illegal ticket sale on ebay

[anon]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6602432109&sspagename=ADME:B:AAQ:US:1

This person is listing the maximum sale price for a single ticket (the Harvard game naturally) for the season ticket price.  When I tried to email ebay I find that there is no way to explain the violation, merely a form to report the specific auction in question.  I don't think they will take it down.  Ideas?

[Will]

Inform Cornell Athletics.

[Oat]

Dude, don't help him advertise it by posting the link in here! :-P

[anon]

[quote Oat]Dude, don't help him advertise it by posting the link in here! :-P[/quote]

Dude, if I get my way this sale will be canceled and the seller's season tickets will be revoked.

[DeltaOne81]

Well, I reported it too. The more people that do it, maybe the more seriously they'll take it.

[Ken \'70]

It may be technically illegal, but that only reveals another anti-constitutional law that infringes personal liberty.  It's none of your concern, and none of your business, when two willing people make an uncoerced contract for a private sale.

[Rosey]

[quote Ken '70]It may be technically illegal, but that only reveals another anti-constitutional law that infringes personal liberty.  It's none of your concern, and none of your business, when two willing people make an uncoerced contract for a private sale.[/quote]
Agreed.

I appreciate the fact that I am able to find tickets a week or two before a game, even if I have to pay 3x the face value for them.  That's what I'm paying for: convenience.

Cheers,
Kyle

[Dpperk29]

here is another take on it though... by putting it on ebay the final price is public, hence joe blow, who might have been thinking about selling his harvard ticket for alot less, will now sell it for the higher price... hence driving the price for everyone on this "black" market up...

basically, scalping is bad. if you have tickets, go to the game... otherwise sell them for face value

[Rosey]

[quote Dpperk29]basically, scalping is bad. if you have tickets, go to the game... otherwise sell them for face value[/quote]
I look at this differently: why doesn't Cornell try to make more money by charging market value for the tickets?  They could easily command $25-30/ticket and still sell out the rink.

Yes, ticket holders would still be able to command more individually, but only because they'd be willing to sell individual tickets to people like me who can attend only a few games per year and are willing pay a premium for it.

Bottom line: once Cornell sells the tickets and gets their share, what do they care what others resell the ticket for?  Their revenues have already been maximized within their (ridiculously-low) price structure.

In fact the more tickets are scalped (as opposed to going unused in someone's dorm room), the greater the attendance at the game, so in fact everyone wins.

Cheers,
Kyle

[Dpperk29]

but if they were sold for face value instead of being scalped, everyone would win and no one would break any laws

[billhoward]

[quote Ken '70]It may be technically illegal, but that only reveals another anti-constitutional law that infringes personal liberty.  It's none of your concern, and none of your business, when two willing people make an uncoerced contract for a private sale.[/quote]
Yours may not be a popular opinion but you're right. What people do in private is their own business.

[Rosey]

[quote Dpperk29]but if they were sold for face value instead of being scalped, everyone would win and no one would break any laws[/quote]
In this case, I believe the law is an ass.

And no, not everyone would win: as I said, I appreciate the convenience of being able to pay a bit more to get a ticket at the last minute.  Artificially deflating prices has the result of reducing supply, plain and simple, which makes it more difficult for me to obtain tickets.

Market efficiency---which can be most generally defined as the ability of buyers to acquire what they want---for commodities is optimized through a complete lack of regulation.  You can argue differently for other kinds of markets, but nearly everyone agrees with respect to commodities.

Kyle

[anon]

[quote Ken '70]It may be technically illegal, but that only reveals another anti-constitutional law that infringes personal liberty.  It's none of your concern, and none of your business, when two willing people make an uncoerced contract for a private sale.[/quote]

We get to decide for ourselves what's constitutional and what isn't?  Awesome.  Prior to now I thought the courts decided that.  Since law no longer applies how about the seller violating ebay's user agreement by lying about the face value of the ticket for sale?

[gatitita '05]

[quote krose][quote Dpperk29]but if they were sold for face value instead of being scalped, everyone would win and no one would break any laws[/quote]
In this case, I believe the law is an ass.

And no, not everyone would win: as I said, I appreciate the convenience of being able to pay a bit more to get a ticket at the last minute.  Artificially deflating prices has the result of reducing supply, plain and simple, which makes it more difficult for me to obtain tickets.

Market efficiency---which can be most generally defined as the ability of buyers to acquire what they want---for commodities is optimized through a complete lack of regulation.  You can argue differently for other kinds of markets, but nearly everyone agrees with respect to commodities.

Kyle[/quote]

as unpopular as it may be, i agree with you entirely.  imposing a price ceiling causes too many people to want a commodity in short supply.  and saying the value of the ticket is only $15 isnt accurate.  if there is a person willing to pay $71 (or $145 or $1000) for the ticket, then it is worth that to them.  they're paying for the ticket and the convenience, or the opportunity, or whatever they want.  the value is what the consumer is willing to pay for it.

it's a silly law.  but it is a law  ::nut::

[Ken \'70]

No, we don't get to decide.  The Constitution decides.  It's a plain language document.  The powers of the Federal government are enumerated in article 1 section 8.  Go here to refesh your memory http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.articlei.html#section8

The Bill of Rights specifically and unambigously limits government power to those enumerated.  The 14th amendment extends those individual rights to protection from the States as well as the Feds.

Show me were the Constituton delegates a power to interfere with private contracts of this type.