Ticketmaster resale tickets....how is this legal?

[delongpre]

Posted: 11/23/15 at 5:53pm

Trying, of course, to get tickets to Hamilton, and I'm getting more and more pissed every time I see all of the available seats that are being legally scalped on Ticketmaster. Please explain how this is legal. Isn't there a way for ticket sales to be restricted in some way? ID needed? Or is this the way it goes. No way can I afford $1000 tickets to anything.

[Pootie2]

Posted: 11/23/15 at 5:57pm

State law. And varies by country; ticket resale is illegal in Canada.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 11/23/15 at 6:00pm

It is legal because the laws in this state allow it. (Kinda the definition of legal, right?) 

There are ways it can be otherwise, either through a change in the law, the ID check you suggest or other means. But understand that none of those things are going to make Hamilton tickets any more available. In fact they would make them less available. 

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/23/15 at 6:06pm

And I've told this story before, but the ID check thing isn't optimal.  I bought a ticket to a concert I really wanted to see six months in advance, and the artist had a really strong desire to stop scalping.  All tickets had to be picked up at will call and proper ID and the credit card used for purchase was required to get the tickets.  I had a work conference come up three months before the date, and even though the show sold out in an hour, they would not refund my ticket despite the fact that they could resell it.  So I lost the money and there was one less person at the show.

 

And, what happens if the purchaser gets sick with a really bad cough.  Can you imagine how other audience members would be if their special night was ruined by something like that.

[indytallguy]

Posted: 11/23/15 at 6:24pm

If you can wait until the last hour or two before curtain (and I know many can't) the resale price on Ticketmaster seem to drop pretty dramatically. It's still quite high, but I've seen $1000 orchestra seats down to $300 and some mezz seats for less that that.

[Mike Costa]

Posted: 11/23/15 at 6:35pm

You are right, it can be frustrating.

Remember that the producers, box office and theater owners are probably all in on this and getting kickbacks-not to mention many of the managers, agents, lawyers and actors who have contractual control of House Seats. There is little incentive for them to want the situation changed.

You will see it eventually either online or in the theater. 

Hamilton will be around a long while. It is about the founding fathers-it is not life changing in any way.

Updated On: 11/24/15 at 06:35 PM

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 11/23/15 at 6:43pm

I have never used Ticketmaster for theatre, but have used them for sporting events. All of this is done through ticketmaster's digital PDF print at home tickets rather than physical ones. You can go into your account after buying a ticket, click on the option to sell it, name your price, and then you "give" your ticket to Ticketmaster who then sells it and then gives you the money (after taking out whatever their service fee for doing this is, but stubhub has the same kind of fee too.) What makes them hard to sell/scalp outside the venue is that the PDF tickets you print out do tell you what you're seeing and where you're sitting etc. But, in the middle in bold letters read "Ticketmaster resale tickets." Also, the only way you know the price of the ticket is because you see it before you click to order it. The price of the ticket is not on the tickets you get from Ticketmaster resale. Not something that happens when buying tickets off stubhub.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 11/23/15 at 7:38pm

@mikecosta-glad to see conspiracy theories abound in the theatre as well as elsewhere. Have fun...

[musicman_bwayfan]

Posted: 11/23/15 at 8:18pm

A few weeks ago I saw a set of 10 Hamilton tickets 3rd row center orchestra that were available for $26,000.  <facepalm>

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/23/15 at 8:20pm

It's like the airbnb of ticket purchasing.  We LOVE our disrupters!

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 11/23/15 at 8:24pm

Have these tickets been discounted? Wink Wink

 

Who knew they were that cheap?

Updated On: 11/23/15 at 08:24 PM

[kdogg36]

Posted: 11/23/15 at 10:02pm

Please explain how this is legal.

 

Well, once people pay for their tickets, you might say that they "own" them, and should therefore be able to do what they like with them.

[OMG2]

Posted: 11/24/15 at 8:46am

Since  they made ticket brokering legal, this is the situation.  Money to some is not an object.

 I was lucky for Hamilton seeing it at the public Theater.

the box office etc are the one making a fortune.

they can care less about selling it to  the public.

 

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 11/24/15 at 9:21am

"It is not life changing in any way"

 

That about says it all. The world is exploding all around us and this is all some think about .Real life is life changing

 

Well said Mr Costa

[Hellob]

Posted: 11/24/15 at 1:51pm

At least you know you're getting legit tickets bc TM voids the old code and issues you a new one. It sucks that they charge so much in fees but the peace of mind helps. I don't hold my breath like I have with SH purchases. 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 11/24/15 at 2:05pm

Mr Roxy said: ""It is not life changing in any way"

That about says it all. The world is exploding all around us and this is all some think about .Real life is life changing

Well said Mr Costa"

Nothing we write about here is "life changing" in the broader sense, but that does not mean that it is not life changing in some individual's life. Theatre can inspire us, inform us, cause us to look at things differently. It can also lead some of us to our life's calling. It can and has saved lives. To come here day after day and post, without a sense that the theatre does all of these things, is astonishing to me. Now does that mean one should have a right to see a show at a price one can afford? No, and just like every other form of coveting what one cannot afford, that is not healthy, but I am not going to sit idly by while people diminish the importance of theatre-and especially great theatre. 

 

[delongpre]

Posted: 11/26/15 at 10:29am

When I was younger, ticket scalping was illegal. I didn't realize laws were changed. I'm sure there is some kind of deal between the scalpers (and yes, that's what ticket "brokers" are.) the original ticket sellers. They have systems in place to buy mass quantities of tickets the second they go on sale, immediately blocking regular folks like me. No, it is not fair, and that is my biggest peeve. I don't like being HAD by the producers or ticket company. I doubt that Lin Manuel has any stake in ticket resale but somebody is getting rich off of this.

I've looked online up until may and cannot find a single ticket for sale by ticketmaster at face value. I tried lottery twice. May have to do that again, but I am older and a teacher so I cut it close time-wise.

[Broadway Joe]

Posted: 11/26/15 at 10:44am

No one is forcing you to pay those prices for tickets. I had waited for the next block of tickets to go on sale and was able to get the cheapest ticket price through the Amex pre-sale for the show and I'm seeing it in like July or August now. I forgot when. Just keep an eye out for when the next block of tickets goes on sale. The box office actually told me when they were going on sale.

It's the hottest show right now, being sold out till may isn't really that hard to believe. 

Updated On: 11/26/15 at 10:44 AM

[Hellob]

Posted: 11/27/15 at 11:41am

delongpre said: "When I was younger, ticket scalping was illegal. I didn't realize laws were changed. I'm sure there is some kind of deal between the scalpers (and yes, that's what ticket "brokers" are.) the original ticket sellers. They have systems in place to buy mass quantities of tickets the second they go on sale, immediately blocking regular folks like me. No, it is not fair, and that is my biggest peeve. I don't like being HAD by the producers or ticket company. I doubt that Lin Manuel has any stake in ticket resale but somebody is getting rich off of this.

 

I've looked online up until may and cannot find a single ticket for sale by ticketmaster at face value. I tried lottery twice. May have to do that again, but I am older and a teacher so I cut it close time-wise."

You will never see it at face value cuz for seller to recoup the price is at least 15% over. But you're not going to see that either with this show. Your best bet is to look at CL and only accept a TM transfer 

It is still illegal to scalp on a 1-1 basis but legal if going through the resale market. That's why CL says "don't sell above face"

 

[Emma MK]

Posted: 11/27/15 at 1:03pm

I know how you feel soooo much! Id love to see Hamilton with the current cast, but cannot afford to pay the extortionate resale prices that are up on ticketmaster. I totally understand that ticketmaster jacks the price up with fees if you actually want to make your money back, and i understand that some people really cannot make it to a performance, and thus resell the ticket. What really pisses me off is when a whole row (or in some cases 2 whole rows) are for sale at triple the face value. You cant tell me that 2 entire rows of people suddenly are unable to go on the exact same night? Nope, they were brought specifically to resell by scalpers. I was lucky enough to be able to get a ticket for next October, but im certain it will not be the same cast, which im a little gutted about, but am glad that i will finally be able to see it. Sometimes i wish i were local so that i could try the lottery, alas im from the UK and when i come to NY i like to have a set itinerary rather than leaving it to chance.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 11/27/15 at 2:19pm

"I'm sure there is some kind of deal between the scalpers (and yes, that's what ticket "brokers" are.) the original ticket sellers."

No, they need no help from the sellers to execute their buying plans. There are, of course, constraints in place, like quantity limits and anti-robot technology, but it is well worth the scalper's infrastructure costs to thwart any system. The only way to stop scalping is to either change the law or instituting an ID system. The public is opposed to both, because (a) scalping is a 2 way street and (b) as people here have expressed many folks are vehemently opposed to ID systems.