Law, Government Scalping of game consoles is not illegal in the United States. Are there laws about reselling tickets or inflating prices for events Season ticket holders generally receive the same exact seat locations year after year thus they can enter a contract to deliver on tickets that they own the rights to, even if those tickets have not even been printed or sent to the original ticket holder. Being able to easily sell tickets to a broker who may be willing to buy them will allow many to trade their tickets if for some reason they cannot attend the event. I am a season ticket holder NOT a broker. Ticket scalping (aka ticket touting or ticket reselling) is an example of a sophisticated bot attack. When the supply of tickets for a given event available through authorized ticket sellers is depleted, the event is considered "sold out", generally increasing the market value for any tickets on offer through secondary sellers. Its important to note that there are laws specifically prohibiting scalping for raceways and for the National Football League (NFL). Essentially, this will mean that StubHub, Ticketmaster or other sites would have to set up shop somewhere in the state, a relatively easy proposition. I am sure if you just wanted to go to a regular season Penguins game during the middle of the week against a last place team you would buy the tickets for LESS than face value and never feel guilty that someone lost money so you could go. Would I still be subject to the same laws of scalping being illegal? Of course, one has to be over the age of, say, nine, emotionally speaking, to appreciate the absolutely beautiful way the system works, which may be why some folks find it "unfair." Now it is illegal in NJ where I live to scalp tickets for more than 25% so am I within my rights to agree to purchase at such a high price and bring a friend (who is a cop)along to have them arrested? Then why should you be upset when you have to pay more for an event that everyone wants to go to. Places where you are likely to see scalpers are: Another form of scalping that has taken a lot of momentum in the past years is online scalping. The individual buyer and seller may agree, but the competitors in obtaining an originally affordable price may be the victim. "The Source" is a live call-in program airing Mondays through Thursdays from 12-1 p.m. Leave a message before the program at(210) 615-8982. Thats why you have to pay more for tickets to big events. The laws on ticket scalping tend to vary widely from state to state. Submit your case to start resolving your legal issue. This little known plugin reveals the answer. The Assurance of Voluntary Compliance was filed in the Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas by Senior Deputy Attorney General Paul D. Edger. 'Happy Hong Kong' campaign: scalpers sell free tickets to weekend For most events, except for raceway events and the NFL, there are no laws making the resale of tickets illegal. Secondary ticketing market StubHub have signed partnership agreements with Sunderland and Everton for 2012/13 season, whilst competitor Viagogo hold partnerships with Chelsea and other clubs. I appreciate how the article presents both sides of the argument with regard to scalpers and the actual practice itself. Do you right the tickets off on your tax return? press@attorneygeneral.gov, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General Strawberry Square In addition to ticket scalping, there is another common form of this practice called retail scalping. Attorney General Combats Ticket Scalping with Settlement Forcing Online Re-Seller to Refund Consumers for Canceled Events. The majority of transactions that occur are via credit card over the phone or internet. Ticket scalping, also known as ticket brokering, refers to the act of reselling tickets for an art, cultural, music, or sporting event at a price that is higher than the original face value of a ticket. That way I can pick the events I want to go to w/o investing lots of money in season ticket plans. Street scalpers offer a win-win proposal that carries the risk of lose-lose. Glastonbury Festival, which sold out 137,500 tickets within less than two hours in 2007,[42] introduced a system in the same year whereby tickets included photographic ID of the original buyer, to enforce non-exchangeability. Why because there is another one like it at another dealership so you dont have to. Do you receive unwanted calls? Total extortion. I figured that if they were going to be rooting against my new home team, I would make them pay. I called my friend and told him to come over I just bought a wii and he told me his boss is looking for one and would pay me double what I paid so I sold it to him. Check or add your phone numbers to the Pennsylvania Do Not Call Registry. Ticket re-sellers may conduct business on nearby sidewalks, or advertise through newspaper ads or ticket brokers. Why should I have to pay a higher price than the next person because someone else was greedy? The reality is that law enforcement officers and police officers have a limited number of staff and resources and need to deal with a wide range of crimes (and criminals). In other countries, such as the United Kingdom and Australia, there are no particular laws prohibiting ticket scalping; nevertheless, certain types of scalping, such as utilizing automated software to acquire huge volumes of tickets, may be prohibited. outside a venue) is illegal under the Casual Trading Act, 1995 in 2015 Kazimierz Gre, an official of the Polish Football Association, spent the night in a cell after being arrested for selling tickets outside an IrelandPoland football match. So if you are a scalper, you can sell your tickets without any legal consequences provided you are standing more than 200 feet from the entrance. has been one of the largest ticket resale platforms for Pennsylvania consumers. Another common practice is scalpers that sell tickets that have already been scanned at the venue gate since entry is typically allowed only when a ticket is scanned for the first time. Negotiation is an art, patience is a virtue. Since scalpers only sell to clients willing to pay a high price to get the ticket, the police may not be convinced that the victim was truly a victim of a crime. They are different from scalpers since they offer a consumer-facing storefront to return to if there is any problem with their transaction. There are no federal laws prohibiting scalping but there are 16 states where scalping is considered illegal. According to the scalping laws in the state of California, a person who scalps tickets to an entertainment event, such as a movie premiere or a sold-out concert, will be considered to have committed an illegal act unless they have written permission to sell a ticket from the owner or operator of the venue. You have many websites and platforms offering the possibility for individuals and businesses to buy tickets when the official event organizer has all their tickets sold out. Yes, they run the risk of not selling, but why should they care if they've sold their other tickets at a huge markup? The consequences for ticket scalping vary according to the jurisdiction and the seriousness of the offense. Generally speaking, scalping is the process of buying something in high demand at a regular price and selling it at a higher price. Scalpers can obtain tickets in a variety of ways, including purchasing them straight from the box office, online, or from those who already own them. Did The law requires any individual who purchases tickets with the intent to resell them at a higher price to first obtain a license from the County Treasurer where the sale will occur. U.S. corporate ticket reselling firm Ticketmaster developed a strong online presence and made several acquisitions to compete in the secondary markets. I'm sure it's because of scalpers, because I found some selling seats on ebay. There are many ways that scalping can take place, such as: Lets look at scalping for various types of events and methods. To make the best use of their time, law enforcement officers will focus on the more serious types of crimes, most of the time violent crimes or other types of crimes they deem serious enough to pursue. The Keystone State joins Connecticut and New York as the most recent states to legalize ticket scalping, but requires resellers have a presence in the state. Enjoy! I dont know. For instance, if an event is a popular event, a line of individuals will inevitably form. Others see themselves as businessmen. What are the essential elements you should know! Those who can enforce the law at races or football games include box office personnel, supervisors, venue managers, ticket agents, security agents, event promoters and seat holders. This is so with Ticketek tickets (Ticketek is an Australian-based ticketing company). Normal hard working middle class people that want to attend a game are being extorted into paying prices that are not regulated. Approximately 16 of the 50 states have a law that makes scalping illegal. As a result, many websites are able to provide ticket scalping services online without real consequences even if its in violation of the law. The Laws on Reselling Tickets | Pocketsense I mean seriously! Ive been taking my 10 year old son to Phillies home openers as a tradition since he has been 18 months old. I do the same thing with my Red Sox season tickets. My point is, this law will further the distance between the haves and have nots. They want your money, you want their ticket; open market regulates the price based on supply/demand. The Keystone State joins Connecticut and New York as the most recent states to legalize ticket scalping, but requires resellers have a presence in the state. The new law became effective immediately. Attorney General Spokeswoman Barbara Petito said a lawsuit against the Ohio-based ticket scalping business Front Row Tickets Inc. claims the business illegally sold thousands of tickets for Pennsylvania events at $45 to $100 more than their face values. Email: In the US, ticket scalping is the practice of buying and reselling event tickets by private citizens, rather than by the sponsoring venue or organization, usually at a much higher price than their face value. Tickets sold through an online ticket brokering service may or may not be authorized by the official seller. Yes everybody wants to go see the Penguins in the playoffs for face value or see the Phillies clinch the NL east on the last day of the season for face value. There is a printed price on the window label but noone wants to pay it! New Jersey state law provides that tickets cannot be scalped or resold for an amount that is more than twenty percent or three dollars of the original ticket price, whichever of the options is greater when applied. In such scenarios, those ticket re-sellers are actually selling forward contracts of those tickets. After all our society is all about money if you dont have it you dont go. Customers have argued that this generates an unfair advantage for the scalpers, adding to an already controversial practice, and many sites have begun implementing anti-bot measures to combat such tactics. 14-344. Library, Bankruptcy Prior to Rendell, a Democrat, signing the bill, the State Senate unanimously approved the measure, which had been sponsored by Republican State Sen. Tommy Tomlinson. So if I have tickets and somebody is offering me $800 each I should say thanks but Ill take $400 a piece instead? 16 people have successfully posted their cases, 5 people have successfully posted their cases, 10 people have successfully posted their cases, 6 people have successfully posted their cases, 20 people have successfully posted their cases, 7 people have successfully posted their cases, 9 people have successfully posted their cases, Can't find your category? This is why this country is going to the dogs. One common concern with resale is with scam artists selling fake tickets to unsuspecting buyers. I am glad to have brokers. Click here. By the way those who buy season tickets pay more than face! I agree it is not fair. Credit Aventus / What should would-be buyers know to protect themselves when purchasing tickets online or from secondary sources? I paid about 2000 for two season tickets, but ended up seeing most of the games for much cheaper. Scalping is a nonviolent crime without a victim in fact, it is a crime where both parties are agreeable to the transaction. I have shown up late to concerts and been able to get in for less than half price by buying tickets form a scalper who bought too many tickets. But is scalping really bad? However, you have approximately 16 states where ticket resale above face-value is restricted. Specifically, there are seven states where scalping is illegal because anyone who is selling or reselling tickets needs a special license (New York, Alabama, Georgia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Massachusetts.) Brokers reselling tickets are required to inform consumers the tickets are being resold and must tell consumers the name of the ticket's original vendor and the original face value price. The ballots are intended to discourage re-selling by making it harder to purchase large numbers of tickets because being at the front of the queue does not guarantee the holder a ticket. If re-sellers buy the tickets and the tickets are not then sold out, then they risk a loss. Firstly, avoid buying tickets from platforms such as Facebook Marketplace and eBay, as these are almost certainly being sold by scalpers. So if you can not afford it everyone should pay the price? Ticket scalping is permitted in some jurisdictions but not in others. Price Gouging Laws by State - FindLaw Ticket scalpers are motivated by different factors, including greed, the desire to prey on fans emotions, and a love of capitalism. Laws about ticket scalping vary by state, and there is no federal law that prohibits the practice. Why is scalping made legal? As such, they may act like private citizens looking for tickets and try to find scalpers dealing in large volumes or those who are taking advantage of the public by buying tickets and artificially raising prices for their benefit. I'm wondering where this fits in this argument of ticket brokering being legal/illegal, etc. I counter offered $70 a ticket, twice what the artist will benefit from, and the broker responded, $70 isnt even in the ballpark, I dont wake up for $70, $200 or nothing, Id rather not sell them than lose that much money on the sale. How is that LOSING? 28-4101 - 4103. Why are tickets different? Scalping tickets is the practice of mass buying and reselling of tickets by an individual who is not associated with the organization that is sponsoring the event. Some promoters have ceased selling tickets in the traditional first-come-first-served manner, and require prospective ticket holders to enter a "ballot" a competition with random winners with the prize being the opportunity to purchase a small number of tickets. Ticket scalping laws, for example, differentiate between scalpers on the streets and ticket brokers. Still, if the event you want to attend has been sold out, it can be tempting to look for alternative ways to buy tickets. He did what others would not do. Keep reading as we have gathered exactly the information that you need! What about when a scalper uses a program to jam up the system with automatic purchases preventing private individuals wanting to purchase tickets the hour they go on sale? Hello Nation! There is no guarantee your going to make money by doing that and I have resold plenty of tickets for less then I paid and nobody felt sorry for my loss so when I have a chance to make money on the tickets I usually take a loss on Im going to take it. For example, in Arizona, scalping is prohibited within 200 feet of the entrance of the venue. Copyright 2023, All Rights Reserved | Some TicketNews posts have affiliate links - it may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase tickets or other products. The state of Washington has anti-scalping laws that restrict the resale of tickets for more than the original cost of the ticket plus ten percent. So to determine if scalping is legal or not, youll need to look at state laws or laws at the municipality or county level. Since it was not clear how the preorder system worked, who was invited, and how you could place an order, scalpers were able to put their hands on the consoles and resell them at a higher price. Street scalpers prices -vs- those of the corporate scalpers this law has created.A sporting event should not be looked upon as a business venture. When theres a limited number of seats and a high level of demand, scalpers can expect to make a good amount of profit by reselling the tickets. It prohibits price increases of more than 10%. Copyright 1999-2023 LegalMatch. She is a Trinity University alum with bachelors degrees in Communication and Spanish, and a Master of Arts Degree from the School of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin. Ticket resale - Wikipedia BTW you could go online at the beginning of the year and buy up tickets and if that team dont make it to the finals your going to be out a lot of money. Ticketmaster sued Prestige Entertainment after determining the scalping company made 313,528 ticket orders using bots between January 2015 and September 2016. I couldn't buy tickets to a show I didn't know about. As such, the majority of ticket scalping incidents are now primarily committed through an online sales transaction. After many complaints from the community and event promoters, the DFT (Department of Fair Trading) and CCAAC (Commonwealth Consumer Affairs Advisory Council) conducted a survey discussing scalping issues and released The Ticket Scalping Issue Paper for NSW. Seven states Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania require a special license to resell tickets. In 2011, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton, declined to pass a law against touting, saying it would just drive re-sellers to websites based abroad. Jaclyn holds a J.D. If you dont or cant pay the price then dont go. While there are no federal laws against ticket scalping in the United States, many states have their own restrictions against the practice. I sold one more pair of tickets that season and made another $400, so I only paid $600 for six sets of great regular season tickets, plus preseason games. . Seven states Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania require a special license to resell tickets. Persons who are caught doing so can face considerable legal penalties. I strongly oppose your signing into law a bill that allows anyone to legally resell event tickets online. Another reason why scalping may not be on the polices top priority list is that a person buying the ticket (the victim of the crime) was agreeing to pay a higher price for the ticket (its like a contract that was formed by mutual consent). According to the Legalzoom website, Arizona bans scalping only within 200 feet of the entrance of the venue in which a concert or event is taking place, so tickets can be sold for as much as a. HARRISBURG Attorney General Michelle Henry announced a settlement has been reached holding accountable the ticket reseller website. At 10 a.m., I was not able to get tickets. Finally, if you need help with negotiating a plea deal or if you need legal representation in court for a ticket scalping issue, your attorney will also be able to provide these services too. 406, sec. There are various anti-scalping laws in the United States but they primarily target ticket scalping as opposed to goods and products. The fact that it is a business to make tickets scarce and then sell them off at outrageous prices is appalling. Ticket resale is common in both sporting and musical events. Ticketmaster sells tickets in online auctions, which may bring the sale price of tickets closer to market prices. There definitely should be a cap to the price. Who said you had to wait till the last minute to get a ticket. I've been around the block! Bus. [26] However, selling tickets in a public place (e.g. In essence, scalpers know very well that many fans may make a purchase decision based on emotions or irrational thinking at the moment they are purchasing the tickets. Deals that appear too good to be true should also be avoided, as they may be frauds. Subscribe to our newsletter and learn something new every day. Is Amazon actually giving you a competitive price? Until now, weve talked about scalping tickets for events or other activities such as art venues, special events, celebrity interviews, etc. [45], "Scalper" redirects here. [22] As a result, in 2017, Ontario announced legislation to attempt to crack down on scalper bots. Ticket Scalping Laws | LegalMatch Some brokers host their own websites and interact directly with customers. [3][4] Ticketmaster has since changed the name of the system to "Credit Card Entry". This page was last edited on 30 March 2023, at 06:19. A question that comes to mind is whether or not scalping tickets is illegal? When was the last time the local governments stopped bowing down to lobbyist organizations? It is just the nature of convenience. Unlike bigger ticket scalpers who buy a ton of tickets at once, this is buying and selling tickets from secondary markets. Just the other side of the coin. Such is life. What Is Ticket Scalping? How Does It Work? | SEON If scalping were illegal, then I would have never been able to afford such great seats. During the 19th century, the term scalper was applied to railroad ticket brokers who sold tickets for lower rates.[1]. New York State law only permits prices above face value by the greater of $5 or 10%. your case, What to Do to Have a Strong Misdemeanor Defense Case, What Would Be Considered Disorderly Conduct? I was able to live like the wealthy, eating at the premium buffets, extra wide seats, full bars with lounges and player meet and greets, all for less than the price of a pair of cheap seats for the season. What is Ticket Scalping? | How to Prevent Scalpers | Netacea I have a question out of curiosity that hopefully someone could help me answer. Tickets sold through secondary sources may be sold for less or more than their face . Is Scalping Tickets Legal in Pittsburgh? - Tibbott and Richardson As such, there have been preorders for gaming consoles where all the consoles were sold within minutes. Reg. If someone else has reference to it please provide a link (I will if I find it). The new section states that unlicensed persons reselling tickets at above face value will be subject to fines. In New York, the Arts and Cultural Affairs Law prohibits the resale of tickets for more than $5 or 10% (whichever is greater) over the face price of the ticket. Tickets are bought from licensed sellers and then sold for a price determined by the individual or company in possession of the tickets. Lets now think about creating a sliding scale tax for resellers based on the difference between the actual ticket price and resale price. Taylor: Scalpers, The Legal Issues & What You Can Do Now I have no problem with paying a bit of a premium, however 5 times the price is a little rediculous. Heres an idea Mr. Rendell lets be sure to heavely tax those now legal scalpers to make the practice less profitable. The new law became effective immediately. But I just got a flyer in the mail about a show I had no idea about. In response to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, most, if not all, concerts and events in Pennsylvania were canceled due to safety concerns. Resellers use scalping bots (aka ticket bots) to acquire tickets in large amounts. If the official website for the event sells out, these sites promote themselves as a second chance. Approximately 16 of the 50 states have a law that makes scalping illegal. Opponents of anti-scalping laws state that because tickets are sold in advance of an event, re-sale of tickets will inherently occur. However, scalping also takes place for products such as gaming consoles. There are so many events around the country, so many tickets bought and sold, and only so much law enforcement bandwidth, its nearly impossible to pursue all scalpers breaking the law. I bought a Nintendo wii when they first came out. Law, About As new anti-scalping laws are introduced in Victoria, our research suggests that frustrations with current ticketing systems may be a contributing factor to the continued success of scalpers. Tennessee anti-ticket bot law has no prosecutions Her role entails writing legal articles for the law library division, located on the LegalMatch website. FrameMaker, nicely said. The laws preventing scalpers from operating can take several forms. Would I be subject to paying tax at the end of the year or declaring this as "profit" I make at the end of a calendar year? Example; Actual ticket price $50.00, resale price at $200.00 profit $150.00 a resale tax of 75% of the profit would be $112.50 (to the state) net profit to reseller $37.50. But economically . who resell their tickets, the way the NY law does? Ticket Scalping : An American History, 1850-2005 - Google Books

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