Counterfeit Concert Tickets at Garth Brooks last nite. - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Bertuzzied · 07-13-2012, 08:43 AM

So how can anyone buy legit tickets from Kijiji? is it just luck of the draw? I guess even people who bought hard copy tickets got counterfeit ones.

I guess the best part of the story was the scalper agency getting screwed.

Police were kept busy dealing with the matter as dejected fans filed reports. At 7:30 p.m., counterfeit tickets were still turning up and a number of concertgoers saw delays at Stampede entry gates.
Staff Sgt. Rob Van Gastel said he hasn't seen anything like it before. "We're in triage mode trying to deal with this," he said.
Stampede officials initially thought only "five or six" people carried fake tickets, believed to be reprints of originals.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/enterta...456/story.html

Senator Clay Davis · 07-13-2012, 08:47 AM

Always, always use StubHub. You pay more but its a guarentee. Craigs and Kijiji is filled with scammers. Unfortunetly some people had to learn the hard way.

Raekwon · 07-13-2012, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

So how can anyone buy legit tickets from Kijiji? is it just luck of the draw? I guess even people who bought hard copy tickets got counterfeit ones.

I guess the best part of the story was the scalper agency getting screwed.

Police were kept busy dealing with the matter as dejected fans filed reports. At 7:30 p.m., counterfeit tickets were still turning up and a number of concertgoers saw delays at Stampede entry gates.
Staff Sgt. Rob Van Gastel said he hasn't seen anything like it before. "We're in triage mode trying to deal with this," he said.
Stampede officials initially thought only "five or six" people carried fake tickets, believed to be reprints of originals.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/enterta...456/story.html

How did the scalper agency get screwed? I'm glad these people bought fake tickets they deserve it for supporting scalpers.

Resolute 14 · 07-13-2012, 09:02 AM

Yeah, sucks to be these fans, but it is a known risk when dealing with scalpers.

Bertuzzied · 07-13-2012, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raekwon

How did the scalper agency get screwed? I'm glad these people bought fake tickets they deserve it for supporting scalpers.

They bought a pack of 8 tickets which were fake.

I still don't understand how scalping isnt' illegal.

Raekwon · 07-13-2012, 09:10 AM

I don't think that Virgin should have stepped up and gave tickets to some of these people, the ones that didn't try to buy from a scalper deserve them more. They just opened the floodgate to people printing their own fake tickets in an attempt to get free tickets at the gate.

wookster · 07-13-2012, 09:31 AM

I say good on the Virgin Mobile guy for giving them those tickets and helping out a person in need. They will get a bit of good publicity out of the deal as well.

While I am not a fan of people scalping tickets, these people weren't duped by scalpers but were deceived by theives and criminals. A real scalper will actually sell you tickets, you just overpay for them. To me, sites like stubhub are scalpers as well, no different other than a better sense of security in buying the ticket. You are still overpaying for the ticket, just like a scalper.

Ticketmaster as a whole is a scam, with upwards of 70-80% or higher of the tickets already gone to agency's, corporations and sites like stubhub before the general public can even get a chance to purchase them, you might as well promote scalping because for a lot of people, that is the only way to get a ticket to events like this.

squiggs96 · 07-13-2012, 09:36 AM

I don't understand the outrage of scalping tickets. It's not much different than selling pop for a higher markup at the Superstore liquor store.

When there is only a finite number of tickets to an event, the market will set the price. If the promoter was smart, he'd be the one earning this money. By Garth only charging $65 a ticket, he looks like the good guy, but that doesn't change what people are going to pay for the tickets. He left so much money on the table. Some acts have developed really good systems. The Dixie Chicks auction off the first 10 rows on the floor. You put in your bid and the highest 400 (assuming 40 seats per row) tickets get placed in order. Pearl Jam sells their best seats by seniority in their fan club, and you need to show ID and enter when you arrive. Others make you show a credit card, but this can be tough if you are buying as a gift.

In a capitalist society I don't put blame on people abiding by the system in order to profit. As of November 2009 when the Alberta Amusements Act was repealed, it is no longer illegal to sell tickets over face value. If someone wants to give me $200 for a ticket I have only paid $65 for, why wouldn't I accept that? It's no different than the Christmas rushes on Playstations and Tickle Me Elmo dolls. Everyone has the same opportunity to get the items and everyone makes choices as to what's important to them. Some feel waiting in line overnight to save money is good for them, while others would rather just pay the marked up prices and save their time.

I often hear that sporting tickets should be only for the real fans. Many people hate the corporate seats in the lower bowls that leave before the game is over. I don't enjoy that, but it is necessary to make the cheaper seats affordable. When the Flames almost left Calgary, it was because enough people weren't buying tickets. Where were the real fans now. It's funny that during the 2004 run how many more real fans emerged from the woods and wanted face value tickets. They belittled the people that had been purchasing tickets for years and were making profits on reselling. Scalpers like Randy (Broncos pony tail guy) were part of this. Everyone here had the same opportunity to do what he does. It's not a glamorous job, but it's legal and he's probably very good at it.

It's up to each person to decide how much they will pay for a ticket. If there wasn't a huge demand, prices wouldn't be that high. It wouldn't matter (to an extent) what Garth chose to list his tickets for, the market would dictate actual prices. Why crap on those who were smart enough to profit from it? Someone was going to.

My statements are only on the guys selling legitimate tickets. All of those who are selling fake tickets and counterfeits are horrible people and are only ripping people off without giving the customer what they paid for.

Burninator · 07-13-2012, 10:19 AM

What I don't like about scalpers is that the money is going to the wrong people. Garth sells his tickets for $65 and puts on a concert. A scalper make hundreds and does next to nothing. They don't deserve the money.

I like what Louis CK is doing for his latest tour. Selling all the tickets through his website and when they see someone re-selling the tickets they disable them and they won't work at the door.

Cowboy89 · 07-13-2012, 10:27 AM

^ I'm totally cool with a free market. Pure scalping is fine with me. The issue most people probably have is the market manipulation tactics used by promoters in conjunction with scalping websites.

Coach · 07-13-2012, 10:27 AM

I had an Econ professor who had an interesting idea as far as concert tickets go where the majority of the money would go to the artist/promoter

Its called a Dutch Auction. You set the initiall price really high (lets say $10 000) and the price slowly ticks down. When a price comes along that people are willing to pay for tickets they bid and get their tickets. So you have the people who (presumably) want to see the show the most paying the highest prices, and the other people waiting until the prices go down to $50 or so. The risk is the tickets might be gone if you wait too long. Or, if their not as much in demand, people could be getting tickets for $1 (which would likely lead to some scalping, but not as much because if the damnd is that low initially its not likely to rise much). This would probably prevent a lot of scalping, but definitely requires more of a commitment by the buyer to pay attention to the auction. But it should take most of the consumer surplus away and maximize profits for the entertainer et al vs the scalpers.

Ozy_Flame · 07-13-2012, 10:31 AM

Scalping in a "free market" breeds greedy, sleazy people looking to make a quick buck at the cost of others, devouring human decency along the way. While the economics are virtuous, the ethics behind people's actions are not. That's what bothers me most about it.

East Coast Flame · 07-13-2012, 10:38 AM

At the music festival Glastonbury in England, in order to fight scalpers, your ticket has a picture of you on it, and you are the only person allowed to use that ticket.

I have also been to concerts that are "will call only", or your ticket is the credit card that you used to purchase the ticket.

There are lots of ways to combat scalping, but the ticketing industry makes too much money off the secondary market for there ever to be change. It will take the artists themselves to stand up and attempt to force change.

Rerun · 07-13-2012, 10:38 AM

Did anybody ever do an investigation into Ticketmaster?

When 15,322 tickets sell out in 58 seconds something's not right. Sounds to me like Ticketmaster sold big blocks of tickets to "special people" before they went on sale to the general public.. Something sure sounded fishy when this happened.

mac_gurl · 07-13-2012, 10:42 AM

My opinion is when you buy tickets from other vendors (ie. Kijiji) you are taking the risk of counterfeit tickets. Ya, I feel sorry for them, but you have to be prepared for that to happen, when you aren't going through the original vendor.

dubc80 · 07-13-2012, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Scalping in a "free market" breeds greedy, sleazy people looking to make a quick buck at the cost of others, devouring human decency along the way. While the economics are virtuous, the ethics behind people's actions are not. That's what bothers me most about it.

Depends on the type of scalper though.

If the scalper is getting the tickets through illegitimate methods (corrupt promoters, online script programs, etc) then yes, I agree with you.

If it's an ordinary citizen who happened to click re-fresh at Ticketmaster a couple seconds faster than you and decides to sell it for market value which happens to be above face value, I'm ok with it.

Scalping has allowed me to go to certain events which were sold out, or that I was too late to get tickets for. You snooze, you lose. If I want to go, I'm ok with paying a premium.

Olao32 · 07-13-2012, 10:45 AM

I was unfortunately one of the dumb asses who was scammed last night. I am a big country music fan, and my wife is a huge Garth Brooks fan. Unfortunately during regular ticket sales we were not successful via Ticketmaster, so yesterday morning I decided screw it, I am going to surprise her with some tickets and purchased them via kijiji. Lots of money yes, but it it’s not like an everyday concert. She was ecstatic.

The tickets were hard copy and looked legit in every way. They even got me through the gates at the park, scanned through no problem...

Then at the door of the dome, nada "please go to the ticket counter and talk to a representative". I knew at that moment I was SOL. And I felt like a major jackass because the surprise just didn’t turn out as planned.

When I went down to the ticket office the lady pointed me to a crowd in the corner with some CPS officers taking statements. Doubt they will find him but you never know...

Apparently, this same guy did this to many different people. Same story, same phone number, add on kijiji etc. One of the people who purchased from him even took a picture (and this genius let her). So, this is one of the pricks behind the scam if you recognize him, please let me know.

I’ve seen some pretty crazy stuff on CP, wouldn't surprise me if someone actually recognized him or was able to track this POS down.

ken0042 · 07-13-2012, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by squiggs96

I don't understand the outrage of scalping tickets. It's not much different than selling pop for a higher markup at the Superstore liquor store.

When there is only a finite number of tickets to an event, the market will set the price.

There's your difference. There is a very finite number of tickets; however there are almost unlimited options for places to buy pop.

As for the market setting the price, did demand go up because the people buying the tickets originally planned on scalping them? Sure- some people who bought their tickets through proper channels went to see the show. But how many people buy tickets just to re-sell them? Part of my issue with scalping is I believe they are creating a false sense of demand. Sure- there are likely more than 20,000 people who would be willing to see Garth Brooks for $65. But if 10,000 of those tickets fall into the hands of scalpers- now the demand has artificially increased.

squiggs96 · 07-13-2012, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Scalping in a "free market" breeds greedy, sleazy people looking to make a quick buck at the cost of others, devouring human decency along the way. While the economics are virtuous, the ethics behind people's actions are not. That's what bothers me most about it.

Serious questions:

Why are the people who scalp tickets greedy, sleazy and devouring human decency? Is it any different than the tour selling a shirt for $60 inside the concert or the Dome charging $10 for a beer? They have a captive audience and could sell it cheaper, but they choose to sell it for more. One could argue the kids pulling at their parents wills and all the advertising showing how awesome drinking is are unethical. Are the ethics inside the Dome different from the ones outside the Dome?

wpgflamesfan · 07-13-2012, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Scalping in a "free market" breeds greedy, sleazy people looking to make a quick buck at the cost of others, devouring human decency along the way. While the economics are virtuous, the ethics behind people's actions are not. That's what bothers me most about it.

Unless you're talking about some collusion between ticketmaster and scalpers how is buying a ticket to something with the plan of selling it for a profit unethical?