A first look at the booming market for scalpers outside the Barclays Center; arena staffer says it's "impossible to regulate" counterfeit tickets (really?)

The Fort Greene/Clinton Hill Local deserves credit for being the first, to my knowledge, to cover this phenomenon: Ticket Scalpers Shadow Barclays Center Events. After all, those of us wandering around the perimeter of the arena frequently get asked if we want to buy tickets, or have any extras to sell.

But I don't buy this passage:

Thanks to these online ticket vendors, [scalper] Lamar said he has been lucky just to get face value for most tickets, unless it’s a major game against the Miami Heat or New York Knicks. However, Justin Bieber and Jay-Z concert tickets can sell for an additional 10 to 20 percent on top of the original ticket price, he said.

Actually, online sites like StubHub are already selling tickets for many events well over face value.

Also, I don't think that, as described in the article, the resale market is the same as scalping. 

But let's hope others take a deeper look, especially since the police have recorded exactly two arrests.

A counterfeit tale

A reader, Scott Salmon, sent the following report:

I purchased the [Nets game] ticket on the corner of 5th Ave. and Flatbush from a scalper. The ticket appeared to be a real ticketmaster ticket (and was not one of those PDF computer print-outs). I was aware of the potential of a counterfeit ticket and asked the vendor to assure me it was real and he went into a 5 minute tirade about how he would never sell fake tickets and assured me it was legitimate.
I went up to the gate and the ticket would not scan. They referred me to the customer service line. After waiting about 5 minutes, I spoke to a rep at the window. He took the ticket and they tried to scan it on one of their scanners and it again failed. The rep showed it to his supervisor who seemed to be able to confirm visually that the ticket was a fake. The supervisor did not come to the window to address me personally. I was told by the rep that they had to confiscate the ticket but they offered to give me a photocopy of the ticket which I declined.
They then offered me an available ticket for that night's game for the price of $80. I declined. I asked them if they were making any effort to curb the practice of counterfeit tickets and the rep said it was "impossible to regulate". I did not follow-up with any police officers and I was unable to locate the guy who sold me the ticket.

It may not be easy to regulate, but it's not "impossible to regulate." I suspect that some undercover buyers would cut down on this.

According to SeatGeek.com, New York has numerous laws that regulate re-selling, including license requirements, a prohibition on resale within 1500 feet of a venue seating more than 5,000 people, and a guarantee of refunds if the ticket does not conform to its advertised description.

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