From a purely economic standpoint, scalpers simply arbitrage the difference between the level of natural demand (high) and the artificial price (low) of a commodity with limited supply. That is a free market activity. The whole concept of a "real fan" is a non-economic construct.
If the Pumpkins (or anyone else) want to offer a product below market price to a select group, they need to do it in another manner (e.g., Pearl Jam's Ten Club).
The argument that scalpers artificially increase demand is bunk. If the demand for tickets was not higher than the supply, they couldn't charge a premium.
It works both ways too. A couple of weeks ago I went to the Richard Thompson show. A $35 ticket that I got for $20 from a scalper out front because supply was greater than demand. Three people wanted to sell me a ticket and I bought from the first one that would take $20.
Originally posted by sweetcell:
your second point is completely understandable, but it's not related to the first - let's not confuse issues here. that the police or morrissey decide that their tickets are worth $100 - fine, they are the artists, and we'll make our decisions to go or not based on personal and financial values.
but scalpers get in the way of this decision and take it away from you and i. the pumpkins might have wanted to offer an affordable show to their fans, but the parasites move in and seize that value that the artists decided to give to the fans. some artists are income maximizers (hello sting!), while others are aware of ticket costs and try to make thier shows affordable.
