Mich. Politician Objects to Tickets Selling for 10X Face Value, What About Tickets 10X Below Face?

Detroit News -- "A state representative said Friday he will introduce legislation capping the markup on tickets sold on the secondary market — in particular on websites like StubHub — at 10 percent above face value.

State Rep. Douglas Geiss, D-Taylor, requested a bill in response to a story published Thursday on DetroitNews.com, which showed ticket prices for the Detroit Tigers' upcoming seven-game homestand beginning Aug. 3 are, on average, listed at 17 percent above average ticket prices.

"It appears that we've got legalized scalping going on," Geiss said Friday. "There is a need within society for those with tickets that they can no longer use. But when you start talking about tickets with a face value of $100 being listed for $1,000 … that is usurious."

Geiss said after seeing infield box seats listed at 10 times face value on StubHub, he discovered Michigan case law allows venue operators to grant permission to resell tickets, but nowhere in the law does it permit the markup price on those tickets."

  

To Rep. Geiss: What about tickets that are selling for 10 times below face value, wouldn't you consider that to be as objectionable as tickets that are selling for 10 times above face value?  That is, if a ticket selling for 10 times its face value implies that the seller is "scalping" the buyer, then wouldn't a buyer of a ticket priced at 10 times below its face value be "scalping" the seller?  

Exhibit A: Some $52 face value tickets for the Detroit Lions-Cleveland Browns pre-season game tomorrow night (August 10) are selling for as low as $5 on SeatGeek and eBay.

Therefore, in the interest of fairness and to prevent buyers from taking advantage of ("scalping") sellers, would you consider including in your bill a provision that would cap the discount on tickets sold in the secondary market to 10 percent below face value, along with a cap of 10 percent above face value?