3 ms·

On the subject of scalping, I've never understood why tickets can't be bound to a particular identity. I.e. if you buy tickets as "John Smith", only someone who

by tlonny 3y ago

On the subject of scalping, I've never understood why tickets can't be bound to a particular identity. I.e. if you buy tickets as "John Smith", only someone who can prove they are "John Smith" is let through the door. In my head, this completely decapitates scalping as a business. Why can't this also be applied in other sectors (i.e. restaurant reservations)

lxgr 3y ago
In quite a few countries (most notably and possibly surprisingly including the US), government identity is not that easy to come by and/or controversial in some way. In places/contexts that do have functioning identity ecosystems, that does indeed solve the issue, yes. For example,this is why airline ticket scalpers are not a thing in the US: TSA will validate every passenger's ID matching their boarding pass before being allowed into the airport.
- jeroenhd 3y ago
  The US is quite an odd beast when it comes to ID, but as far as I understand, not having a government ID at all is mostly a problem with the lower socioeconomic classes. I don't think the people who put down $100 for a reservation will have quite the same problem. Even if government ID is out of the question, asking for a credit card with the same name should also work as an alternative for those without a drivers' license or any other form of ID. I don't have any numbers of course, but I suspect there's not a lot of overlap between the groups of people who don't have credit cards or ID and the people who go to these expensive restaurants. Many other countries (and private airlines) will match your ID with your boarding pass; however, airlines often allow you to change the details on the boarding pass up to the very end, sometimes for a small fee. When the scalpers' customers go through security, their boarding passes match their government ID. If airlines wouldn't allow you to change the name on your ticket the day before your flight, scalpers would probably lose a lot of business, at the cost of minor inconvenience to customers.
cogman10 3y ago
The issue with scalping is it generally doesn't harm the business. To them, a ticket is a ticket and "Oh shucks, sorry you didn't get the one you wanted". Similar to how hoarding goods during a crisis works. So, to answer your question, companies could solve this problem by binding a reservation to an ID. However, there's very little incentive to do that. There's also a slight downside when people show up and say "Oh, forgot my ID". Now you have a fight at the entrance you don't want to deal with.
- brewdad 3y ago
  Presumably that hypothetical customer would have a credit card with their name on it or a significant amount of cash the get themselves through the door.
hnbad 3y ago
They literally do that. In Germany, expensive concert tickets will usually have your name on them. People still try to sell them at the venue to their marks but even when the ticket you buy from a scalper isn't fake, you might still be unable to use it because of the name mismatch.

by tlonny 3y ago

lxgr 3y ago

In quite a few countries (most notably and possibly surprisingly including the US), government identity is not that easy to come by and/or controversial in some way. In places/contexts that do have functioning identity ecosystems, that does indeed solve the issue, yes. For example,this is why airline ticket scalpers are not a thing in the US: TSA will validate every passenger's ID matching their boarding pass before being allowed into the airport.

jeroenhd 3y ago
The US is quite an odd beast when it comes to ID, but as far as I understand, not having a government ID at all is mostly a problem with the lower socioeconomic classes. I don't think the people who put down $100 for a reservation will have quite the same problem. Even if government ID is out of the question, asking for a credit card with the same name should also work as an alternative for those without a drivers' license or any other form of ID. I don't have any numbers of course, but I suspect there's not a lot of overlap between the groups of people who don't have credit cards or ID and the people who go to these expensive restaurants. Many other countries (and private airlines) will match your ID with your boarding pass; however, airlines often allow you to change the details on the boarding pass up to the very end, sometimes for a small fee. When the scalpers' customers go through security, their boarding passes match their government ID. If airlines wouldn't allow you to change the name on your ticket the day before your flight, scalpers would probably lose a lot of business, at the cost of minor inconvenience to customers.

cogman10 3y ago

The issue with scalping is it generally doesn't harm the business. To them, a ticket is a ticket and "Oh shucks, sorry you didn't get the one you wanted". Similar to how hoarding goods during a crisis works. So, to answer your question, companies could solve this problem by binding a reservation to an ID. However, there's very little incentive to do that. There's also a slight downside when people show up and say "Oh, forgot my ID". Now you have a fight at the entrance you don't want to deal with.

brewdad 3y ago
Presumably that hypothetical customer would have a credit card with their name on it or a significant amount of cash the get themselves through the door.

hnbad 3y ago

They literally do that. In Germany, expensive concert tickets will usually have your name on them. People still try to sell them at the venue to their marks but even when the ticket you buy from a scalper isn't fake, you might still be unable to use it because of the name mismatch.