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204 points pabs3 | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0s | source
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mschuster91 ◴[] No.44090946[source]
The solution is, as always, simple: regulation. In this case:

- break up Ticketmaster, Live Nation and their European friends. Ban vertical integration. And for good measure (and to placate the public who is out for blood, and I mean that one in the literal sense - ask a random on the street about what they'd do to scalpers and TM, I'd bet good money on at least 50% going for one or another form of violence), place their execs behind bars for a decade.

- mandate that a ticket holder has the right to transfer a personalized ticket for free (plus, in the case of actual paper tickets, a reasonable small service charge for postal fees)

- in conjunction, ban the sale of tickets above face value, including any sort of deals, and place significant fines on violators of both ends. This completely eliminates the "second hand" scalper market. Of course, black markets will still crop up, but when both sides cannot be certain the opposing trade partner is a cop...

Unfortunately, this would also kill a lot of income for the big players - chiefly, the ticket sale platforms that currently make an insane amount of money on bogus charges for name changes on tickets as well as running their own resale markets where they can double or triple dip on fees (depending how often that specific ticket gets sold back for whatever reason). And that is why such a movement will probably never happen during our lifetime.

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ahtihn ◴[] No.44091122[source]
Why should ticket sales be regulated? Why should the government care about what price event tickets sell for?

Concerts are pure luxury. I like going to concerts, but I don't see a reason why the government should intervene? Scalpers exist because artists underprice tickets on purpose.

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BrenBarn ◴[] No.44093279[source]
Because most people don't like scalpers, and the government is a way for people to incentivize the society they want.
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1. johnisgood ◴[] No.44095205[source]
> for people to incentivize the society they want.

Speak for yourself (pun intended).