Ticketmaster To Auction Concert Tickets To Highest Bidder Instead Of The Normal retail

'A public relations nightmare': Ticketmaster recruits pros for secret scalper program
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/a-public-relations-nightmare-ticketmaster-recruits-pros-for-secret-scalper-program-1.4828535

Box-office giant Ticketmaster is recruiting professional scalpers who cheat its own system to expand its resale business and squeeze more money out of fans, a CBC News/Toronto Star investigation reveals.

In July, the news outlets sent a pair of reporters undercover to Ticket Summit 2018, a ticketing and live entertainment convention at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Posing as scalpers and equipped with hidden cameras, the journalists were pitched on Ticketmaster's professional reseller program.

Company representatives told them Ticketmaster's resale division turns a blind eye to scalpers who use ticket-buying bots and fake identities to snatch up tickets and then resell them on the site for inflated prices. Those pricey resale tickets include extra fees for Ticketmaster.

"I have brokers that have literally a couple of hundred accounts," one sales representative said. "It's not something that we look at or report."

I'm shocked, *shocked* I tell you...

not surprised at all. the number of shows in the past year I've seen 'sell out' where the actual interest was negligible, only to see the aftermarket flooded with more expensive seats, I can't even count. Midnight Oil springs to mind.

4 david byrne shows at huge venues in the bay area sold out immediately. the one I attended was probably 75% full.

wanted to purchase The Beths tix for April, but the venue's ticket seller, dicefm, which i've never heard of doesn't have an "https" security designation at checkout. seems like a risk i don't wanna take. really don't wanna go through a second seller and pay double. anyone ever use dicefm, by any chance and vouch for them?