Scalper gets 50 tickets for $20 each from Tiketron, cost $1,000. Tiketron is happy to get rid of the tickets.
Scalper sells 30 tickets for $40 each, total $1,200. scalper makes $200 with no added value and probably with no withholding. Would have been nice to sell all 50 tickets and get $1,000 profit, but that's the way it goes.
Everybody made money and is happy.
Well, maybe the people who can't attend the event because they couldn't get a ticket from Tiketron because Tiketron sold them to a scalper aren't happy. Remember the scalper had 20 tickets left over, so these people obviously couldn't find him. Or maybe they could find him but couldn't afford the extra $20.
And maybe the vendors at the event aren't happy. Remember, the scalper had 20 tickets left over so the vendors’ customer base was potentially reduced by that much. And of course it was reduced some more because some of the people who paid the extra $20 for tickets didn't have enough money left to buy from the vendors.
But what the heck, Tiketron is happy, the promoters of the event are happy, and the scalper is certainly happy since he profited for so little effort.
We should do this with more things. How about restaurant reservations?
That's even better for the scalper because there's no investment. He makes reservations under several different names, hangs around the restaurant door, and when someone without a reservation shows up he offers them one of his reservations at whatever price so they don't have to wait. That bears thinking about.
Your speculation omitted the fact that scalpers will sell the remaining tickets for anything they can get as game time approaches. Scalpers don’t ever want to walk away with tickets in their pocket. So if you want the cheapest tickets to an average game, then simply wait near the scalpers till game time, then make an offer. You could get two $30 seats for $10 bucks total.
As game time approaches and passes, do you think the scalper's price might start to drop?
It looks like scalpers are not popular here. Are they not futures market buyers ? They were hated when gas prices went up.
Scalpers are such heroes.
Right. I knew that.
If people wouldn’t but from them the problem would take care of itself.
Just because you don't see it, it need not be absent.
Think of the value added by wholesalers.
And don't forget that the taxpayers likely funded the athletic organization's place of business. Funny...the city never agreed to build me an office building for mine.
The Mises Institute is great, but misses the target sometimes.