Archive for December, 2006

The Business of Ticket Brokers

December 24, 2006

If you’ve ever to search out tickets to a concert, only to find them sold out five minutes after they went on sale, look no further than a ticket broker. With bands of employees both in line and on the Internet, a ticket broker has the wherewithal to acquire more tickets and acquire them than a person. If you can’t find tickets to an event, there’s a strong likelihood a ticket broker has them.

A number of states states have laws regarding the sale of tickets for greater than face value. Some states have laws that specifically prohibit a ticket broker to conduct business. With worldwide access to the Internet, a ticket broker can work in a state that lets him or her to do business and sell tickets to shows, music events, and concerts from all over the world.

A ticket broker generates revenue based on supply and demand. There is a tiny supply of event tickets, because a show only plays so many dates and there are only so many seats at a venue. This allows a ticket broker to control a noteworthy segment of the supply of tickets and charge ten times the ticket price or more.

The ticket broker engages a group of ticket buyers to procure tickets for a individual event. The ticket buyers stand in line at points of sale or use the Internet to conduct online purchases. The employees turn over the tickets to the ticket broker, who then resells them, usually by means of a website at a gigantic profit. When individuals are unable to locate tickets to the event, they turn to the ticket broker.

Of course, there are numerous sides to the discussion. Ticket brokers state to be granting a service. They allege that by purchasing an enormous number of tickets and selling them at an extreme profit, they are only providing a real market economy. Their claim is that if people want to attend a show seriously enough to pay three times the face value of the ticket, the ticket broker is justified in selling the ticket for that price.

Opponents of ticket brokers represent that because there is a highly limited number of tickets, the brokers are giving unfair competition. They say that the ticket broker is cornering the market. These opponents do not consider that it is proper for the brokers to act as middlemen, hoard tickets and request an artificially inflated price without providing any hefty service.

Certain states have laws that coincide with the ticket broker’s need to make a profit. Other states verify the ticket buyer’s desire to purchase tickets at face value.