only the first one to have it scanned will work, if even that one is valid.

If you’re refering to the method where the customer can buy tickets on line then print them up on their home computer; I had already quit the bussiness a long time ago.

I DO however have a very official Ticket Master ticket that states: “Live at Reunion Arena: Shakes in concert.” :smiley:

So if it was so lucrative, I am safe in assuming you were pulling down enough to cover what a “normal” job would pay? Or at least enough to pay your bills and all that, right?

In the old days yes. Later on, not so much. Also, I was a salaried employee. I got a weekly paycheck. But I also made extra bonus money on the side for various deals.

My area of expertise was purchasing. Most of the tickets I bought were sold by one of the sales people who worked in the office.

This sounds like a pretty professional and serious gig. Was it a high turnover type establishment like a call center of some sort where people are just looking to make easy money for a month or two before they lose all semblence of their humanity or did people tend to stick around for a good while?

Did anyone ever lose their job or get arrested because they broke rules/laws to let you have first crack at tickets?

When you got arrested, what happened to the unsold tickets? I assume they were confiscated, then “destroyed” by the police. Were you out a lot of money? Was your cash in hand taken?

How do you feel about Ticketmaster and the like in general?

No, people stuck around. It’s very hard to get in the business. At least in a store front business like I was working. I got in because I was neighbors with the guy who owned the store. At that time he didn’t even own a store yet. He just worked out of his home. He used to take me with him to go buy tickets. (Only four or six to a customer.) I was all of 14 at the time.

Not because of me personally, but sure it happens.

Meh. They’ve got their f’d up policies but no more than your average big name companies I guess.