4 ms·

These types of bots run rampant in the live event ticketing ecosystem. Ticketmaster and others constantly fight bots with turing tests and other defenses to pre

These types of bots run rampant in the live event ticketing ecosystem. Ticketmaster and others constantly fight bots with turing tests and other defenses to prevent electronic scalping.

linkregister 9y ago
I'm surprised that Ticketmaster hasn't already captured the delta between what individuals will pay a scalper and what the scalper pays.
- frgtpsswrdlame 9y ago
  It's about saving face for the entertainer.
- isubkhankulov 9y ago
  louis ck has been vocal about this issue. if ticketmaster/artists sold tickets at the "market " value, then a significant percentage of fans would be locked out the market.
  - ryandrake 9y ago
    ...and what's the problem with that? I'm a big fan of Porsches, but I can tell you that Porsche doesn't lower the price of their cars below market value so that all of their fans can afford one. Is there any other industry that deliberately sells their products way below market value where the purpose is something other than undercutting competition?
    - learc83 9y ago
      Event tickets are just a small fraction of the money to be made. They want ordinary people to be able to go to events because that helps their brand. If Porsche made most of their money from branded apparel, they'd probably have a different pricing strategy.
      - 95014_refugee 9y ago
        Ferrari make lots/most of their money from branded <stuff>, and it certainly hasn't affected their pricing strategy. Quite the opposite, if anything; the exclusivity of the halo product increases the (perceived) value of the merch.
        learc83 9y ago
        They don't make anywhere near most of their money from branded products. The last year I can find easily is 2014. They made less than $500 million in revenue from merchandise and sponsorship, and $2.2 billion in car and part sales. Margin is very high on their cars, so there is no way they're making anywhere close to most of their money through branded merchandise. Contrast that with the Music industry. They did about $15 billion in music sales, and only about $8 billion in concert revenue in 2015. Musicians do make a significant portion of their money from concert revenue, but musicians aren't the primary drivers of ticket prices.
- frandroid 9y ago
  Slowly but surely...
thomasthomas 9y ago
ticketmaster is now really good at preventing and detecting bots. I think the guys in the article are clever by taking their customer's payment info and using that in the bot. that's another difficulty a bot runs into while auto purchasing. can't fake payment info / purchase limits.
darksim905 9y ago
Bot Law can't come soon enough. It's a shame that law doesn't cover sneakerbots. It's completely ruined the essence of buying & collecting sneakers, when everything is 'limited edition'.

These types of bots run rampant in the live event ticketing ecosystem. Ticketmaster and others constantly fight bots with turing tests and other defenses to prevent electronic scalping.

linkregister 9y ago

I'm surprised that Ticketmaster hasn't already captured the delta between what individuals will pay a scalper and what the scalper pays.

frgtpsswrdlame 9y ago
It's about saving face for the entertainer.
isubkhankulov 9y ago
louis ck has been vocal about this issue. if ticketmaster/artists sold tickets at the "market " value, then a significant percentage of fans would be locked out the market.
- ryandrake 9y ago
  ...and what's the problem with that? I'm a big fan of Porsches, but I can tell you that Porsche doesn't lower the price of their cars below market value so that all of their fans can afford one. Is there any other industry that deliberately sells their products way below market value where the purpose is something other than undercutting competition?
  - learc83 9y ago
    Event tickets are just a small fraction of the money to be made. They want ordinary people to be able to go to events because that helps their brand. If Porsche made most of their money from branded apparel, they'd probably have a different pricing strategy.
    - 95014_refugee 9y ago
      Ferrari make lots/most of their money from branded <stuff>, and it certainly hasn't affected their pricing strategy. Quite the opposite, if anything; the exclusivity of the halo product increases the (perceived) value of the merch.
      - learc83 9y ago
        They don't make anywhere near most of their money from branded products. The last year I can find easily is 2014. They made less than $500 million in revenue from merchandise and sponsorship, and $2.2 billion in car and part sales. Margin is very high on their cars, so there is no way they're making anywhere close to most of their money through branded merchandise. Contrast that with the Music industry. They did about $15 billion in music sales, and only about $8 billion in concert revenue in 2015. Musicians do make a significant portion of their money from concert revenue, but musicians aren't the primary drivers of ticket prices.
frandroid 9y ago
Slowly but surely...

thomasthomas 9y ago

ticketmaster is now really good at preventing and detecting bots. I think the guys in the article are clever by taking their customer's payment info and using that in the bot. that's another difficulty a bot runs into while auto purchasing. can't fake payment info / purchase limits.

darksim905 9y ago

Bot Law can't come soon enough. It's a shame that law doesn't cover sneakerbots. It's completely ruined the essence of buying & collecting sneakers, when everything is 'limited edition'.