For example, there are seven states that require that you hold a specific license to legally buy and resell tickets, these states are: There are 16 states in the United States where there are restrictions on ticket sales above face-value, namely: There are four states where the laws governing the process of scalping are at the municipal level, such as in: Before we answer the question of whether scalping is legal or not, lets first understand what is meant by scalping. We've helped more than 6 million clients find the right lawyer for free. Use some foresight! I sold the tickets to the Dallas Game because I had no interest in seeing the Cowboys play, and I knew that there were a lot of transplants from Texas who wanted to see the game. Yeah, everyone should be able to pay a reasonable price. U.S. ticket resale laws vary by state. Thanks Ren dumb you know what I have been to at least one Pens game since Mario got stopped by Bill Ranford on a penalty shot in 1992. 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. Would the rules be different if I did this regularly versus infrequently (making two to five transactions a week versus two to five transactions a month, would the rules that apply be different)? 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). Not only can scalpers set the price however they want, but it may be difficult to determine whether the tickets are real and not counterfeit. "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. Generally speaking, scalping is the process of buying something in high demand at a regular price and selling it at a higher price. Tickets sold through secondary sources may be sold for less or more than their face . Other than in the case of football tickets, there is no legal restriction against reselling tickets in the UK, although individual organisations (like Wimbledon) may prohibit it. Missing a ticketing platform's initial on sale time for a popular event most often results in one of two outcomes: You don't go or you end up paying many times the face value to get in. Office of Public Safety and Inspections. Unlike Connecticut, New York, Minnesota or other states that have recently approved the resale of tickets, Pennsylvanias law is a bit trickier by requiring resellers have a presence in the state: A reseller that uses [an] Internet website shall not be required to obtain a license to resell through the Internet website if the operator of the Internet website: Has a business presence and physical street address in this Commonwealth and clearly and conspicuously posts that address on the Internet website, or has a business presence in this Commonwealth and one of the following: a registered agent, a foreign business license or a certificate of authority issued by the Department of State.. The book examines the general situation, public opinion and legal perception of scalping for four distinct periods: 1850-1899; 1900-1917; 1918-1949 and 1950-2005. The unfair part of scalping is when scalpers buy up a large amount of tickets, making it impossible for enough customers to buy the tickets they want at the affordable price. If you bought something at a retail store and then tried to sell the item at more than retail you are in danger of being reprimanded by the law (and yeah I know people do it and do not get caught). The buyers who have the money and means to pay the high price demanded from scalpers will end up getting the tickets they want (hoping they are not defrauded in the process with counterfeit tickets!). Prior to joining LegalMatch, Jaclyn was a paralegal and freelance writer. There are a number of people who do not see any reason why scalping should be illegal. So if you can not afford it everyone should pay the price? Library, Bankruptcy Efforts to make the practice illegal are overshadowed by such websites. These criminals and their activities are not to be confused with legitimate ticket brokers and individuals who abide by the law to legally resell tickets on the secondary market. It is just the nature of convenience. Secure Ticket Purchase, LLC (Secure) offers tickets online for events in Pennsylvania and beyond. As some people purchase scalped tickets unknowingly, it would be difficult to enforce many rules against individuals purchasing the tickets. Their risk is not being able to find a buyer, the buyer's risk is paying more than standard. A further four leave it up to individual municipalities to decide. Im frustrated and wish we still had the protection of our government. You can learn more about Jaclyn here. 162, effective1/1 . The European Council will need to adopt the Annex formally, and member states will be given approximately two years to transpose the amendments into national law. These sites act as marketplaces that allow users to purchase tickets from a large network of brokers. I don't know if there is a limit to the number of tickets you can buy at one time, but I'm sure there are ways to get around it. They missed the boat. Login to add posts to your read later list, Event Ticketing Resources For Secondary and Primary, http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&sessYr=2007&sessInd=0&billBody=S&billTyp=B&billNbr=0086&pn=1250. Considering that tickets are sold so quickly, the only way a person may be able to attend an event or buy tickets may be through a broker. According to Stephen Barrett of Quackwatch, many online ticket resellers use URLs that are similar to official box-office websites, sometimes implying via their texts or their pictures that they are official, use internet advertising to increase traffic to their website, and don't clearly state the real prices they charge for a ticket.[15]. I am glad to have brokers. Scalping bots, computer programs specially designed to purchase and resale items at inflated prices, have become common for tickets as well as other items sold online. 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? So instead of complaining next year just buy a season ticket package and throw away the tickets you can not use, or you could be glad there are brokers that just ask you to pay for one or two events a year that you really want to go. Email: Scalping is a nonviolent crime without a victim in fact, it is a crime where both parties are agreeable to the transaction. @ FrameMaker- I disagree with you. I agree that there should be a cap on the price tickets are allowed to resell for. I sold the tickets for $500 apiece, making back half of the money for my season tickets in one sale. 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. After all our society is all about money if you dont have it you dont go. [24][25] Ticketmaster, Ireland's main ticket seller, runs a service called Seatwave which resells tickets, some at wildly inflated prices. The scalper must also specify the actual cost of the ticket, along with the retail price and section included on the ticket if they advertise to resell a ticket. Resellers use scalping bots (aka ticket bots) to acquire tickets in large amounts. [17], In Victoria, some events are declared as "major events" and protected by the Major Events Act 2009. Secure Ticket Purchase thought they could walk away with consumers hard-earned money by surreptitiously changing their refund policy in the middle of a pandemic, said Attorney General Henry. The law makes it illegal to own, use or share bot software. The prices are ridiculous. Im a season ticket holder. Law, Intellectual It doesn't necessarily require a degree or high degree of knowledge to attempt the act of scalping. [37], Another issue in the US is that since ticketing laws vary by state, many ticket re-sellers use a loophole and sell their tickets outside of the state of an event.[38]. So if one game I eat the cost and one game I make a couple bucks, who cares, its not like Im buying just to sell, and who is to judge that, no one really knows why those tickets become available scalpers or season ticket holder that cannot attend. Jaclyn started at LegalMatch in October 2019. Thanks, Ticketmaster. This is common around the holidays and other times when there are scarcities of popular items. 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. Consumers With Tickets to Canceled Shows May Be Eligible for a Refund. So, then what separates scalping from something like drop shipping? While there are no federal laws against ticket scalping in the United States, many states have their own restrictions against the practice. Approximately 16 of the 50 states have a law that makes scalping illegal. 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. I was looking to go to Game 4 of the World Series. 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. See, if you are knowledgable of what goes on in our society regarding tickets to events, there are companies like RazorGator and many others who profit by buying as much as possible to an event leaving less or no tickets for a casual individual buyer. This is so with Ticketek tickets (Ticketek is an Australian-based ticketing company). In an effort to curtail such behavior, Congress moved to pass the Better Online Tickets Sales Act of 2016, more commonly referred to as the BOTS act. We missed only one home opener in all of those years, the year the Bank opened in 2004. New York State law only permits prices above face value by the greater of $5 or 10%. The Keystone State joins Connecticut and New York as the most recent states to legalize ticket scalping, but requires resellers have a presence. When scalpers buy large quantities of tickets, they take the risk of failing to resell all of them, losing money. if you really want the fair price, how about buy the tickets before that night? 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. Just a thought. There is a lack of symmetry in logic when it comes to the argument of creating fair, open markets as in an ideal system of capitalism, one creates a product and others are free to create a competing, similar product of their own volition (infers not stealing the design of the first creator) then that in principle is what we know as a fair and open market. Its important to note that there are laws specifically prohibiting scalping for raceways and for the National Football League (NFL). Now yes supply & demand do come into play but it seems some of these people bought a lot of tickets with the intent of just selling them for profit. Such is life. Why are tickets different? YES. Code Ann. Laws about ticket scalping vary by state, and there is no federal law that prohibits the practice. Scalping of game consoles is not illegal in the United States. There are more important problems than legal scalping from the common person. Otherwise, there is no resale limit for tickets. Often they will wait until the authorized tickets are sold out in order to create more demand for their overpriced tickets. You had to commit at face value to buy 16 games. They want your money, you want their ticket; open market regulates the price based on supply/demand. [2] The measure was taken in response to ticket scalping and resale markup of tickets on secondary markets and adopted during Miley Cyrus (2009) World Wonder Tour, although Ticketmaster first experimented it with AC/DC's Black Ice World Tour (200810). Are there any legal ramifications to scalping. The new law became effective immediately. Youve tackled many tough issues facing residents across the great state of Pennsylvania in such a way that almost everyone is happy with the end result. This year I will probably not make it Thanks again Ed Spendell. Lets now think about creating a sliding scale tax for resellers based on the difference between the actual ticket price and resale price.
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