I’m going to be on the phone tomorrow trying to buy concert tickets. Two of my friends, who will be going to the show with me, will be on their phones as well, trying to get through the busy signal.
In the off chance that two of us manage to get through and purchase tickets, we will be left with an extra set of tickets.
Is it legal to sell those extra tickets? Is it only “scalping” if I stand outside the venue an hour before showtime and try to sell them at 6 times the price? I’ve seen ads in the newspaper adversiting concert tickets, so I think it’s probably legal to resell them… but can I try to get a profit off it? I’m in Montreal, if that makes any difference.
I think it varies quite a bit from place to place. In California, it’s not legal to do within a certain range of the venue, the limit being something on the magnitude of a few hundred yards if I remember correctly.
Well, TheLoadedDog, I’m not planning on standing outside of the venue and asking people if they need tickets. It’s just in case I end up with an extra set that I can’t use - I don’t want to lose all that money.
It’s all a hypothetical issue, anyway, really, because the chances of me getting through on the phone even once are pretty slim, let alone having two of us get tickets. I was just curious.
These are also the organizations most responsible for the existence of anti-scalping laws - they like the idea of an exclusive market.
Laws will certainly vary a lot from one area to another. But it’s safe to say that if you re-sell tickets away from the venue and for much the same price you paid, your chance of getting in trouble for this are near zero.
