Man demands a refund after VOD release ruins his plan to scalp $650 worth of tickets to The Intervie - Polidicks

[url]https://www.yahoo.com/movies/s/man-wants-refund-buying-650-tickets-interview-221714087.html[/url] [quote]A man in Ohio tried to cash in on the buzz surrounding Seth Rogen and James Franco’s new comedy when he purchased $650 in tickets or 50 passes at $13 each to the movie. According to WCPO in Cincinatti, Jason Best learned that a local theater in Clifton was among the 300 theaters to play the controversial film on Christmas day and hoped to re-sell the tickets online at a higher price (a.k.a. he wanted to scalp them). “I saw all the hype about ‘The Interview’ on the 23rd and thought, ‘hey, folks are selling these tickets in other cities and it seems like that’s the thing to do right now so why not give it a shot so see how it goes,”’ he said. But the plan backfired once Sony announced it was streaming the film online for half the price on sites like YouTube, Hulu and Netflix. Now the man is demanding a refund from the Esquire Theatre.[/quote]

Fuck off, dumbass.

Esquire should say "fuck you scalper, that $650 is ours for good". Ban him from buying more than 1 ticket at a time while they're at it.

"I was gonna rip people off with these tickets, you jerks!"

[QUOTE=wickedplayer494;46812855]Esquire should say "fuck you scalper, that $650 is ours for good". Ban him from buying more than 1 ticket at a time while they're at it.[/QUOTE] Pretty much [quote]the manager said that scalping tickets was illegal.[/quote]

Scalpers are the worst. Especially for stuff like collectors editions of games and consoles.

To be fair, there's always someone that's willing to pay the extra to get it, or to ditch the line ups and so on. As long as there is this niche market (and there is, people are impatient. Look at express services vs. Normal services), there will always be people trying to cash in on it.

What a shame.

[QUOTE]“I saw all the hype about ‘The Interview’ on the 23rd and thought, ‘hey, folks are selling these tickets in other cities and it seems like that’s the thing to do right now so why not give it a shot so [b]see how it goes[/b],”’ he said.[/QUOTE] it goes badly...

This wasn't exactly a Led Zeppelin reunion event. How many people would honestly be willing to pay $20 for a ticket to see a movie that most people reluctantly paid $6 to watch with their friends and family around?

[QUOTE=Killzor;46813104]Scalpers are the worst. Especially for stuff like collectors editions of games and consoles.[/QUOTE] People are buying out the wii u gamecube controller adapters and have forced them to be out of stock everywhere and they are reselling them on ebay and amazon for $70+, and I can't even come close to getting one for myself so my friends and I can play.

You sir, can fuck right off. Yes you sir, what you do is terrible, please fuck off

[QUOTE=JeremyPS;46814004]People are buying out the wii u gamecube controller adapters and have forced them to be out of stock everywhere and they are reselling them on ebay and amazon for $70+, and I can't even come close to getting one for myself so my friends and I can play.[/QUOTE] That's.. odd. Bidding is in the $60-70 range, but I can find plenty of BIN listings for $10-15.

Why is he even trying to complain about this? If I were him, I'd just keep my mouth shut, write it off, and pretend it never happened. He can't like, sue anyone over this, so there's literally no recourse for him. Just move on.

[QUOTE=FordLord;46814223]That's.. odd. Bidding is in the $60-70 range, but I can find plenty of BIN listings for $10-15.[/QUOTE] I'm talking about the one that holds four controllers and plugs into the wii u with USB, not the singular ones that attach to the controllers.

This is just like preordering a game, or rather, preordering and then immediately selling it later. When you do that, you take a big fuckin' risk that the game's going to suck and nobody will want to pay 150 for it before release. (which I think is stupid and dumb anyway) Same shit here, sometimes outside forces ruin "investment opportunities."

If I were him, I'd keep my mouth shut even while talking to the theater. There's absolutely no way I'd go to the press and publicize my story about how I'm a scumbag that tried to take advantage of people's blind "patriotism".

Good, fuck you. Fuck scalpers in general, goddamn assholes.

Dude deserves his refund, don't matter his intentions. Theater did not give what was promised, sounds lawsuity.

[QUOTE=Snowmew;46814235]Why is he even trying to complain about this? If I were him, I'd just keep my mouth shut, write it off, and pretend it never happened. He can't like, sue anyone over this, so there's literally no recourse for him. Just move on.[/QUOTE] He probably has nothing to lose because he is scum. $650 is a reasonably large amount I suppose.

Is scalping illegal for everything? Concerts and gigs are probably an area where scalping is okay, the venue managers are okay with it because it inflates their tickets sold and get to say they 'sold out' when actually their show might be undersubscribed. Also it's not uncommon to see people who can't make adequate travel arrangements after buying a ticket.

[QUOTE=SandvichBL;46814886]Dude deserves his refund, don't matter his intentions. Theater did not give what was promised, sounds lawsuity.[/QUOTE] The theater [i]did[/i] give what's promised, it's just that they weren't the only ones offering it any more.

yeah this guy can't do shit, scalping is illegal.

[QUOTE=SandvichBL;46814886]Dude deserves his refund, don't matter his intentions. Theater did not give what was promised, sounds lawsuity.[/QUOTE] He wanted tickets- he bought the tickets. The theater is showing the movie. He can use the tickets if he wants. What exactly did the theater promise that they didn't deliver? He couldn't sue (sucessfully) even if he tried. You can not be awarded damages for illegal actions (ie the scalping he admitted to) .

Traditional theaters, as well as sport and concert organizers, could end scalping overnight by printing names on the tickets to prevent resale, or even just strictly limiting the number of tickets an individual can buy. But they don't, because [URL="http://offsettingbehaviour.blogspot.com/2009/03/economics-of-scalping-trent-reznor.html"]they profit from enabling scalpers[/URL]. The guy's an idiot for expecting a refund, but I have a hard time blaming scalpers in general for taking advantage of a lucrative investment scheme engineered by ticket sellers. Movie theaters are a poor choice for scalping because unlike most other forms of entertainment the tickets tend to be priced at what the market will bear, and it's amusing how this guy is now realizing that he made a mistake and is trying to worm out of it.

[QUOTE=catbarf;46816177]Traditional theaters, as well as sport and concert organizers, could end scalping overnight by printing names on the tickets to prevent resale, or even just strictly limiting the number of tickets an individual can buy. But they don't, because [URL="http://offsettingbehaviour.blogspot.com/2009/03/economics-of-scalping-trent-reznor.html"]they profit from enabling scalpers[/URL]. The guy's an idiot for expecting a refund, but I have a hard time blaming scalpers in general for taking advantage of a lucrative investment scheme engineered by ticket sellers. Movie theaters are a poor choice for scalping because unlike most other forms of entertainment the tickets tend to be priced at what the market will bear, and it's amusing how this guy is now realizing that he made a mistake and is trying to worm out of it.[/QUOTE] They're a poor choice because there are alternatives. Getting a ticket to the Super Bowl, for example, is not replaceable - there aren't going to be identical other Super Bowls, so people can't just wait. Movies, however, have multiple showings at different essentially identical locations.

[QUOTE=Snowmew;46816258]They're a poor choice because there are alternatives. Getting a ticket to the Super Bowl, for example, is not replaceable - there aren't going to be identical other Super Bowls, so people can't just wait. Movies, however, have multiple showings at different essentially identical locations.[/QUOTE] It's the demand on those kinds of events, often artificial and encouraged by event organizers, that drives up the price past the retail value to whatever the market is willing to pay. The guy banked on the controversy driving up demand, and it backfired. Even if it weren't for the VOD release I have a hard time believing there would be enough demand for movie tickets to yet another mediocre comedy that people would be willing to pay his prices for it. Seems like some terrible decision-making all around.

Did this guy really contact the theater and say "dude, I can't sell people these tickets I bought at higher prices than you, can I have a refund?" Because if he did then that is by far the stupidest thing I've heard all week.