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To all you loser scalpers out on Kijiji, Craiglist…. trying to scam people out of $175 for $30 Modest Mouse tickets… YOU SUCK.
Find another way to make money – let the fans enjoy a good show.
—Face Value
This article appears in Jul 23-29, 2009.
39 Comments
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For a True Fan(tm) money would be no object.
I checked them out on youtube, whats the big deal about them, anyway?
I personally think ‘The Moon and Antarctica’ was a masterpiece.
scalpers are just low-life opportunists, looking to make a quick buck by exploiting others… scalpers are NOT REAL FANS of anything, except MONEY!
i HATE scalpers, fucking pussbags that they are.
zzzzzzzz boring….see previous same bitch
While I do think what scalpers do is crappy, Modest Mouse tickets weren’t exactly hard to get.
I went to the Forum box office a half hour after they went on sale, and there were three other people there. I was in and out, with tickets in hand, in under five minutes.
So if you were really a fan, and really wanted tickets, you would have got them. Don’t blame the scalpers because you waited too long.
oh c’mon, Jennie, scalping is taking advantage of people, it’s that simple. ‘professional scalpers’ do this shit for a living, they are not actual fans of anything, nor do they attend the events that they’ve bought up a whole whack of tickets for, and they certainly haven’t ‘earned’ the money that they’ve scalped from the true fans – who are left with little choice but to buy from the scalpers, because they’ve bought up all the tickets.
as for myself, i wouldn’t give the lousy fuckers a single dime of my money, because doing so only condones and encourages more douchebags to scalp. ticketmaster, et al (also middlemen) already get enough of our money, so why should we hand over even more to scalpers, who’ve done sweet fuck all to earn it?? no friggin way, scalpers are lowlife scoundrels, imo.
@VoT – GFY
I agree Tech – I do. Scalpers are shitty, and they do take advantage.
I’m just saying that anyone who really wanted the tickets could have got them. It’s not like it sold out in three minutes. Don’t blame the scalpers. You had your chance.
yeah but, Jennie… honest people have busy lives and shouldn’t have to compete with scalpers, whose only interest is to buy up as many tickets as they can and re-sell them to honest fans at exorbitant prices. there’s another word for what scalpers do, it’s called extortion.
and ‘professional’ scalpers will often setup multiple accounts (under various names) and use different credit cards to conceal their activities. it’s a lucrative business for them, otherwise they wouldn’t be doing it.
i’m with the OP, the scalpers are worthy of ‘blame’ – they are no better than thieves. actually, they are even lower, b/c at least a ‘real thief’ takes some risk in what they do, whereas the scalper just sits at his computer, waiting to ‘steal’ a bunch of tickets online, then makes a handsome profit by extorting the real fans.
i know some people think scalping is no big deal, but i think it’s dishonest and unethical.
and something else… it’s not fair that scalped tickets go to the highest bidder, because that excludes a lot of people – true fans – who perhaps can’t afford to pay exorbitant scalper fees.
why should someone who can afford to pay a scalper get to attend an event, when someone else who cannot afford to pay – but a true fan nonetheless – be denied the opportunity to see their favourite act, etc?
it’s not right, and i wish people would simply refuse to buy tickets from scalpers. that’s the only way to put them out of business.
I agree totally. But a “true fan” would have made arrangements to get tickets the day they went on sale. There were outlets all over the city selling them, and you could buy them online. They didn’t sell out right away – not even close – so there was plenty of opportunity to get the $30 tickets.
Right Jennie…but that’s not Tech’s point or the point of this fucking bitch, so therefore, you’re not really adding anything to this debate.
Anyway, there is also the issue of online ticket brokers that are no more scalpers in disguise. Instead of braving the elements for AC/DC, we decided to see them in Montreal 2 days after Magnetic Hill. If you go through Ticketmaster, who are supposed to be the legitimate sellers of said tickets, you can’t get 2 seats together, but low and behold when we checked with 2tickets.ca they had all kinds of seats together for a higher price. The current system sucks and is geared towards making these scalpers tons of money.
well, like i said, Jennie – most people have busy lives and do not have the time to sit around, waiting to buy up tickets – like the scalpers do. maybe the OP was busy (doing REAL WORK maybe) and didn’t have a chance to pickup his/her ticket(s) in time – before the scalpers snatched them up.
still, the OP can hardly be blamed for losing out to the scalpers… it is the scalper’s ‘job’ after all, to horde tickets and rip people off.
and what about those who need to make alternate arrangements before they are able to make a decision about purchasing tickets, like getting time off work and so on? i’m sure there are many reasons why people can’t just rush out and buy tickets – before the scalpers have sucked them all up.
i get your point about buying your tickets early, before the scalpers do, and maybe Modest Mouse tickets didn’t sell out right away, but still, we shouldn’t have to be extorted by the scalpers either.
@BRoc – yeah, i saw a documentary about that very thing on CBC a while back, about 2tickets.ca, which is a subsidiary of ticketmaster (i think). they are nothing but glorified scalpers, and only considered legit b/c they have a fucking business license.
what they are doing is tantamount to legalized scalping, plain & simple. and while people continue support scalping, fans will be ripped off. i refuse, and will forego seeing my favourite acts, before i’d ever consider giving my money to a scalper (or 2tickets.ca, et al).
if you give your money to the scalper, you are supporting their activities and keeping them in business.
Why the need to be separating people into “true fans” and (presumably) posers? Just because I didn’t jump out of my seat on the day the tickets went on sale to go buy some means I don’t enjoy their music or buy their albums? Seems kinda juvenile.
c’mon, could scalpers possible scarf up EVERY seat in the Forum? really?
You all realize you live in a capitalist society…….right?
You do know this…….right?
The stock exchange works the same way, you do know that……..right?
Every store you set foot in or go on line with………..do the same basic fundamental process as a scalper………you know that…..eh?
Buy low………sell high……….make profit.
Supply……..demand.
Take a risk……….reap a reward.
Any of this ring a bell?
It doesn’t make it right, Smee, so there’s no need to talk at us like fucking grade school children.
Sorry you feel that way, didn’t mean to be DE-GRADING! yuk yuk
There is no right or wrong here. Saying “it doesn’t make it right” is like saying………..”it isn’t fair”………..something you’ll often hear from grade-schoolers.
You still don’t get it……..this is how commerce works……….you might as well complain about how shitty it is there are 24 hours to a day.
It’s a stupid bitch!
Exactly. I’d by a car but man, the scalpers buy all the good ones and sell them in these huge ass parking lots.
Too fucking funny Cranky!!!!
You power-nailed the proverbial coffin lid!
the car analogy is utterly ridiculous
scalpers know there are a limited number of tickets, and will often buy up as many of the ‘good seats’ as they think can be re-sold for a huge markup, thus preventing legitimate fans from getting good tickets at a fair price.
when you buy a car, you’re only giving your money to ONE dealer (who, arguably, performs an actual function, a real job), but when you buy tickets from a scalper, you’re not only paying middleman fees to the ticket retailer, but also exorbitant fees to the scalper, who has done absolutely NOTHING to EARN the money, except scarf a whole whack of tickets that otherwise would have gone to actual fans (for a reasonable price).
car dealers and scalpers are completely different things.
maybe Smee and Cranky are scalpers?? if so, you’re scumbags.
and if you’re not scalpers, Cranky & Smee, then you’re just fools with too much money to waste, supporting scalper douchebaggery.
btw, in this particular situation, the markup on the Modest Mouse tickets was about 480%
$30 = retail price vs $175 = scalper price
$(175 – 30) / 30 * 100 = 483% (per ticket * n tickets = HUGE profit for scalpers)
so that’s not just gouging people, that’s unmitigated GREED… and for what?? the scalper did nothing/zip/nada/sweetfuckall to earn that collosal markup, except extort a lot of money from legitimate fans.
so yeah, in my books, scalpers are fucking scum
Tech is right, and Smee and Cranky you’re idiots. The car analogy is totally not related.
holy fuck… ok, then don’t buy a ticket off em.
maybe they’ll lose out on their 30 * n ticket risk they took.
‘Course, I’m sure the band you’re a ‘true fan’ of is going to love having 4 people sitting in the first 6 rows.
If it’s a show I want to see, I love the idea of not having to rush out the day they go on sale. I’ll pay extra to get the closer seats that pre-sale almost always snatches up.
And to be fair, it’s not like there’s just ONE scalper out there…. they’re competing for your business.
You want a ticket? go to the lowest priced one instead of craving that front row seat and assuming you should be able to buy it now at cost when YOU did nothing to deserve it.
My friend called up and ordered tickets the morning after they went on sale, which means tickets for the average fan were available for almost 24 hours, if not more. So really, how many tickets could the scalpers have picked up, if the show wasn’t even sold out a day later?
If someone really wanted to go to the show, they would have found 5 minutes during that 24 hour window to 1) pick up the phone and order tickets, 2) log onto a computer and order tickets, 3) go to one of the various ticket outlets, or 4) have a friend or family member do one of the above for them. Didn’t do any of those – well then I guess you’re stuck paying scalper prices.
BTW, just because a scalper lists tickets on Kijiji for $175 doesn’t mean they’re going to actually get it. Who knows, they might be stuck selling the tickets for face value an hour before the show.
Proven to be accurate 9/10 times, 99% of the time:
Go to the venue the night of the concert when people are lining up to go inside. People have lives and sh!t happens and inevitably someone’s great aunt Mimi needed an emergency babysitter and someone there will be getting rid of a ticket at face-value or very close to it. Hell, even the scalpers who have yet to make their 483% mark-up may well be shitting their pants and will be there looking to get rid of their tickets…chances are, once the doors open and those asshats may just want to sell you the tickets at a much lower price since some money is better than NO money.
I’ve seen at least 5 Leafs’ games this way and I got the tickets for less than (the horribly overpriced) face value that was on them…decent seats too!
GOOD LUCK…and next time do us a favour and just get outta bed earlier, or ask someone to get them early for you.
Sure, I hate scalpers too. When my girlfriend and I realized we would be unable to attend an upcoming concert, we sold our tickets at cost.
But let’s look at the simple truth. The rich get richer because they can afford to buy tickets to resell at ridiculous prices. The rich get better seats because they can afford the inflated prices.
So, when it comes to scalping, the poor get screwed. How is this any different than the rest of life?
Poet
salient point, poet, and to expand upon that – if everyone hates scalpers, as many of you claim, then why the hell do people still BUY from them?? how can you ‘hate’ scumbag scalpers on the one hand, but then cavalierly toss your principles aside, and support the scalpers (something you hate), by purchasing tickets from them anyway?? i don’t get it. you either have *principles*, which ultimately guide your actions, or you do not have principles. make up your mind. you cannot claim to hate something, then turn around and support it. that’s unprincipled and hypocritical.
and just to be clear, we are talking about ‘professional scalpers’ here, right? scumbags that buy tickets in bulk, at retail prices, then resell them to genuine/desperate fans at grossly inflated prices.
(professional) ticket scalping is extorting money from genuine fans who are left with little choice but to hand over their cash to the scalpers – and even then, only those who can afford the obscene scalper fees (especially for popular events, which the scalpers routinely target), will get a chance to attend.
extortion is illegal, and scalping ought to be as well, because for all intents and purposes, they are two sides of the same coin.
scalpers provide no legitimate service or added value whatsoever, they are unethical middlemen who are too damn lazy to do real work. hell, even their namesake, ‘scalper’, speaks volumes about the nature of their ‘work’.
so fuck this ‘free market’ bullshit excuse. i, for one, want to put the scalpers out of business for good.
and where the hell is the OP in this discussion?? i could use a little backup & support here fer fucksake! sheesh
Anyone want to buy some train tickets?
@Miles – hahaha… you catty bitch ;~}
Just to clarify Tech, I’ve never purchased tickets from a scalper. I’m a big music fan, and I love going to concerts, so I’ve always made sure to do whatever it takes to get tix to the bands I love. In some cases, that’s meant joining the fan club to get early access to ticket sales. In others it’s meant logging on an hour early to be ready to click the second the clock strikes. And a few times I’ve walked away empty handed, but that’s to be expected when only a limited number of tickets are available.
Miles – funny stuff.
Not this crap group again. Go back in your cheese hole.
Concert tickets should be like plane tickets, non-transferable with your name and seat number on them. If you want to unload them, unload them back to the venue at cost. And you should only be able to buy tickets from the Band’s Website or the venue. And members of the Fanclub should always get first dibs.
I imagine for most people the desire to see their favourite band eclipses whatever moral stand they might have against scalpers. I think people hate scalpers but also admire them for making so much $$. Also, a one-person boycott isn’t very effective.
succintly put, Miles, i quite agree. i’m sure most performers and their fans would agree to this approach as well.
but how would tickets bought as gifts be handled? buy the ticket with the intended recipient’s name on it, i suppose.
Mole Rat says, “I think people hate scalpers but also admire them for making so much $$”
admire! huh? surely you jest?? what is there to admire about ripping people off? or inhibiting/preventing genuine fans from seeing their favourite performers? not everyone can afford to subsidize the scalper’s livelihood, ya know.
“a one-person boycott isn’t very effective”
obviously not, which is why we are discussing it here, i suppose. hopefully a few more people will come away from this and think, fuck that, i’m not giving my hard-earned money to scalper scum. and from what i’ve been hearing so far, most of you hate the scalpers, so… don’t buy from them. they’ll eventually move on to some other shady business, when the money stops coming in.
Basically I just meant that they are jealous of the giant profits. Maybe “admire” wasn’t the right word.