Ticketmaster
Ticketmaster is Nothing but a Scam to Promote Illegal Scalping of Tickets On Ebay, listing tickets for more than their face value is illegal
- 02-09-2006
- 46
Three occasions have arisen for me in the past year to purchase tickets to various events through Ticketmaster: one event at Fenway Park in Boston and two at Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, NH. For all three of these events, I kept track of the day that tickets would go on sale online. Each time, I was on the Ticketmaster website at the precise time to get the "best seats available."
Two tickets. That's all I wanted. Where were the "best seats?" Well, for the event at Fenway Park, they were sold out - no tickets to be had online. (However, I could find them on Ebay with starting prices 5,6 even 7 times the face value!) At the Verizon Wireless, their "best seats" were so far away I'd need binoculars! And, if you don't take the seats available on the first try, if you attempt to find different seats, the choices don't get any better!
Something I did learn on my most recent attempt is that there ARE physical Ticketmaster outlets that begin selling tickets 2-3 days before they go on sale online. That is, if you're fortunate to live near one. My nearest outlet is a 2-hour drive. I'm assuming these outlets are some of Ticketmaster.com's "preferred" customers who at least do sell the tickets at face value. However, I would venture to guess that most of the tickets get sold to the professional scalpers who invest a little in the initial ticket purchase and then make a killing selling them to people who are forced to pay exhorbitant prices to attend these various events.
On Ebay, listing tickets for more than their face value is illegal. What I'm not sure of is if selling them for more than their face value is also illegal. Is a seller safe if he lists it for the face value but the price skyrockets with the bidding? If not, it should be!
It sure would be nice if our existing laws were enforced before we make new ones!
Company: Ticketmaster
Country: USA
Site: www.ticketmaster.com