Mott the Hoople
Sweet Jane
Anyone else as freaken tired of ticket scalpers as I am?
It has become almost impossible to get tickets to a premium event because of scalpers using bot technology. Then you have to go to Stubhub and their competitors and typically pay a 50% markup or more. 50% markup will get you nose bleed seats. Premium seats are more like a 200 to 500% markup.
OK...I get that some events are going to have far more demand than supply. Those are relatively few though. I mean even without bots good luck getting an Adelle ticket. You simply cannot get Ohio State, Cleveland Browns or Cincinnati Bengal tickets at face value because those that are sold to the public are all bought by scalpers using bots. I tried buying tickets for the Cincinnati Bengals on the first day they came on sale, within hours of them going on sale. All the tickets for the Steelers game were already gone. Sold out due to bots. Then I checkout the rest of their home schedule and found out that the only tickets available were a handful of the least desirable seats for a couple of the least desirable games thanks to bots.
Same with the Big10 Championship game. Last year, midway through the season, I bought Big 10 championship game tickets when it looked like Iowa had a clear road to the championship game. I paid $90/ticket for endzone seats (face value). This year there was an advance in bot technology and all the desirable seats were bought up in the first hour by scalpers. Only a few nose bleeds seats were available. You can get tickets for the seats I had last year on stubhub for $212. That's a 230% mark up.
Same hold true with most reasonably popular concert events. the best seats are bought up within minutes by scalpers using bots who then mark them up a few hundred percent or more.
There have been recent efforts to stop scalpers from using technology to game the systems and screw consumers. Technology by the ticket selling agents just seems to lag behind the bot technology used by scalpers.
There has been serious legislation implemented at the State and Federal level. They have been largely ineffective due to lack of enforcement and using bots to buy tickets is currently only a civil offense.
I say it's time to put more skin in the game and make using bots to buy tickets for aftermarket sales a criminal offense. Maybe that would stop this shit.
It has become almost impossible to get tickets to a premium event because of scalpers using bot technology. Then you have to go to Stubhub and their competitors and typically pay a 50% markup or more. 50% markup will get you nose bleed seats. Premium seats are more like a 200 to 500% markup.
OK...I get that some events are going to have far more demand than supply. Those are relatively few though. I mean even without bots good luck getting an Adelle ticket. You simply cannot get Ohio State, Cleveland Browns or Cincinnati Bengal tickets at face value because those that are sold to the public are all bought by scalpers using bots. I tried buying tickets for the Cincinnati Bengals on the first day they came on sale, within hours of them going on sale. All the tickets for the Steelers game were already gone. Sold out due to bots. Then I checkout the rest of their home schedule and found out that the only tickets available were a handful of the least desirable seats for a couple of the least desirable games thanks to bots.
Same with the Big10 Championship game. Last year, midway through the season, I bought Big 10 championship game tickets when it looked like Iowa had a clear road to the championship game. I paid $90/ticket for endzone seats (face value). This year there was an advance in bot technology and all the desirable seats were bought up in the first hour by scalpers. Only a few nose bleeds seats were available. You can get tickets for the seats I had last year on stubhub for $212. That's a 230% mark up.
Same hold true with most reasonably popular concert events. the best seats are bought up within minutes by scalpers using bots who then mark them up a few hundred percent or more.
There have been recent efforts to stop scalpers from using technology to game the systems and screw consumers. Technology by the ticket selling agents just seems to lag behind the bot technology used by scalpers.
There has been serious legislation implemented at the State and Federal level. They have been largely ineffective due to lack of enforcement and using bots to buy tickets is currently only a civil offense.
I say it's time to put more skin in the game and make using bots to buy tickets for aftermarket sales a criminal offense. Maybe that would stop this shit.
