Selling your full price tickets , if you win lottery - Wicked

[jeffrey2]

Posted: 8/23/06 at 10:00am

Would it be wrong to try to get the Lottery tickets for Wicked and sell my full price ones if I won? I'm sure people would love to buy them (Row A Orch) and I would love to save $200.00. I dont too feel bad since I have invested over 1000.00 in tickets since it opened. I would not charge a penny more than I paid for them. But I dont want to get arrested either. My tickets are at will call, would they buy them back? Any thoughts

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 8/23/06 at 10:04am

No, it's not unethical. If you say something in front of the lotto crowd, someone will want to buy them. But if you feel uncomfortable doing that, go to the box office and someone on the cancellation line will surely buy them.

Wicked is the easiest show to sell your tickets for.

[SDav 10495]

Posted: 8/23/06 at 10:06am

If I'm not mistaken, I believe in New York you are legally allowed to make a profit of up to 20% of face value when you re-sell a ticket, so you're certainly not doing anything wrong by selling it for what you paid. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure I heard that somewhere.

[jeffrey2]

Posted: 8/23/06 at 10:06am

Thanks, would the BO frown upon this? I dont wnat them to think I am scalper!

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 8/23/06 at 10:14am

SDAV, you're right. On ebay, people selling their tickets will write down that they are complying with NYC re-selling tickets law (I don't know its real name). i do believe it's up to 20%.

[Bdwy24]

Posted: 8/23/06 at 10:50am

You have to be a certain distance away from the theatre property. DO NOT pull someone out of line who is buying tickets. You will be sure to find theatre management after you. If you do anything on the theatre property the theatre doesnt allow, they have the right to arrest you.....it's trespassing. Just go off the property nearby and hope someone needs a ticket.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 8/23/06 at 11:37am

I won the Drowsy lotto and sold my mezz tickets right at the lotto. The lotto guy didn't seem to care. Granted, Wicked is WAY more popular than Drowsy and you probably would be mobbed if people found out you had front row tickets. I say just keep your tickets, avoid the mobs, and enjoy front row while you have it.

[Just_John]

Posted: 8/23/06 at 11:41am

Row A is not front Row it's 5th, but still I wouldn't chance it. You already have your tickets which are better seats than you would get from the lotto.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 8/23/06 at 11:45am

Oh ok...but I still stand by my opinion...avoid the mobs of the lotto and besides, 5th row back might be a bit better than being right up front.

P.S. If you did sell them people might mistake them for front row.

[SDav 10495]

Posted: 8/23/06 at 11:54am

Heck, I say if you're at the theatre, do the lotto. You already have tickets to fall back on, so it won't be *that* stressful. Here's what I would do: put your name in, and in the (unlikely) event that you do win, pick up the tickets you just won, look at the seats, and if they're better than your Row A tickets (or you decide they're more worth it for whatever reason), then sell the Row A tickets to someone around the theatre--as other posters have said, that shouldn't be a problem. If the lotto tickets you won aren't better than your Row A tickets, then just sell the tickets you won--again, shouldn't be a problem--and keep the Row A tickets. In any case, you're not likely to win the Wicked lotto anyway, but I still say try it out and just be prepared to sell one set of tickets if you win.

Does that make sense to anyone but me?

Updated On: 8/23/06 at 11:54 AM

[admanrich]

Posted: 8/23/06 at 12:11pm

I think it's illegal. When I won the RENT lottery, I had already bought tickets for that afternoon's performance, so I went to TKTS and tried to sell my tickets and a policeman was like "you cant do that--its illegal".

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 8/23/06 at 12:19pm

It's illegal to sell tickets you already have if you obtain better ones? I thought people do that all the time. Anyways, the guy running the Drowsy lotto didn't seem to care.

[frogs_fan85]

Posted: 8/23/06 at 12:27pm

For one of the early previews of The Drowsy Chaperone I had three tickets, but unfortunately my girlfriend fell ill so she and her mother couldn't come, so I ended up with two extra tickets. I went to the box office two hours before curtain to see if I could exchange all three for a later date (which I knew wouldn't happen, but I thought I'd give it a shot). After being told I couldn't two tourists who were in line behind me came up to me and bought them from me right there in the box office in plain sight of the box office attendant, so at least he didn't have a problem with it.

[SDav 10495]

Posted: 8/23/06 at 12:31pm

I think it's illegal. When I won the RENT lottery, I had already bought tickets for that afternoon's performance, so I went to TKTS and tried to sell my tickets and a policeman was like "you cant do that--its illegal".

Hmm, I don't know what to say about that situation. Obviously, I hesitate to say that the cop didn't know what he was talking about, but that's odd...maybe it had something to do with the fact that you were back at TKTS and it looked like you were taking business directly from them? People do indeed re-sell tickets on the street all the time, and like I said there are even ways to legally make a profit doing so. You really just have to be discreet about it, and try to stay some distance away from people and establishments that might be less than happy to see you re-selling their tickets.

Updated On: 8/23/06 at 12:31 PM

[coolkid11776]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 10:25am

If the show is sold out, Wicked will buy back your tickets

[mirramar]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 10:58am

Why waste your time with the Wicked lottery if you already have excellent tickets? You might end up winning crummy tickets anyways. And you probably WON'T win, so it'll just be an annoying time killer, and you'll be standing out in the cold for no reason, when you could be doing something INDOORS.

[coolkid11776]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 11:05am

The lotto is the front 2 rows, So if you win they sell the Row A if not then you still have great seats

[WalkOn]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 11:15am

Wow.. How tacky. A lotto isn't a "given" especailly with a show that consistent sell out.

If producers catch on to this trend they will simply stop lottos. Why abuse the system?

Posted: 1/26/07 at 11:23am

I had an extra Lion King ticket once and asked at the Box office how I could sell it. They took it and sold it for me. After the show I stopped by and picked up an envelope full of cash.

[mirramar]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 11:41am

"The lotto is the front 2 rows, So if you win they sell the Row A if not then you still have great seats"

Several of the seats are partial view.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 1:34pm

The bigger question is: why have you paid over $1000 to see this show 10 times or more when there are dozens of other plays and musicals running?

Sorry, but I just do not get people going back to see one show over and over, no matter how good it is.

[mirramar]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 1:53pm

Frontrowcentre2, I completely agree.
I've seen several shows more than once, and they were usually fairly boring the second time around. I think people just like to be able to say they saw the show multiple times b/c it's "cool", or they think seeing the show several times will earn them points with the actors in the show.

[Jellylorum]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 3:55pm

I don't like seeing shows over and over again either, no matter how much I like them. I prefer spending the time and money on seeing something I've never seen before.

[keen on kean]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 8:28pm

Can someone tell me where the 20% over face value idea comes from? It is my understanding that the sale of any ticket for greater than its face value is scalping (unless you are a licensed ticket seller in which case I believe the sky's the limit).

[TristezzaBella27]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 8:34pm

1- its legal to sell your ticket, you just cant make a profit of more than 20% from selling it. so if all you want is what you paid, you will be fine.

2- i say if its what you wanna do, try it. wicked lotto is HARD to win.... but hey someone has to win so you never know.

3- there is nothing wrong with seeing a show multiple times. for whatever reason. i say there are worse things people could do with their money... and their time.