Scalpers at Dear Evan Hansen

Bought tickets for DEH at the box office last week and was surprised that a team of buyers was lining up to buy tickets and then immediately rejoining the queue to buy more. They had lists of ticket requirements and had obviously been given the money with which to buy the tickets. They seemed to be being controlled by an organised group and they were obviously not buying the tickets for themselves. The same thing also seemed to be happening at the Shubert with tickets for Hello Dolly. The box office staff must be aware they are buying on behalf of someone else. Are theatres powerless to stop this blatant abuse or are they just happy to sell tickets?

greygarden said: "Bought tickets for DEH at the box office last week and was surprised that a team of buyers was lining up to buy tickets and then immediately rejoining the queue to buy more. They had lists of ticket requirements and had obviously been given the money with which to buy the tickets. They seemed to be being controlled by an organised group and they were obviously not buying the tickets for themselves. The same thing also seemed to be happening at the Shubert with tickets for Hello Dolly. The box office staff must be aware they are buying on behalf of someone else. Are theatres powerless to stop this blatant abuse or are they just happy to sell tickets?

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It's sad, but it happens everywhere. When I worked at Apple we sold iPhones on launch day to scalpers all day. It was a revolving door of people coming in with cash and buying us out. What's the company supposed to do? As long as they're selling, they're making a profit.

What would you do as a producer?

They weren't the scalpers themselves but people buying on their behalf. There were about seven people in the queue as well as ourselves and they just kept rejoining the queue. They were buying for different dates and didn't seem to be disguising what they were doing.

I saw the show Saturday, and scalpers were even working the line as we walked in trying to find patrons who had unneeded tickets. I imagine it'll only get worse.

You can tell they are buying tickets for scalpers. They look almost homeless, speak almost no English and have no idea how to answer basic ticket-seller questions when asked. That was my experience as I waited in line.

It must be frustrating for the box office, but I do have to say that the one woman working the box office when I was there was one of the most miserable people I've ever dealt with. I was buying 3 sets of 2 tickets each as presents and she muttered under her breath when I bought them that these would probably end up on Stubhub. When I asked her why she said that, she indicated that she was only kidding - she wasn't. She was absolutely miserable.

dramamama611 said: "which is proof enough the box office staff KNOWS what's going on, but have not been given instructions to respond in any way.



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In what way could they respond, aside from enforcing the ticket limit rules? As others have pointed out, it isn't illegal to resell tickets for a profit.

boonanas said: "I think they should implement a sniff test for scalpers, as every time I've been around the area and these scalper types line up, it reeks of weed."

Good to know! So if I don't need DEH tix and I can still possibly get weed! Thanks for the tip!

dramamama611 said: "LarryD2 said: "dramamama611 said: "which is proof enough the box office staff KNOWS what's going on, but have not been given instructions to respond in any way.



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In what way could they respond, aside from enforcing the ticket limit rules? As others have pointed out, it isn't illegal to resell tickets for a profit.



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Yes, I said that. Well, they could be instructed to enforce the ticket rules....obviously they could recognize the same people, over and over again. They have not been told to enforce that, it would seem.



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Imagine telling the police "They came to the window 3x today to buy 5 tickets each time! Take them away!!!"

I'm sure the box office staff is doing their job to assume positive intent, not judge someone by what they smell like or look like, and sell tickets to customers.

PopAria said: "dramamama611 said: "LarryD2 said: "dramamama611 said: "which is proof enough the box office staff KNOWS what's going on, but have not been given instructions to respond in any way.



"

In what way could they respond, aside from enforcing the ticket limit rules? As others have pointed out, it isn't illegal to resell tickets for a profit.



"

Yes, I said that. Well, they could be instructed to enforce the ticket rules....obviously they could recognize the same people, over and over again. They have not been told to enforce that, it would seem.



"
Imagine telling the police "They came to the window 3x today to buy 5 tickets each time! Take them away!!!"

I'm sure the box office staff is doing their job to assume positive intent, not judge someone by what they smell like or look like, and sell tickets to customers.



"

I never meant to imply that. At all. However, IF there are ticket limits, the box office has the right to refuse to sell. They don't have to and the management of each show determines whether to enforce or not. I never mentioned the police, at all.

A lot of these jerks are given envelopes of cash to purchase and jump into a running car outside. They come by the carful, it's very disgusting. They all generally smell.

AC126748 said: "There is an 8-ticket limit per person/credit card/address/IP address, per 7-day period, limit. In another thread someone mentioned that they witness the box office enforcing this (multiple people trying to buy with the same credit card). Obviously there are ways for people to slip through the cracks--someone can come back after a shift change, pay cash, etc.--but it sounds like the box office is enforcing what they can to the best of their abilities."

That's if you buy from Telecharge.com online. At the box office, the rules and ticket inventory are different. Outside the box office window it states 4 tickets per day if paid by cash and 7 or 8 tickets per day on same credit card.

As I've grown older I have mixed feelings with scalpers. It all depends on whether the show will be a hit or not. If other competing shows causes demand for DEH to fall, then we'll see some great prices from stubhub come 1-2 hours before the show starts.

PopAria said: "You guys, what if the producers themselves are buying the shows out themselves?

They could then sell the tickets to brokers and other luxury concierge companies at 3x the price and the get even more $$... And those poor people who smell like weed are probably making $40 to stand in that line where you just spent $300.

just another thought."

I wouldn't be surprised. There's a market especially those who stay in the 5* hotels like Waldorf Astoria, St. Regis, Park Hyatt, Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton, etc. where guests will just ask the concierge for tickets to Hamilton or Lion King or Wicked or DEH and voila! ---- the concierge gets them (for a sweet price of course but to these people price is not an issue.)