Ticket re-sellers in trouble?

[TD Ryan2 314]

Is this a good thing? or should the market be allowed to determine the price of the tickets?

 

I guess I'm not really sure what I think but it's gonna' make it interesting:

 

 

Boston.com Article HERE

 

 

Judge: Fan can sue Sox ticket reseller

Case over boosting of prices could put firms out of business

 

By Bruce Mohl, Globe Staff | June 8, 2006

 

A consumer who balked at paying a Weymouth ticket reseller $500 for a Red Sox-Yankees ticket at Fenway Park with a face value of $80 is entitled to sue the reseller under the state's Consumer Protection Act, a Quincy District Court judge ruled yesterday.

 

The decision, by Judge Mark S. Coven, merely allows the case against Admit One Ticket Agency to proceed to trial, but the wording of the ruling could spell trouble for ticket resellers.

 

The state's antiscalping law bars resellers from charging more than $2 above the ticket's face value, plus certain service charges. Ticket resellers have gotten away with charging far more because the state Department of Public Safety, which licenses ticket resellers, has never enforced the law.

 

But if the lawsuit brought by Dorchester consumer activist Colman Herman succeeds, ticket resellers could be put out of business, as Coven suggested during oral arguments last month on Admit One's motion to dismiss the case.

 

``You're going to put all these ticket agencies out of business if they're only able to charge $2 plus a service charge," Coven said at last month's hearing.

 

Herman yesterday called Coven's ruling a major victory. ``It allows me to go to trial and do discovery to find out where Admit One gets its tickets," he said. He said he suspected Red Sox season ticket holders were the agency's chief source of tickets.

 

Joel G. Beckman, an attorney for Admit One, said yesterday's ruling has no bearing on the outcome of the case. ``There's no injury here," Beckman said. ``Even in Boston, I don't think you have a right to attend a baseball game."

 

Herman claims the prices charged by ticket resellers are outrageous. He said if they don't like the law, which restricts markups, they should work to change it.

 

There was some movement to change the law last year, after a spokeswoman for the state's Public Safety office said ``no one is complying with the letter of the law."

 

The agency began working on a redraft of the antiscalping law in November, considering everything from a higher markup on ticket resales to letting the free market dictate prices. But little progress appears to have been made in the last seven months.

 

``We've been focused on addressing areas where life-safety issues are at risk," said Kelly Nantel, spokeswoman for the agency.

 

In its motion to dismiss Herman's lawsuit, Admit One argued that Herman was improperly acting as a private attorney general. Admit One also argued that Herman had not been injured, a requirement under the Consumer Protection Act, because he never actually bought a Red Sox ticket.

 

Coven ruled that Herman was entitled to sue because the antiscalping law does not specifically prohibit an individual from enforcing the law on his own. He also ruled that Herman, though he suffered no monetary loss, may have been injured by his inability to purchase a ticket except at an inflated price.

 

``The plaintiff had a protected right to purchase a ticket at a price established by law that balances the economic interests of the defendant and the consumer's interests in the event to which the ticket would admit. The plaintiff made an effort to secure a ticket reflective of this balance and was denied the opportunity," Coven wrote.

 

Herman is also preparing to sue Ace Ticket Worldwide Inc., of Boston, for its resale of tickets to a Jimmy Buffett concert at the Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts in Mansfield.

 

In a separate proceeding this year, Ace argued that the antiscalping law doesn't cover the resale of tickets to events in Boston, including Red Sox games.

 

The Ace case, in which Herman was not a plaintiff, was voluntarily dismissed by the parties.

 

Bruce Mohl can be reached at mohl@globe.com.

© Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.

[cmh6476 757]

Scalping is legal in KS, but not in Missouri. They have places at the malls over there that do nothing buit sell marked-up tickets. Kinda annoying, really.

 

 

They have people that work for them go to all the events (concerts, chiefs, jayhawks) and all they do is sell the tickets on the street corners. Kinda annoying trying to bargain with these fockers, especially when they have people buying as many of the tickets as possible from people coming in with extras

[Patriotsfatboy1 1,432]

Marking up ticket prices is a no-no here in MA. It is one of the pet peeves of people here. We don't mind getting screwed by the entertainer as long as the ticket agency doesn't screw us. I hate ticket agencies because they believe in a "handling fee" that is outrageous. How hard is it to put the ticket into an envelope?

[TD Ryan2 314]

it's a tough situation here in the Boston area.

 

getting tickets to ANYTHING from Red Sox, Jimmy Buffett, Rolling Stones, etc is very difficult.

and there are a lot of people who want to win the ticket "lottery" not because they want to attend the event but because they can sell those tickets for insane money.

[davebg 0]

Good...these focking scammers suck hairy balls and have focking ROONED going to conserts and sporting events.

 

It's expensive enough to pay the outrageous prices for a ticket...plus getting ass-raped by Ticketmaster (another bunch of douche bags who are scalpers as far as I'm concerned.) Now on top of it we are supposed to pay hundreds over face value to these scum bags...many of whom have a miserable record for delivering the tickets on time.