Caveat emptor: scalpers hurting Columbia arts groups
Secondary ticket sales causing trouble
“Buyer beware” is good advice that increasing numbers of Columbia arts patrons wish they’d heeded, according to new reporting from The Post and Courier Columbia.
Beyond the pain of inflated prices felt by some audience members, performing arts groups also suffer from the secondary ticketing market (commonly, and perhaps insensitively, known as scalping).
That certainly gets The Hub’s interest, so we in turn direct you to Jessica Holdman’s reporting for the P&C Columbia here (subscription possibly required). We support local journalism ourselves and don’t wish to take away from said work by sharing more than the general scope.
We will, however, leave you with these thoughts: The Hub was formerly employed by one of the affected arts groups and was, in fact, in charge of its ticketing operations for 12 years. Always, always, verify the source of any tickets you buy. Problems like these are neither new nor uncommon in large cities, but are new(er) to Columbia (obviously) and other South Carolina markets. If you plan to attend an event, first check with the presenting venue or group for how or where to purchase. Only if an event is sold out should you consider the secondary market. Despite what ticketing policies say, the vast majority of official ticketing operations are willing to work with you on a solution to lost or stolen tickets that are purchased from them, for which they have records. As the story accurately states, they can do no such thing when you buy from (random website). Thanks for coming to our HUB Talk.