I wish I owned ACE Tickets
OK, not really. Because then I would be just another scum bag ticket scalper who pays BU students to stand in lines for Ticketmaster on-sales so people with less and less money in a recessionary economy have to pay double, triple, and sometimes up to 100X face value becuase all they have is a computer and a phone. It would also mean that I would be in ads on TV which blatantly say that ACE tickets are for high rolling pimp types who walk around with buxom blonds on each arm who think that the passionate fans who take the time to wait in line or virtually wait online in order to let their kids see a game are losers, suckers, and in general, just poor assholes who aren’t as cool as ACE.
But what I would like is to be the guy who could say he was solely responsible for taking ticket scalping into the mainstream and making it all of a sudden OK. I also wouldn’t mind baking in a 150% profit margin on every transaction, which, somehow, is still legal. (though in this bloggers opinion, should still count as extortion)
But that is exactly what is happening for the 2008 season. The Red Sox have done a complete 180 from their policy of yesteryear, when ticket resale was forbidden. First, you couldn’t sell your tickets. Then, you had to go through the team with their ticket exchange, so the Sox could make an extra 15% on every transaction after getting you to fork over $50 just for the chance to see the available inventory. Then, Stubhub was contracted by major league baseball as the official reseller, so you had to use Stubhub, which is good, because at least there, the market drives prices and the fan-sellers at least make most of the profit. But now, you have to sell them to Pimp Daddy Ace, and of course, the price is driven by what he’ll give you vs. the free market.
And guess what? Pimp Daddy ain’t giving you much at all. Recently, we’ve heard from some loyal blog readers complaining about this policy, and I’m going to give them a voice on the blog here.
I am lucky to have my seats, I got them in 2002. At the time there was not the demand there is now. I have sold a few of the extras on eBay but the MLB will get on there from time to time and end the auction due to “trademark restrictions.” That is the Red Sox asking MLB to ask eBay to take down the auction. Because the Sox don’t get any money from eBay sales. But eBay owns Stub Hub, so its amazingly hypocritical. The old letters really scare you into thinking the someone from the Red Sox will come to your house and take your tickets away if you try to resell them. Ace Ticket, as you probably know resells for way more than face. They did not have one single World Series ticket last year for under a thousand dollars. And they will sell my tickets for $89 but buy them from me for $35. But that is how the Red Sox want me to do it. I honestly don’t have a problem with them having an agreement with Ace, I am sure they made the most economically advantageous move, thats capitalism. I do have a problem with them threatening me for reselling and then saying oh wait now you can resell, just do it with our people below market value.
Yup, its a bunch of crap!
We’ve gone from 
to
See the full season ticket holder letter, explaining everything here.
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Stumble it!