{"id":854,"date":"2013-06-05T18:19:23","date_gmt":"2013-06-06T01:19:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/?p=854"},"modified":"2013-06-05T18:19:23","modified_gmt":"2013-06-06T01:19:23","slug":"the-enduring-mystery-of-scalpers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2013\/06\/the-enduring-mystery-of-scalpers\/","title":{"rendered":"The enduring mystery of scalpers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"face<\/a>I posted re scalpers<\/a> a few weeks ago. The forthcoming New York Times<\/em> 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 what they can to capture that money? Why leave it on the table for scalpers and StubHub?<\/p>\n

Put in other terms, why aren’t initial ticket prices closer to the level where the resulting demand would more closely approximate the capacity of the venue?<\/p>\n

From the Times<\/a>:<\/p>\n

[Bruce] Springsteen\u2019s style [of offering low ticket prices that sell out very quickly] might seem more altruistic, but performers who undercharge their fans can paradoxically reap higher profits than those who maximize each ticket price. It\u2019s a strategy similar to the one employed by ventures like casinos and cruise ships, which take a hit on admission prices but make their money once the customers are inside. Concert promoters can overcharge on everything from beer sales to T-shirts, and the benefits of low-priced tickets can accrue significantly over the years as loyal fans return. In part, this explains why artists like Springsteen and [Tom] Petty are content to undercharge at the gate while others, perhaps wary of their own staying power, are eager to capitalize while they can.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But so far as I know, casinos and cruise ships do not charge admission prices such that capacity is quickly reached, with disappointed potential customers turned away who would have been willing to pay a high price for entry.<\/p>\n

Further, if 15,000 people are going to attend a concert whether by paying just $50 per ticket (leaving significant excess demand for tickets) or by paying $125 per ticket (which still fills the hall), how does that affect the demand for beer and shirts? Not by $75 per person, I would think.<\/p>\n

Finally, it seems that low ticket prices might make it less<\/em> likely loyal fans return. If prices are so low that demand for tickets exceeds supply by, say, 4 to 1, then getting a ticket is something like a lottery, and the person who wins that lottery once is likely to lose next time. Fans will have a tough time returning – how do they ensure they can always get a seat? Higher prices ensure that tickets are sold to those most willing to pay, and they are the ones likely to return over the years.<\/p>\n

And so we still have a mystery…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 what they can to capture […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"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-854","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-issues","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3dIW5-dM","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":796,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2013\/05\/scalpers\/","url_meta":{"origin":854,"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":2034,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2016\/05\/things-i-do-not-understand-about-the-ticket-resale-debate\/","url_meta":{"origin":854,"position":1},"title":"Things I do not understand about the ticket-resale debate","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"May 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"maximum mark-up 57 cents","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/shea-300x72.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":854,"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":854,"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":1390,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/06\/droit-de-suite-revisited\/","url_meta":{"origin":854,"position":4},"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":[]},{"id":762,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2013\/05\/how-student-discounts-work\/","url_meta":{"origin":854,"position":5},"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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854","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=854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}