4 ms·

Sounds like theres a lot of missing legislation. The situation creates a huge conflict of interests. Then again, scalping itself out to be illegal; it’s just a

Sounds like theres a lot of missing legislation. The situation creates a huge conflict of interests. Then again, scalping itself out to be illegal; it’s just a form of exploiting someone else’s work to extract money from average folk without creating any value or meaningful work.

TeMPOraL 3y ago
I'm honestly not sure anymore if scalping should be delegalized. I'm increasingly convinced that it's only the problem because everyone is in on it, with artists using scalpers as "heat sinks", to get more money while pretending they're the victim, and everyone is well compensated for the role they play in the scheme. If that's the case, then the entire structure is the problem, and it starts with artists exploiting the audience looking for moral/spiritual role models.
- notSupplied 3y ago
  Isn’t it basically auction-based pricing with more steps? That’s not a fundamentally evil thing.
- lukeramsden 3y ago
  I did some research in to this this year in the context of maybe trying to start a business to solve this - and this was the conclusion I came to. There’s lots of threads here on HN about it too. It’s a structural, market-wide issue where the primary service Ticketmaster provide is reputation laundering, and in return, large agents and promoters agree to continue to use Ticketmaster despite their reputation. I don’t know what the solution is.
  - soco 3y ago
    Like, don't go to overpriced concerts? How much more obvious than this should the solution be? None in that chain create value, so no need for you to feed their greed.
  - esotericimpl 3y ago
    [dead]
iambateman 3y ago
Scalping is exploitative and should be illegal when it’s for water and gasoline in a hurricane recovery zone. I’m unconvinced that there is a harm when the scalping is for section 102 row 14 seat 11 at a OneDirection concert. Lots of people want to vacation in Ibiza, so it’s expensive. Lots of people want to sit in section 102 row 14 seat 11, so it’s expensive too. Just because someone with more money buys the seat doesn’t mean the person with less money was exploited. If that were the case, we must require all seats to be sold at the exact same price across the stadium and that price must be low enough for even the poorest person to attend.
- firebat45 3y ago
  Now explain how scalping basic necessities in a hurricane is any different than real estate speculation. Either way, you're buying something people need, in an effort to restrict demand, raise prices, and resell at a profit without having to add any real value.
- nayuki 3y ago
  Okay, so scalping is illegal in a hurricane. Is it also illegal for outsiders to choose not to provide goods to the sticken area because the sale price doesn't justify the cost? See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jKl-SgJQVc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jKl-SgJQVc , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZuxdXmSoj4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZuxdXmSoj4 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFXYO1W_JXw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFXYO1W_JXw .

TeMPOraL 3y ago

I'm honestly not sure anymore if scalping should be delegalized. I'm increasingly convinced that it's only the problem because everyone is in on it, with artists using scalpers as "heat sinks", to get more money while pretending they're the victim, and everyone is well compensated for the role they play in the scheme. If that's the case, then the entire structure is the problem, and it starts with artists exploiting the audience looking for moral/spiritual role models.

notSupplied 3y ago
Isn’t it basically auction-based pricing with more steps? That’s not a fundamentally evil thing.
lukeramsden 3y ago
I did some research in to this this year in the context of maybe trying to start a business to solve this - and this was the conclusion I came to. There’s lots of threads here on HN about it too. It’s a structural, market-wide issue where the primary service Ticketmaster provide is reputation laundering, and in return, large agents and promoters agree to continue to use Ticketmaster despite their reputation. I don’t know what the solution is.
- soco 3y ago
  Like, don't go to overpriced concerts? How much more obvious than this should the solution be? None in that chain create value, so no need for you to feed their greed.
- esotericimpl 3y ago
  [dead]

iambateman 3y ago

Scalping is exploitative and should be illegal when it’s for water and gasoline in a hurricane recovery zone. I’m unconvinced that there is a harm when the scalping is for section 102 row 14 seat 11 at a OneDirection concert. Lots of people want to vacation in Ibiza, so it’s expensive. Lots of people want to sit in section 102 row 14 seat 11, so it’s expensive too. Just because someone with more money buys the seat doesn’t mean the person with less money was exploited. If that were the case, we must require all seats to be sold at the exact same price across the stadium and that price must be low enough for even the poorest person to attend.

firebat45 3y ago
Now explain how scalping basic necessities in a hurricane is any different than real estate speculation. Either way, you're buying something people need, in an effort to restrict demand, raise prices, and resell at a profit without having to add any real value.
nayuki 3y ago
Okay, so scalping is illegal in a hurricane. Is it also illegal for outsiders to choose not to provide goods to the sticken area because the sale price doesn't justify the cost? See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jKl-SgJQVc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jKl-SgJQVc , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZuxdXmSoj4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZuxdXmSoj4 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFXYO1W_JXw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFXYO1W_JXw .