Help me navigate the Broadway scalper landscape?
Patti Beadles
for next weekend. As far as I can tell, this means that I have
to make sense of the reseller/scalper market.
A few minutes of clicking around suggests that many of them
are the same company with different fronts, and/or they're sharing
data with each other. I've seen the exact same seats going for
different prices, which tells me that they're selling each
other's inventory and marking it up themselves.
Does anyone know their way around this mess? Is it multiple
"base companies" selling tickets with some sort of affiliate
program? Is it multiple companies who all might be holding
tickets, and who will also sell each other's inventory at a
premium?
Are there any tricks to buying tickets at a better price? For
example, do they get cheaper or more expensive the day before
the show?
-Patti
--
Patti Beadles, Oakland, CA |
pattib~pattib.org | All religions are equally
http://www.pattib.org/ | ludicrous, and should be ridiculed
http://stopshootingauto.com | as often as possible. C. Bond
Barbara Bailey
@blue.rahul.net:
> I'm trying to find tickets for a sold-out show (South Pacific)
> for next weekend. As far as I can tell, this means that I have
> to make sense of the reseller/scalper market.
>
> A few minutes of clicking around suggests that many of them
> are the same company with different fronts, and/or they're sharing
> data with each other. I've seen the exact same seats going for
> different prices, which tells me that they're selling each
> other's inventory and marking it up themselves.
>
> Does anyone know their way around this mess? Is it multiple
> "base companies" selling tickets with some sort of affiliate
> program? Is it multiple companies who all might be holding
> tickets, and who will also sell each other's inventory at a
> premium?
>
> Are there any tricks to buying tickets at a better price? For
> example, do they get cheaper or more expensive the day before
> the show?
The one experience I had with scalpers, the tickets got more expensive as
the event got closer, then dropped precipitiously immediately before it was
due to start. (I do mean *immediately*--I'm talking about less than 15
minutes to curtain.)
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **
Patti Beadles
It really is a bunch of agencies selling each other's inventory.
They tack on various markups and fees as well. It's messy.
There's a site called ixs.net that purports to assemble all
of this information and get to the bottom of it, so you know
who the actual ticketholders are and which site will give you
the best price. I didn't actually buy as a result of this,
but the information seemed reasonable based on what I'd seen
in my own searches..
When I was done crawling through that morass, I needed a shower.
What finally happened is that I got dumb lucky on Craigslist and
found two face-value tickets for South Pacific this Saturday.
Apparently the universe decided it loved me and wanted to give
me a gift.