{"id":2034,"date":"2016-05-21T06:27:46","date_gmt":"2016-05-21T13:27:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/?p=2034"},"modified":"2016-05-21T06:27:46","modified_gmt":"2016-05-21T13:27:46","slug":"things-i-do-not-understand-about-the-ticket-resale-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2016\/05\/things-i-do-not-understand-about-the-ticket-resale-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"Things I do not understand about the ticket-resale debate"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"maximum<\/a>The Guardian<\/em> reports<\/a> that next week Professor Michael Waterson will release a UK government commissioned report on the regulation of ticket resale. I’m glad to hear it, because it might shed some light on an issue which the press seems to find simple<\/a> – touts are ripping off consumers and there ought to be a law! – but which I find very complex.<\/p>\n

Here are three questions I hope it answers. I<\/em> don’t have the answers – these are real questions!<\/p>\n

First, what is the presenting problem for public policy? If it is that sometimes resellers use misrepresentation, that’s a problem that can occur in many businesses for many<\/em> goods, and simple laws could be put in place: if the tout claims the ticket is for centre orchestra, then it ought to actually be there or the tout is prosecuted. But every story I read on this issue hints that fraud is not the only<\/em> issue in play here. Fine, but let’s treat separately whether there is misrepresentation (for which laws can be drawn up), or violation of terms of sale, and whether the resale price is thought by some to be “too high”, which is another thing entirely.<\/p>\n

Second, it is a mystery to me that technology seems so lopsided: resellers are able to develop means to gather quickly loads of tickets for the secondary market, but concert producers do not seem to have adequate technology to prevent this. I can see the challenges. Airlines do not allow resale, by enforcing a policy that the traveling passenger must have her name on the ticket at the gate, and no one else’s. But they deal with small groups of tickets at a time, and can also use the apparatus of airport security to enforce their policy. I am no techie – I truly don’t know the answer to this question. But there does seem to be a lot at stake. For any in-demand performer, there is a big difference between the cost of putting on a show and the amount audiences are willing, en masse, to pay for it, i.e. there are substantial rents. These rents are ultimately shared between the seller, the consumer, and the intermediary ticket resale market. Everybody wants a big share of this (consumers want cheap tickets, promoters want high-priced tickets, touts want a piece of the action). But how has technology evolved so that the touts gain such a significant share from the promoter, who one would think holds all the cards? Hopefully the Waterson report will shed light on this.<\/p>\n

Third, what guides the thinking that touts’ prices are wrong? “Exorbitant”, “ripping off”, “profiteering” are all terms from the linked articles above, and \u00a0I don’t know what these terms mean when a buyer purchases a ticket from a seller. Why, as the stories linked above suggest, is 10% considered a reasonable mark-up but not anything higher? If someone wants to pay a price for a ticket and someone is willing to sell at that price, who is to say whether the price is “fair” or “unfair”. We are not talking about the purchase of a life-saving medicine, we are talking about tickets to see Florence + the Machine. Why should the state be setting limits on the amount of mark-up?<\/p>\n

At our blog host artsjournal.com<\/a> this past week or two there have been a number of stories about very<\/em> high resale mark-up by touts, er, I mean “collectors”, in the visual art world, people who have made millions<\/em> on the resale of a single painting (!). These high prices at auction for unique works where the reseller effectively has the entire supply in his hands, lead to fantastic profits, none of which go to the artist or his heirs, and more difficulty for the ordinary art-lover to get to see the works displayed in a museum. Didn’t see any calls for a 10% law…<\/p>\n

Footnote: Here’s<\/a> a low-tech introduction to the economics of ticket resale by Pascal Courty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Guardian reports that next week Professor Michael Waterson will release a UK government commissioned report on the regulation of ticket resale. I’m glad to hear it, because it might shed some light on an issue which the press seems to find simple – touts are ripping off consumers and there ought to be a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2038,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2034","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-issues","8":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/shea.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3dIW5-wO","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":796,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2013\/05\/scalpers\/","url_meta":{"origin":2034,"position":0},"title":"Scalpers","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"May 19, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The Observer reports that scalpers (or touts) are making a killing on tickets for the Proms: One unofficial online site is offering seats for the Doctor Who-themed Prom on 14 July for \u00a3500, compared with the official flat-rate price of \u00a312. A ticket for the first night on 12 July\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"I got mine for just twelve pounds!","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/promsDM0403_468x320-300x205.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":854,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2013\/06\/the-enduring-mystery-of-scalpers\/","url_meta":{"origin":2034,"position":1},"title":"The enduring mystery of scalpers","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"June 5, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I posted re scalpers a few weeks ago. The forthcoming New York Times magazine has a story on ticket resale. It is, well, unsatisfying. The problem at hand is this: if so much money is to be made through ticket resale, why have the artists or concert promoters not done\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"face in the crowd","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/tom-petty-300x298.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2088,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2016\/08\/bots-and-ticket-prices-and-supply-and-demand\/","url_meta":{"origin":2034,"position":2},"title":"Bots and ticket prices and supply and demand: updated 22-10-16","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"August 16, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Verge reports on new efforts from Lin-Manuel Miranda and New York Senator Chuck Schumer to crack down on those who use \"bots\" to quickly, and in bulk, purchase scarce tickets on primary sites to then resell on secondary markets at a mark-up. The story quotes Mr. Miranda saying, \"My\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"'two tickets, great seats'","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/robot.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2294,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2018\/02\/artists-as-speculators\/","url_meta":{"origin":2034,"position":3},"title":"Artists as speculators","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"February 7, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A new working paper from Amy Whitaker and Roman\u00a0Kr\u00e4ussl suggests a new model of finance for visual artists (described by Isaac Kaplan in Artsy here). The abstract of the paper (free download here) is: Using unique historical sales data from the Leo Castelli Gallery, we introduce a novel model of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Hockney's are up three basis points","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/traders.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/traders.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/traders.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/traders.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/traders.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/traders.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":762,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2013\/05\/how-student-discounts-work\/","url_meta":{"origin":2034,"position":4},"title":"How student discounts work","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"May 5, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Student discounts are offered many places - in restaurants, theaters, tuxedo rentals - and in both the commercial and nonprofit sectors. Nonprofits might want to discount student prices on equity grounds, giving them a break because they have less disposable income. But commercial firms offer these discounts too. It might\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"show your i.d.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Tuxman-Discount-Card1-300x166.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1390,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/06\/droit-de-suite-revisited\/","url_meta":{"origin":2034,"position":5},"title":"Droit de Suite revisited","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"June 30, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Today at Slate, Whitney Kimball tries to make the case for US adoption of resale royalties for visual artists, or droit de suite: In what would become the first scandalously record-breaking Sotheby\u2019s art auction in 1973, taxi magnate Robert Scull and his wife famously made a fortune on 50 artworks\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"We're back ...","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/auction.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/auction.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/auction.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2034"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2034\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2039,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2034\/revisions\/2039"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}