A Solution to Ticket Scalping in NYC
Recently NY City Council began to lay brick toward regulation of the theater ticket market. They feel it’s unfair that every ticket for a significant show sells out immediately at opening, then the majority reappear online for 150% - 400% the face value, or more. The Council is concerned (and rightly so) that this prevents people and their families from experiencing theater and the arts. Bravo The Solution:
- Tickets have to be sold with valid ID only, and
- the ID is registered in a database,
- thus attaching the name / identity of the buyer to the ticket.
To use a ticket,
- your ID and the receipt of sale is required and recorded, and
- if the original buyer and the attendee are different, then
- the IRS charges any resellers for the sale.
Resellers are required to keep sales / tax records in a standard format that is common to CPAs already. Most of the scalpers will disappear, as they don’t claim sales to avoid taxes. The government can effectively put more money into the arts (by name) while using the biz dev to better enable other non-arts taxation models. More people can have access to the arts. The essence of the solution is to monitor ticket sales so that business cannot operate illegally (without taxation), which inadvertently prevents the people that most need arts & culture exposure to find it out of reach. Other solutions still allows for cronyism, and the Council’s cursory proposal to limit sales to 4 tickets per person per day will limit family purchases and people treating friends for special occasions – while still causing more cronyism. Detractors will cause it an invasion of privacy - but it’s not because ID is already used for most purchasing, and ultra-wealthy use concierges, and the only reporting is done when resale (business) occurs. Wouldn’t that be nice if we all worked together to have nice things?
