Dealing with ticket touts, tips n tricks.

rubadub

Any tips for buying tickets from touts?
Heres a few to start with.
If you have a lot of tickets to get rid off do not let them know, they will offer a very low price, as they know you will be stuck with them. When you ask to buy or sell they always ask “how many?” never say more than 3. I had 8 tickets once and sold to 4 different touts outside the Olympia 2 at a time. When selling the last 2 they all crowded around me.
One said, “How many did you have to start”
I say 8
He says “why did you tell me you only had 2”
I say “because you would have ripped me off if I said I was stuck with 8”
He says, “You’re right there! you smart kunt”

Another trick is get a phonecall real or fake beside touts when the gig should be starting, talking out loud let it be known that they have taken to the stage, you should be able to get a cheaper ticket at this stage as the touts go into a panic at being stuck with a load of tickets. This is best with a few mates about, while talking to the tout start discussing going to a pub instead and how it is not worth the price etc.

If selling a ticket never say that initially. Consider a €50 face value ticket, if a gig is sold out a tout should pay you this or more. First off ask how much they are selling for, they may say 80 or 90 then tell them you will sell them one for 70 they will then offer less. Make sure you make the selling price offer, do not let them give you the first price, make your offer as crazy as theirs. If you were to go straight up and say I have one to sell they will offer a very low price and if you argue they will say they are only selling them for 50! By getting their selling price straight away you have that advantage over them, it works especially well since their first sell offer is usually very high so you can point out the profit they stand to make. Another way is to say you might sell it, how much are they offering, then say no I’m still going in, they offer more. That works well for totally sold out gigs where touts are commanding very high prices.

If you don’t want to sell to a tout stand behind one or near one. When people go up to him try to catch their eye with a ticket in your hand, shake your head to say no, listen to what the tout offers and give it to them for €10 less. If a groups of guys goes up to a tout go up to a guy who is not talking to the tout and whisper to them “I’ll let you have one €10 less than what he is offering”. Last thing you want is an angry tout after you for stealing his business though if security or gardai are about then you are pretty safe. In small venues go up and be friendly to the doorman, ask when the gig is on and say you are going in and have a spare ticket, ask if the box office will buy it back. They will say no but many will let you stand beside them and sell one to people who come up asking them if any are left, of course don’t ask for more than the face value. If tickets are still on sale go up to the queue I even had guys in a ticketmaster van verify that my ticket was real to a guy.

Bluff the touts. Never accept their first price just say “no way”, laugh and stroll off, don’t even try and bargain them down. They nearly always come running after you with a lower price. Bluff them that tickets are still on sale in the box office, tell them it was just announced on the radio. If they offer them for 80 tell them the guy down the road was only asking for 50 and walk off.

Buy all your tickets in the soundcellar at the bottom of grafton street. These guys are totally sound and cheaper too, I think they only put a euro on the ticketmaster ones. I once had tickets I wanted to sell to a sold out gig, they took them back off me as they said people were still coming in all day, I went off for an hour and they sold them for me by the time I came back. They also usually don’t obey any ticket limits eg max 2 per person.

s8n

some nice tips there rubadub

yellum

Excellent tips. Karma for you mate !

Rusty Rhythm

Good advice...

just watch out if you're undercutting the touts under their noses (with or without the gardai). The mafia don't like civilians on their territory.

Stark

Originally posted by yellum
Excellent tips. Karma for you mate !

Shouldn't that be dharma

Big Chief

good post

worth a stickfying if you ask me!

s8n

I double that.

Put a sticky on this ass

magpie

I had 8 tickets once and sold to 4 different touts outside the Olympia 2 at a time

Oddly you don't consider yourself a tout, and yet you regularly seem to find yourself selling large quantities of tickets outside venues (judging by your learned post on the subject)

Buy all your tickets in the soundcellar... They also usually don’t obey any ticket limits eg max 2 per person.

Why do you need to buy so many tickets?

TBH there seems to be a very fine line between what you're engaged in and touting - in that you are buying more tickets than you actually require and then disposing of them outside a venue, with the same knock-on effect of any touts which is reducing the number of tickets for sale to fans.

Why don't you buy your 2 tickets and leave some for other fans to buy, if you're not out to make a profit on the whole thing?

Bob Sakamano

Good advice man. I hate dealing with those guys. My friend got a punch in the face from one of them for trying to steal his business. Especially hate that fat guy with hat and glasses out side the olympia all the time.

rubadub

magpie wrote:

Oddly you don't consider yourself a tout, and yet you regularly seem to find yourself selling large quantities of tickets outside venues

Christ almighty, are you actually able to read? How on earth do you change the word "once" into regularly....
Why do you insist on making up stuff that is simply not there?
And I didn't buy the tickets, another thing you simply made up in your head. You have some fuking imagination, you should be a writer

Doctor J

rubadub wrote:

listen to what the tout offers and give it to them for €10 less

ehhh... what's the difference between a tout and some other punter who charges over face value? You're just as bad as the bleedin touts.

rubadub wrote:

are you joking? they will sell out very fast, tickets are only €33.20! I bought up 10 last time they played the olympia, I had loads of people and foafs after them. they were selling for €150 outside the olympia.

:rolleyes:

rubadub

Doctor J wrote:

ehhh... what's the difference between a tout and some other punter who charges over face value?

there is no difference, you are right. I am just throwing out numbers here. I once sold 2 tickets for van morrison outside the olympia for €10 less than what the touts were charging. The person got them for €16 less than face value.

sikes

ehhh... what's the difference between a tout and some other punter who charges over face value? You're just as bad as the bleedin touts.

i second that.

never sell tickets to touts...if there are touts there are regular punters who will buy the tickets for face value..

touts and people who sell to touts are as bad as eachother

magpie

I once sold 2 tickets for van morrison outside the olympia for €10 less than what the touts were charging

You seem to sell a lot of tickets outside venues. I've been going to gigs for 18 years and never once have I sold a ticket outside.

What's the word for someone who regulary sells tickets outside venues again? Begins with a 'T'....

Bob Sakamano

haha rubabdub what happens when good threads goes bad. Thats harsh lads he was only giving advice.

Doctor J

Well said sikes.

You seem to have a constant surplus of tickets? Perhaps if you bought what you need, one or two lie the rest of us, and maybe didn't sneak into sound cellar so you could buy a spare 6 or 8, maybe the people who actually wanted to go to the gig could get tickets without having to deal with you/touts. Selling tickets to the touts is touting.

rubadub

Doctor J wrote:

You seem to have a constant surplus of tickets?

constant supply? eh no...

Doctor J wrote:

Perhaps if you bought what you need, one or two lie the rest of us.

I didnt buy any of the 10 tickets I mentioned.

Doctor J wrote:

Selling tickets to the touts is touting.

Depends on your definition of touting. In the ticket selling section it is described as selling ABOVE face value. The 2 times I sold outside the olympia I mentioned were sold below face value, the touts went on to sell below face value too. I tried my best to sell them to people outside, touts were giving me hassle. It can be dangerous too, see the guy whos mate was punched in the face.

radioman

There's only one thing worse than touts, and that's people who sell tickets to the touts in the fist place. I was at a gig once with two spare tickets because my two mates couldn't go. I couldn't find a genuine buyer and a tout offered me face value for them. Needless to say put them back in my pocket and accepted my losses.

Touts and tout suppliers - scum

Doctor J

rubadub wrote:

I bought up 10 last time they played the olympia

rubadub wrote:

I didnt buy any of the 10 tickets I mentioned

:rolleyes:

rubadub

Doctor J wrote:

:rolleyes:

whats the eyes for?
You are quoting a quote that you put here yourself! you stupid arsehole.
you dragged it in from another thread! are you guys for real?
why dont you get quotes from all over the place and string them all together until you get the words you want...
I referred to 8 tickets (iggy pop) and 2 tickets (van morrison) in this thread. YOU added a quote about 10 tickets (the strokes) from another thread completely which you dragged in here for some reason, which were for my mates who all went.

Doctor J

Cool the jets, friend and cease with the abuse. Perhaps if you made your point a bit clearer people wouldn't link giving tips about selling tickets to touts and buying extra tickets from sound cellar with your seemingly extensive experience of on-street dealing. You claim to dslike touts but yet you have no problem selling to them?

That's touting.

rubadub

radioman wrote:

I was at a gig once with two spare tickets because my two mates couldn't go.
Touts and tout suppliers - scum

Has this ever happened to you more than once? if you had to sell tickets outside a gig twice, then magpie would define you as a tout, would you agree? would you consider yourself scum if it did happen to you twice?

give them away free to people or to a garda or security man to give to somebody in future

rubadub

Doctor J wrote:

You claim to dslike touts but yet you have no problem selling to them?

That's touting.

I do not like selling to touts, like I said I try to find normal punters. It is a last resort, it can be dangerous trying to sell to a normal punter with touts around. I am not risking a punch in the face from a tout like the other guy got. but I also am not about to ditch tickets like the other poster.

The 8 tickets were a bunch of guys who bought tickets months in advance and couldnt go, I only knew a few of them, they tried buy and sell with no luck, I said I would get the best price I could. I am not going to go back and say "lads I couldnt get a normal punter so I threw them away rather than sell to a tout". The touts were selling below face value so the normal punters were happy. If I had chosen to throw them away there would have been empty seats that could have been filled by fans.

The van morrisons were my fathers who also bought in advance and tried buy and sell, he had to go to a wedding. I was going to see the white stripes across the road that night and sold them for him. again the touts and me were selling below face value

Of course sell in buy and sell or on this site, I do not enjoy selling tickets outside, I am not making money off it.

Doctor J

When you sell to touts, you sustain them, you ensure they'll be at the next gig. It's that simple.

rubadub

Doctor J wrote:

When you sell to touts, you sustain them, you ensure they'll be at the next gig. It's that simple.

Yes, I see where you are coming from, and sorry for the earlier abuse. Touts are a fact of life, parasitic scum, but they will always be there. There will always be people who have to get rid of tickets, so there will always be touts. Like I say try b&s or online here first. I still would like to see filled seats.

I was just annoyed at words being put into my mouth, or actions/stories being presumed that I never did/happened. This thread started out ok, people even asking it to be stickied. I would not want this slanging match stickied now.

I am still looking for tips on dealing with touts. Surely somebody else has some?

Doctor J

Best tip - Don't deal with them.

Ticketmaster usually release a batch of tickets in the week leading up to a gig. Check the ticketmaster webite every morning in the week leading up to a gig and chances are you'll get tickets to any gig, even sold out ones, in my experience.

radioman

rubadub wrote:

Has this ever happened to you more than once? if you had to sell tickets outside a gig twice, then magpie would define you as a tout, would you agree? would you consider yourself scum if it did happen to you twice?

give them away free to people or to a garda or security man to give to somebody in future

a) I DIDN'T sell them

b) If i did it would've been to a GENUINE FAN at FACE VALUE

whiskeyman

Doctor J wrote:

Best tip - Don't deal with them.

Ticketmaster usually release a batch of tickets in the week leading up to a gig. Check the ticketmaster webite every morning in the week leading up to a gig and chances are you'll get tickets to any gig, even sold out ones, in my experience.

Mine too.
I never have any problem getting tickets no matter what the event.
If I know theres going to be heavy demand, I just make sure I'm aware of pre-sales, get to know someone "in the know" and such.

There will always be people who have to get rid of tickets, so there will always be touts.

not if people are willing to sell for cost value (not touting) to other punters. Those who have to gett "rid" of tickets will usually be happier for them to get a good home.
The main issue are those who buy simply for profit in the first place.

Frank Cronin

On numerous ocassions I have been left with tickets at the 11th hour, my policy is rip them up before feeding the scalper scummer fraternity, thugs!

grumpytrousers

Frank Cronin wrote:

On numerous ocassions I have been left with tickets at the 11th hour, my policy is rip them up before feeding the scalper scummer fraternity, thugs!

you're lucky to be able to swallow that kind of financial loss; in the past, due to being lucky to work in an office with a decent 'net connection, i've bought tickets to gigs for friends who've expressed interest in going to a concert only to pull out closer to the event. Having made the mistake of not taking their money up front, I stand to lose the face value plus Ticketmaster costs if I take that kind of hit.

I'm not sure I understand why so many of you are having a go at Rubadub here; with only a few days to go before a gig, it can be hard enough to dispose of spare tickets through a medium like Buy and Sell, especially if you live outside Dublin and almost certainly if you live in a smaller town; your potential purchasers have to factor in travel plans as well. Thus selling on spares AT FACE VALUE and TO GENUINE FANS outside the venue is fair game...IMHO

BrianD

magpie wrote:

Oddly you don't consider yourself a tout, and yet you regularly seem to find yourself selling large quantities of tickets outside venues (judging by your learned post on the subject)



Why do you need to buy so many tickets?

TBH there seems to be a very fine line between what you're engaged in and touting - in that you are buying more tickets than you actually require and then disposing of them outside a venue, with the same knock-on effect of any touts which is reducing the number of tickets for sale to fans.

Why don't you buy your 2 tickets and leave some for other fans to buy, if you're not out to make a profit on the whole thing?

For once I agree with Magpie. You do sound like you might partake in a bit of touting. 8 tickets?? If you are buying tickets for mates I'd make sure they pay up front and then if they can't go it's up to them to dispose of them. However I can understand that there might be some enjoyment in pushing down the prices touts can charge. BTW those who sell tickets on eBay are in the same league.

There has been much talk about a law against touting it would be interesting to see if that gets off the ground.

lordgoat

magpie wrote:

Oddly you don't consider yourself a tout, and yet you regularly seem to find yourself selling large quantities of tickets outside venues (judging by your learned post on the subject)



Why do you need to buy so many tickets?

TBH there seems to be a very fine line between what you're engaged in and touting - in that you are buying more tickets than you actually require and then disposing of them outside a venue, with the same knock-on effect of any touts which is reducing the number of tickets for sale to fans.

Why don't you buy your 2 tickets and leave some for other fans to buy, if you're not out to make a profit on the whole thing?

begrudgingly i have to agree with alot of this if you do indeed buy more tickets than you need, why??

rubadub

BrianD wrote:

For once I agree with Magpie. You do sound like you might partake in a bit of touting. 8 tickets?? If you are buying tickets for mates I'd make sure they pay up front and then if they can't go it's up to them to dispose of them..

lordgoat wrote:

begrudgingly i have to agree with alot of this if you do indeed buy more tickets than you need, why??

As I said before, I didn't buy the tickets...

BOHS

I was at the Plant gig yesterday and i seen tat big tout who is always there walkk up to the box office and say i hear you have 6 more tickets for me,its good to see the olympia helping out the touts!!!!!!!

mrbungle

IMPORTANT !!

Nobody has addressed this point:
How do you think the touts are paying for your excess tickets ??

A year ago I was at an concert in the olympia and 1 of my mates pulled out about 1 hr before the gig. I brought along the ticket and sold it to a tout outside as nobody else seem interested and I wanted to head inside.

He paid me with counterfit money. It was only obvious when I went upstairs and into the bar, it was quite enough and I was chatting to the girl behind the bar and she told me that that counterfit turn up at their bar ALL the time!! These guys outside make a huge profit on every ticket ?

here's how it goes:
You agree to sell him the ticket for 35, he says listen I only have 2 x 20's and he offers it to you, you think you have a great deal, what a nice guy and hey presto you have fake money on your hands !!

Do not trade with these sh!tbags, you should know better, when was the last time someone smelling clean shifted counterfit money to you ?? This kind of activity is reserved for lowlife, kunt-o's.