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New York Criminalizes the Use Of Ticket-Buying Bots (engadget.com)
An anonymous reader writes: If you failed to get tickets for your favorite band, even though your finger was poised on the "buy" link the instant they went on sale, don't worry -- you never stood a chance. They were probably snapped up by bots that, in one case, bought 1,012 Madison Square Garden U2 tickets in less than a minute. The state of New York has declared that scalpers who use them could get fines and even jail time. "New Yorkers have been dealing with this frustrating ticket buying experience for too long," says state assembly member Marcos Crespie. Using such bots was illegal before, but only brought civil, not criminal sanctions. However, a three-year investigation by NY attorney general Eric. T. Schneiderman found that the practice was so widespread that the state had to take harsher measures. Ticketing outlets and credit card companies revealed that bots scoop up the best seats in seconds, which scalpers then resell at prices many times over face value. Scalpers who exploit such software could now face criminal, class A misdemeanor charges.
Tickets get scalped because the price doesn't meet demand? What fantasyland do you live in?
Tickets get scalped because someone got there first, bought all the tickets, and resells them.
They should be required to include all fees in the price of the ticket as well. It is outright fraud to advertise a ticket price that you cannot buy without fees tacked on. A mandatory fee is part of the cost of a ticket. A "convenience fee" is part of the cost of a ticket unless you can get it cheaper by being inconvenient.
This right here. I recently went to a concert as a special treat and thought the ticket was advertised to be something like $45 for a seat it came out closer to $65 after Ticketmaster and the venue added all their outrageous fees, and if you're taking friends with you it adds up real fast.
Tickets get scalped because the price doesn't meet demand? What fantasyland do you live in?
Tickets get scalped because someone got there first, bought all the tickets, and resells them.
Tickets get scalped because demand exceeds supply and the demand price (what people are willing to pay to see the event) exceeds the face price.
When was the last time you went to a concert for which there were expensive scalped tickets available but where the venue was half-empty? Probably never, because most scalped tickets get sold to people willing to pay the price to see the event. They may think they had to pay too much, but obviously they made a decision that they were willing to pay the price to see the event.
The marketplace (the universe of ticket buyers and sellers) have decided that the price to see an in-demand concert is higher (in many cases, much higher) than the price printed on the ticket.