Scalpers and resellers have become feared figures by collectors, concertgoers and consumers across the globe.
The “art” of buying items to resell them at a higher value has greatly impacted the concert-going experience. Profit margins for reselling concert tickets are typically around 20%, but some lucky resellers receive a profit margin of 200% or more.
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is a prime example of ticket scalping. Tickets to Swift’s tour (originally priced at an average of $204) were bought and resold for around $2,952 during the tour’s Vancouver stops. For the tour as a whole, the average price of a resale ticket was $3,801.
However, concert tickets are not the only product in danger of being scalped.
In 1996, Pokémon’s creators had no idea their cards would be such a hot commodity. What was once a non-monetary trading game has turned into a legitimate and profitable market.
The most expensive Pokémon card ever sold was bought by YouTuber Logan Paul in 2022. Paul paid $5.28 million for an Illustrator Pikachu card.
Although Paul’s purchase is an extreme example of the value of older Pokemon cards, many cards will indeed go for tens of thousands of dollars online. This value is typically determined by rarity and “grading,” which is the condition of a card.
The Pokémon Trading Card Game has had its fair share of problems with scalpers. Cards sell out minutes after hitting the shelves, pre-orders are sold out by the end of the day and regular collectors are unable to purchase new collections for a fair price.
Today, Pokémon TCG’s expansion, Journey Together, officially released. However, pre-released products have been available in stores since early March. Already, customers have reported the product being hard to find due to scalpers.
To mitigate this practice, some Pokémon Centers are beginning to remove plastic seals from the product, reducing its overall condition.
Despite the limit to accessibility, some people argue that scalping is beneficial for the economy and actually increases access to individuals who are unable to buy an item at its original release.
Before the internet, scalpers purchased tickets for “fans who are looking for tickets may not have the time to stand in line or call the box office,” according to James J. Atkinson at the University of Notre Dame.
E-commerce has drastically changed this practice. Scalpers will purchase dozens of tickets or items at a time, reducing access to other fans in a digital line.
“While there is not currently any comprehensive regulation of the ticket resale industry at the federal level, nearly all states now have regulations governing the resale of tickets and the number of local jurisdictions that regulate ticket resales continues to grow,” the Guide to US Ticket Resale Regulations
In Ohio, the regulation of ticket sales is deferred to a local governing body. The only exception is for “tickets to a public boxing or wrestling match or exhibition,” which must be sold by the box office at the location of the event.
In many states, including California, scalping is illegal when done on the grounds of the event. Despite this law, many event tickets are purchased exclusively online, and months before an event without any legal regulation.
Regulations for ticket reselling, especially online, are extremely limited. Without protections, consumers are facing higher prices and limited access to in-demand products.
