Suppose there is a concert or show running on Broadway that you wish to see. But the tickets are sold out. What will you do? Contact the concert ticket broker, of course!
Earlier I used to wonder, how a ticket broker manages to get tickets when the house is already full. Now, I know the secret behind the working of a broker. He or she employs outside sources that purchase the tickets from him or her. On a usual show day, when the tickets go on sale initially, the sources working for the broker buy the tickets before anyone else. Once the tickets are bought, there are sold a higher price to the disappointed fans that could not get tickets from direct means.
Now, this kind of activity has alerted the government. Is there anything fishy going on out there? Not really! But the concept doesn’t click with the authorities. There is much state regulation on the selling of concert tickets, for a price higher than the face value. The set of procedures differ in every state. There are some states that have banned the working of concert ticket brokers. But thanks to internet, ticket brokers are very much in existence. And thanks to the theatre fans, they are thriving!
It’s not child’s play to sell tickets. One needs to be updated about the supply and demand. For any concert or show, there are enough tickets available. However, when the demand for “preferred seats” becomes greater than the supply of available tickets, the value of those preferred seats shoots up. This is where a concert ticket broker comes into the scene. Thus, even though the house is full, you get tickets for the preferred seats, by shelling out some extra dollars.
It is still debatable, whether it is appropriate to grant permission to ticket brokers to carry on their activities. Ask any ticket broker about the legitimacy of their work and he or she will retort by saying that they are doing business, which is everyone’ s right, and are just making the most of the “market scenario”, something that every business person does.
Let’s leave this debate to the state authorities and other people concerned about this issue. For the theatre fans, ticket brokers are a boon! Had it not been for the brokers, a large number of people would have missed their favorite show or concert. Ask any theatre fan about what they think about concert ticket broker and they will be all praise for them. They are hardly concerned about how these brokers arrange for the tickets. What matters for them is that they get a seat in the theatre, to watch their favorite actors perform on stage.
Ticket brokers, today, have successfully mingled in the mainstream business and have become an indispensable part of show biz. Call them a necessary evil or whatever, they are going to stay and help millions of theatre fans gain entry into the theatre. Anybody complaining?
Al is the webmaster of the
Concert Ticket Broker site, a New York City entertainment website with reviews and news on every event, as well as concert ticket broker information.
