Aug
New York Legalizes Ticket "Scalping"
According to an editorial in Tuesday’s (8/7/2007) Wall Street Journal (subscription required), the state of New York has legalized ticket “scalping.” I think this is great. Individual events, however, can still prohibit it. According to the article:
One explanation for this mood change is that the Internet has made policing antiscalping laws all but futile. Even with these price-cap laws on the books, the secondary ticket market is estimated to be $3 billing a year and growing.
He goes on to point out the scalping laws actually hurt consumers rather than helping as believed.
Scalping laws were once thought to protect consumers from ticket price gougers. And a handful of self-styled consumer advocates, such as Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, still complain that legalizing ticket reselling will inflate prices. They’re wrong.
Studies now show that consumers are usually the big winners when the ticket resale marked is allied to operate. Florida recently deregulated its resale marked and prices fell because of a greater on-demand inventory of seats. In about 40% of the cases, tickets are resold for less than the face value.
That is a very interesting. I hope other states will follow the ones that have already legalized this very legitimate practice. The governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer, who signed the legislation says it best, “Permitting a free market to work its magic is the smart approach.”
