What to expect if you have tickets for sale

[Bevin]

Based on a couple of recent experiences with folks selling extra tickets for the first time, I thought I'd put this post together, ask the community for thoughts and feedback and see if we could make it a "sticky" on the Ticket Exchange/Swap Board

So, you won tickets in a Planet Bluegrass lottery and months later you've found that you or your friend(s) can't attend.  What to do?  Well, selling them on this Board is a pretty good bet, and your tickets will likely go to a very good home.

Here's what you can expect:

1.  Festivarians expect that sellers aren't going to profit from the re-sale of a Planet Bluegrass ticket.  If you want to make money on your extra concert tickets, please don't do it with Planet Bluegrass tickets. 

2.  Selling your tickets for face value plus the minor, actual expenses of shipping (including priority mail, fedex, delivery confirmation, insurance) is generally acceptable, within limits.  A flat fee of, say, $15 for "shipping and handling" will likely get frowned upon.

3.  Sometimes, you can expect an overwhelming response to your post if you have extra tickets, especially on-site camping tickets for any Planet Bluegrass event.  If you post that you have tickets available, you could receive scores of email responses.  If you post your phone number, expect calls, even in the middle of the work day.  Once you've sold your tickets, you should post that they are "SOLD" to stop the emails or phone calls from folks who think that maybe, just maybe, those tickets are still available.

4.  Many Festivarians generally expect a Seller to honor the "first come, first served" approach, but not all Sellers have this expectation.  If you post that you have tickets for sale, it is helpful to state specifically how you will prioritize amongst competing would-be purchasers.  For example, you as the Seller might include in your post that the first person to respond to your post will have dibs.  Or, you could say the first person to send you an email off list gets priority.  Or whatever.  To keep everyone on the same page, Sellers should state their expectations.  For example, if you only want to sell your tickets in a local face-to-face transaction, you might want to state that in your post, and you get the added benefit of not getting nine hundred emails from out-of-town folks. 

5.  Expect that if you have tickets for sale, complete strangers will offer to send you a personal check, PayPal funds, a money order or certified funds, sometimes for more than a thousand dollars.  Do not let this freak you out!!  Be prepared to accept a Festivarian's word that they will mail you or PayPal the money, and then be prepared to ship the tickets once the funds have cleared.  Seller's should identify what form of payment they will accept, who pays the fees if PayPal is used and whether there will be a "hold" period to allow a personal check to clear if that's how payment is made. 

6.  For some events, Planet Bluegrass sends out "email tickets" in .pdf format which can be re-emailed by the original purchaser to the new buyer.  In this case, the buyer is putting a ton of trust in the seller not to sell the ticket twice.  This type of ticket exchange requires total honesty, since the original buyer could still print the ticket they received by email and either use it or try to re-sell it.  Honor system, folks.  Golden Rule and all that.  The first copy of the email ticket to get scanned will be honored at the gate.  DO NOT re-sell email tickets if you can't abide by the honor system, because the entire system could break down as a result. 

That's all the pointers I can think of at the moment.  Please feel free to chime in if you have other thoughts.  This post is continually updated/edited to reflect feedback from the community

[Maineahhh]

well put Bevin 

[TellurideTom]

Well put Bevin!
Dustin will have to make this a sticky since I don't moderate this section of the forum.

[gipper0324]

Great advice, Bevin! 

Thanks!

[Doug]

I couldn't have said it better, Bevin. Me thinks our libitarian friend is reading too much into it. True it is a free market but expect to get "flamed" for making a profit. As well you should, free market or not. Yes it's still a free country and I'll feel free to "flame" the MGB that makes a profit on scalbed tickets.
Talk to you soon Bevin. Happy Trails, Doug & Cathy

 Listening to: Lonesome Traveler Bluegrass Band, Hurricane Creek

[tocarver]

The point of the festival is to have a good time! it amazes me how fast people are to forget this. telluride bluegrass is not complicated, it is in fact the exact opposite my friend. it only seems complicated because you have allowed your point of veiw to be completely skewed. what is more simple than being honest and genuine? I keep coming every year because of the music and the people. Becuase there is good music and good people and I don't have to worry about getting screwed over every second of every day. this is what makes this festival SPECIAL. the point is not for people to win tickets in the raffle only to scalp them on the net for the sake of getting more little green pieces of paper. i think it is amazing that the bluegrass community tries to keep tickets at face value. That way those of us who grew up here and can't "pay the price" don't have to "sit out." that is crap. it's not about money, it's about music and dancin' and romancin'  in the mountians.  i don't think that everything in the world should come down to economy and money and market and i think that it is sad that there are people on this beautiful gift of a planet who feel that way. go skinny dipping or something. lighten up. shnikes. thank goodness for bluegrass and those who attend who are still true blue!

 Listening to: The voice of the spirit of a GOOD TIME!!!!!

[monkeygirl]

Bevin is free to state what he knows to be the opnion of the majority of the people on this list.  Mike is free to disagree with him.  Scalpers are free to try to make some money.  I am free to not only agree with Bevin, but to also try to get scalpers to sell their tickets at face value. 

Last week there was a vehicle pass on CL in Colorado with a "let the bidding begin"- themed post.  I emailed the guy and suggested that he sell me the tickets at face value, and told him he was probably going to get flamed by a community of people who dislike the idea of someone scalping those tickets/passes.  He called me all kinds of nasty names, suggested that this community of people was merely a figment of my imagination... and then told me that if 200 of my so called imaginary friends emailed him, he'd GIVE me the vehicle pass. 

I'm still hoping to hear from him...   

xo R

P.S.  Anyone want his email address?   

[Dewstar]

Yes, we are all entitled to an opinion and ever ones got one.

I feel much better for posting and then deleting it. I appreciate all of your efforts to make the fest safe, wonderful and happy.

 

Don't worry, be Hopi

The post was more like an Andy Rooney than anything else

 Listening to: amazing grace

[TellurideTom]

Bevin is free to state what he knows to be the opnion of the majority of the people on this list.  Mike is free to disagree with him.  Scalpers are free to try to make some money.  I am free to not only agree with Bevin, but to also try to get scalpers to sell their tickets at face value. 

Last week there was a vehicle pass on CL in Colorado with a "let the bidding begin"- themed post.  I emailed the guy and suggested that he sell me the tickets at face value, and told him he was probably going to get flamed by a community of people who dislike the idea of someone scalping those tickets/passes.  He called me all kinds of nasty names, suggested that this community of people was merely a figment of my imagination... and then told me that if 200 of my so called imaginary friends emailed him, he'd GIVE me the vehicle pass. 

I'm still hoping to hear from him...   

xo R

P.S.  Anyone want his email address?   

We have more than 200 imaginary friends here!

[Hope Lin]

Rhonny.... PLEASE! Post his E-Mail Address HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'd love to help you get that FREE Vehicle Pass! I'm sure a bunch of other folks would also!

Auntie Hope 

Bevin is free to state what he knows to be the opnion of the majority of the people on this list.  Mike is free to disagree with him.  Scalpers are free to try to make some money.  I am free to not only agree with Bevin, but to also try to get scalpers to sell their tickets at face value. 

Last week there was a vehicle pass on CL in Colorado with a "let the bidding begin"- themed post.  I emailed the guy and suggested that he sell me the tickets at face value, and told him he was probably going to get flamed by a community of people who dislike the idea of someone scalping those tickets/passes.  He called me all kinds of nasty names, suggested that this community of people was merely a figment of my imagination... and then told me that if 200 of my so called imaginary friends emailed him, he'd GIVE me the vehicle pass. 

I'm still hoping to hear from him...   

xo R

P.S.  Anyone want his email address?   

[monkeygirl]

Ah... it's tempting to post it, but since he has removed the original CL post, I probably shouldn't.  The email exchange was quite funny though... let me know if you want me to PM a copy!

Sadly, I suspect that the original has been taken down because someone paid good money for the pass.  The reality here is that as long as members of our festivarian family will covertly pay premium $$ for TP tickets and vehicle passes, scalpers will continue to sell them. 

The retail analyst within tells me that this may be a growing trend... supply and demand.

 Listening to: Carrie Hassler and Hard Rain

[Bevin]

Well, apparently I went outa town for a while for the Tie Dye Party and I missed some of the fun around here.  But even though I didn't read the original post, I'll still stick up for Dewey's right to speak his mind if'n he'll stick up for mine.   It's all good. 

 Listening to: the ringing in my ears

[iain]

Hey Bevin, I agree with most of your guidelines, but not #4.  In my experience, when people are buying and selling things on internet forums, the "first come, first served" rule does not generally apply.  A seller can have any number of reasons for picking one buyer over another, and these reasons do not have to be explicitly stated in advance.  Just my two cents

[gipper0324]

Hey Bevin, I agree with most of your guidelines, but not #4.  In my experience, when people are buying and selling things on internet forums, the "first come, first served" rule does not generally apply.  A seller can have any number of reasons for picking one buyer over another, and these reasons do not have to be explicitly stated in advance.  Just my two cents

My own experience dealing with a seller was that even though I was the first phone call, I was found to be geographically undesirable.

Bummer. 

Perhaps that would be something for the seller to include in the initial post... "locals only".

Two cents. 

[Bevin]

Hey Bevin, I agree with most of your guidelines, but not #4.  In my experience, when people are buying and selling things on internet forums, the "first come, first served" rule does not generally apply.  A seller can have any number of reasons for picking one buyer over another, and these reasons do not have to be explicitly stated in advance.  Just my two cents

Good point Iain.  I think the bottom line is that the more information the seller posts regarding what they need or want (local sale only, first response off-list, most impassioned plea, or whatever) then the more clear that is to a potential buyer, and that lessens the likelihood that someone will feel like they didn't know what to expect.  So seller's would be best served by being as specific as possible about the details of their intended ticket sale. 

Those two cents add up quickly, don't they?