Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith
ilmarinen - MODERATOR
Moderator
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2004
- Messages
- 36,455
Now, as Stacy the Bladeforums member, not the moderator:
I feel as Page does....scalpers are manipulating the market to make money off others who get nothing in return....except higher prices. In many places they are illegal. If you do the same thing with stocks or securities, you go to jail for a long time. If caught scalping tickets in some countries, you can join the stock manipulators in jail. Some places in the USA just let it slide because it is hard to stop......That is not an excuse to condone it, though.
Also, it is one thing to try and sell the ticket you bought for your girl friend and she got sick the day before the concert. It is even OK to try and get a few bucks over what you paid, since you are standing outside the arena. But, if you electronically buy 100 tickets the instant they go on sale ( along with a hundred other scalpers who do the same thing) ,suddenly there are no tickets left to buy from the ticket office. Scalpers often pay for these on a credit card, and then immediately offer them for resale online at two to three times the price you paid ( actually they haven't really paid for them yet),.....no money out of pocket, and an exorbitant mark-up...... they are manipulating the market.
Some of the resale sites even look like the actual concert website....which is close to fraud in my book.
If a collector buys a knife of mine and sells it a year later for more than he paid, that is perfectly fine. It is probably worth more now. However, if a person orders a knife or two, and then just posts them for sale with no intention of owning them any longer than necessary to roll them for a profit....I think he is manipulating the market.
I feel as Page does....scalpers are manipulating the market to make money off others who get nothing in return....except higher prices. In many places they are illegal. If you do the same thing with stocks or securities, you go to jail for a long time. If caught scalping tickets in some countries, you can join the stock manipulators in jail. Some places in the USA just let it slide because it is hard to stop......That is not an excuse to condone it, though.
Also, it is one thing to try and sell the ticket you bought for your girl friend and she got sick the day before the concert. It is even OK to try and get a few bucks over what you paid, since you are standing outside the arena. But, if you electronically buy 100 tickets the instant they go on sale ( along with a hundred other scalpers who do the same thing) ,suddenly there are no tickets left to buy from the ticket office. Scalpers often pay for these on a credit card, and then immediately offer them for resale online at two to three times the price you paid ( actually they haven't really paid for them yet),.....no money out of pocket, and an exorbitant mark-up...... they are manipulating the market.
Some of the resale sites even look like the actual concert website....which is close to fraud in my book.
If a collector buys a knife of mine and sells it a year later for more than he paid, that is perfectly fine. It is probably worth more now. However, if a person orders a knife or two, and then just posts them for sale with no intention of owning them any longer than necessary to roll them for a profit....I think he is manipulating the market.