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Calls for real name system for ticket sales to combat scalping issue

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  1. #1

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    Calls for real name system for ticket sales to combat scalping issue

    Calls for real name system for ticket sales to combat scalping issue in Hong Kong | South China Morning Post
    ...calls came as tickets for famous Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi’s concerts in the city were found to be going for 25 times their original price on various non-official ticket sales websites.
    Ticket scalping is technically a criminal offence at private venues in the city that hold entertainment licences... historically, the ordinance does not apply to venues run by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), such as the Hong Kong Coliseum
    Michael Tien Puk-sun called on the government to require people to buy show tickets using their real names and identity card numbers...
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  2. #2
    Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor pledged on Wednesday that she would look into raising the penalty for ticket scalping and extending related regulations to cover all government premises.
    Good job Viagogo isn't located on a government premises then isn't it
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  3. #3

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    Quote Originally Posted by Zero Gravitas:
    Good job Viagogo isn't located on a government premises then isn't it
    Don't get me started about the Rugby Union ... they threatened a bunch of local websites with copyright / trademark violations. And then under their new found "lets make money every fucking way we can" they did a licensing deal with Viagogo PLUS found a way to milk some money out of the govt under their major events fund.

  4. #4

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    Isn't scalping just selling tickets at the market price as opposed to whatever low price the entertainer has set?
    If tickets are linked to an ID you couldn't even give them to a friend or relative.
    But hey, adding more bureaucracy to random things is just the thing the Hong Kong government would call a solution.

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  5. #5

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    I'm sure the guy has some investments in a blockchain / fintech startup which is waiting for a problem, to apply their solution to.


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    The current situation leads to huge amounts of scalping. A recent example my wife and I both attempted to buy Peppa Pig tickets at the time they were actually made available to the public. No luck with the online sales platform the mid range tickets were 380 HKD within minutes however we noticed Carousell sellers offering these tickets with a 200 HKD to 400 HKD price premium. For Peppa Pig Tickets not crack.

    In a sense good on them - making a profit from a high demand low supply item but this view is predicated on the idea that access to the item was fair in the first place. I suspect there are many low tech and high tech ways to game the system from having a cousin who works at the ticketing centre or hiring people to stand in line to installing so dodgy apps/bot scripts to scrape the online html to those of us who don't see this as an arbitrage opportunity we could call it dishonest.

    The situation isn't unique to tickets - any highly in demand asset seems to be subject to the same profiteering in HK - the yearly iphone debacle is a good example of this.

    So either an epic cultural shift occurs to make this behaviour unacceptable - which is unlikely or suppliers / the government could ideally intervene to disincentive or make it cost to do this. For tickets perhaps linking the HKID to the purchase, increasing fines, limiting reselling, writing in a non transferability clause, an improved reporting facility for scalpers etc or perhaps suppliers could simply improve the supply and timeframe of release of tickets to not create such an artificially high demand in the first place.

    A complex issue and one not unique to HK but it does seem to happen a lot here.


  7. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by Squid1:
    So either an epic cultural shift occurs to make this behaviour unacceptable - which is unlikely or suppliers / the government could ideally intervene to disincentive or make it cost to do this. For tickets perhaps linking the HKID to the purchase, increasing fines, limiting reselling, writing in a non transferability clause, an improved reporting facility for scalpers etc or perhaps suppliers could simply improve the supply and timeframe of release of tickets to not create such an artificially high demand in the first place.

    Or how about the event organizers would just auction them off, so you can pay the $400 premium directly to them instead of the scalpers. Would that make you feel better? For me that looks like a wash. If they are going for $400 more on Carousell than that tells me someone is willing to pay that price and the tickets were too cheap to start with.

  8. #8

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    Why don't the original ticket sellers offer a transfer re-sale service and charge a commission of say 15%.

    If a profit is to be made the organizer gets a cut making up for there poor pricing strategy in the first place


  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by mrgoodkat:
    Or how about the event organizers would just auction them off, so you can pay the $400 premium directly to them instead of the scalpers. Would that make you feel better? For me that looks like a wash. If they are going for $400 more on Carousell than that tells me someone is willing to pay that price and the tickets were too cheap to start with.
    It's a good suggestion and to elaborate I do agree with demand dictating price but this is an artificial heightening. The scalpers may be asking for more there is no guarantee they'll get what they ask for. If they cant sell them before the event even after a last minute firesale you'll end up with supposedly full events with a 60-70% turnout rate - this too is very common in HK. But in theory I agree an auction system would be fairer as the auction price may actually reflect the peak of the demand or the IEP.

  10. #10

    So only the rich can afford good entertainment and ever

    Quote Originally Posted by mrgoodkat:
    Or how about the event organizers would just auction them off, so you can pay the $400 premium directly to them instead of the scalpers. Would that make you feel better? For me that looks like a wash. If they are going for $400 more on Carousell than that tells me someone is willing to pay that price and the tickets were too cheap to start with.
    So only the rich can afford good entertainment and everyone else must accept whatever is unpopular? Auction style would make many events hugely unaffordable for the vast majority of Hong Kong residents. The previous comment about Pepper Pig is an example that many HK parents can relate to due to the popularity of the TV show here. Why should a child be denied fair and equal access to something like his/her favourite cartoon character because her parents aren't rich enough to outbid the wealthy 10% of the population? Maybe your kids are lucky enough to have a "silver spoon" but the median monthly income here is HKD$ 14,500 in a city that's growing increasingly more expensive. Names on tickets might not be perfect but it may limit scalping. As for your comment on simply allowing uncontrolled supply and demand market pricing, what a horrible thing to say. That's the dominant reason for many of the problems in this city.
    Squid1 and tparker like this.

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