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'Hamilton' Scalpers Pocket $240k Every Week
- packetslave 10y ago"Tickets are now sold out through January 2017, according to Ticketmaster’s website." and THIS is why ticket scalpers suck. Literally the only options to see Hamilton any time this year are to pay ridiculous rates ($1000-2000 each for good seats) to a scalper, or enter the same-day lottery and pray. I predict it's only going to get worse now that Hamilton has grabbed 16 Tony Award nominations (and is likely to win a truckload of them).
- rhizome 10y agoAfter which it will go on tour and ticket prices will become more reasonable.
- packetslave 10y agoCan't really compare a touring production to Broadway, though. Different cast, different light/sound/scenery design, etc.
- rhizome 10y agoStaging is usually the same, or not noticeably different (especially if you didn't see the original), and maybe I didn't get to see Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick in "The Producers" on tour, but Jason Alexander and Martin Short were pretty damn good substitutes.
- harryh 10y agoAre prices really that high for all the shows? I bought tickets from Stubhub 2 months ago on the very low end of that range. And they were very good seats for a Saturday night show that I bought day of. I would have assumed that less good seats on other nights of the week would be much cheaper? Or maybe prices have risen significantly in the last two months?
- packetslave 10y agoI just picked a random date in June (Tuesday the 14th). Single orchestra tickets range from $931-$3712 through ticketmaster resale, or $1350-$3300 on stubhub. You might be able to find better prices for, e.g. a Sunday matinee when LMM isn't performing, I suppose.
- harryh 10y agoWell based on that it sounds like prices has definitely gone up significantly. Wild.
- vilhelm_s 10y agoThat's not really the ticket scalper's fault, is it? If the tickets were only sold at the low face-value price, they would still be sold out, and your only option would still be the same-day lottery. This way, people who really want to see the show at least have an option to pay extra to see it.
- packetslave 10y agoIt depends on what percentage of tickets the scalpers are buying for each show vs. how many are available to actual fans. The article says in one case, a ticket broker managed to buy 20,000 tickets.
- bitJericho 10y agoExcept not to the artist, the only one actually creating that value.
- cassieramen 10y agoWhat are effective methods for stopping ticket scalpers? Heavily penalizing resale is kind of a crappy route but for a show like Hamilton I wonder what the legitimate person resale case is. Has any artist fended off the scalpers successfully?
- toomuchtodo 10y agoTrent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails) would reserve a block of tickets at each show for his fan club; the tickets were tied to your name, and you had to show your ID to get in with them. No transfers were possible.
- mabbo 10y agoRaise the price. Scalpers are taking advantage of a market where price is not equal to what people are willing to pay. Be more dynamic with ticket prices, and scalpers have no margin to keep.
- cassieramen 10y agoI disagree with that. There are many reasons artists want to keep prices low. In this case maybe you don't want to reserve your ticket a full year in advance. An artist might also want their work to be accessible to more people than those that can afford a $1000 ticket. Raising the price is too simplistic an option.
- dublinben 10y agoThe problem is that they aren't keeping prices low. They are setting an artificially low face value, and then letting scalpers capture all the excess value. The real cost to see Hamilton right now is $1000+, not whatever (lower) number is on the ticket. By not allowing incredibly devoted fans to participate in an auction for tickets, they are actually making shows less accessible for the people who want it most. It's unfair that you can get to see a performance for $50 because you happened to get a ticket, but I am unable to even if I'm willing to pay $500.
- narsil 10y agoTechnical solutions are unnecessary. Just make the tickets non-transferrable, and have the ticket holder produce ID confirming the name on the ticket matches the person. Plenty of music festivals, Vegas nightclubs and other places already employ this strategy very effectively.
- bitmapbrother 10y agoThis. Such a simple solution and only the performers and companies that really care do this.
- hunterwerlla 10y agoAlthough I usually hate non transferable tickets this would definitely solve the scalping problem. I'd much rather this than have people throw their money at middlemen who add no additional value.
- spo81rty 10y agoThey provide value if it is sold out and I am willing to pay extra to find a ticket.
- hunterwerlla 10y agoScalpers provide this value from buying up many more tickets than an individual would, and individuals who cannot go will still sell their tickets, which is usually for a more reasonable price since they want to get rid of them.
- killbrad 10y agoSold out because they purchased all the tickets before you could buy one.
- refurb 10y agoIs there some reason a scalper can buy tickets before you? I assume they are camping out to grab the tickets as soon as they are on sale. No reason you couldn't do the same and score a few. Now, if you don't want to sit in front of your computer at 5am to buy tickets before they sell out, then the scalper is offering to do that for you for a price.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- keithnz 10y agoSo, they sell tickets below market value, then they are surprised when people re-sell them at market value and are feeling ripped off? Why not auction all tickets, and if you want to give people the chance to see it for cheap, have lottery tickets which require ID?
- zwily 10y agoThey do do a lottery, but it's a day-of thing.
- jakevoytko 10y agoThe Hamilton lottery is not worth your time if you're only going to try it once. 100+ people competing for 12 seats (where each lottery winner can get 2 tickets). And now there is an online component, which means you are competing against even more people.
- celias 10y agoInteresting Planet Money episode about ticket scalping - http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2013/06/25/195641030/episode-468-kid-rock-vs-the-scalpers http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2013/06/25/195641030/episo...
- Spooky23 10y agoIs this a surprise? Scalping was made legal in New York a few years ago, pushed by a legislative leader just sentenced to 12 years in prison for bribery and extortion. The old law barred resale for profit, which kept scalping underground and prices under control. Now you have conditions where a monopolist (Ticketmaster), who also operates a scalping^H "resale" site who (shockingly!) is having trouble stopping bulk buyers. I'm sure the usurious fees they earn on ticket purchase and resale encourages them to halt the process.
- joemi 10y agoI'm not sure that any anti-resale laws would have reduced the scalping or the scalped prices noticeably, considering just what a hot ticket show this is. I've been in NYC for over 10 years and I've never seen such buzz about a Broadway show as this.
- enobrev 10y agoI don't live in NYC anymore, but I did for a little over a decade. I recall The Book of Mormon had an enormous buzz as well. I had friends stay at my place a couple times so they could come to town to see the show.
- joemi 10y agoThat definitely had a lot of buzz, but still less than Hamilton.
- Spooky23 10y agoThere are always hot tickets. The industrial scalping market has effects all over the place. Good "Lion King" tickets in Schenectady, NY sold for $500 recently.
- hermannj314 10y agoAs long as tickets are transferable, this just sounds like capitalism working. How much money do staffing agencies, warehouses, ecommerce sites, and the entire middle man industry make each week? I salute the ticket resellers. Thank you for creating a secondary market for tickets.
- sfall 10y agoall those other businesses add value to the supply chain. While ticket resellers can add value but when they purchase a large portion of the ticket supply they are adding little value.
- SilasX 10y agoDoes anyone honestly think the performances can only sell out because of scalpers willing to nobly buy large quantities for resale? I strongly suspect they want it this way: promoters and performers like the aura of hard-to-get tickets, long lines, and sold-out shows. Plus, they can risk public derision and boycotts if they actually tried to sell at the market clearing price -- people are more tolerant of paying a big markup from some random guy for the exclusivity than buying it openly at the same huge markup from a faceless corporation.
- Taek 10y agoI was informed at some point recently that a lot of the reselling is in fact done by the theatre. This allows them to make more money on crowded showtimes without looking like the bad guy.
- Trundle 10y ago>The Broadway hit “Hamilton” is making millions. It could be making millions more if not for scalpers snapping up seats and hawking them for $2,000 a piece or more. That makes absolutely no sense.
- sundvor 10y agoThe extra profit is going to the scalpers, not the show's producers who could presumably sell them at higher prices given the demand.
- packetslave 10y agobingo: I'd feel much better about paying $1000 for a ticket if I knew it was going straight to LMM and the rest of the show's cast/creative, instead of some random dude on StubHub.
- plcancel 10y agoI think what the writer is trying to say is that the musical is leaving money on the table by not charging the market rate. The wording make it sound like it's the scalpers' fault, but they've helped to reveal the price buyers value the tickets. So, they could up their premiums. "It’s become such a problem that the show’s producers are considering almost doubling premium-priced "Hamilton” tickets to $995 to keep more of the profit for themselves, according to the New York Post."