Curious About Pros And Cons Of Paperless Tickets For Events

By Karen Anderson, WBZ-TV

February 25, 2011 6:26 PM

Paperless ticketing for big events has its pros and cons.

Reporting Karen Anderson

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BOSTON (CBS) – For most concerts and shows, you buy a ticket, and present it at the door to get in. But now for some bigger shows, performers like Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber want to make sure the person who bought the ticket is the one going through the door.

Here’s how it works: you buy your seats with a credit card, and then must bring an ID and that same credit card in order to get in the door.

Beth from Marlboro Declared her Curiosity.

“What are the pros and cons of going with paperless ticketing? Will consumers be hurt?”

WBZ-TV’s Karen Anderson reports.

TD Garden President John Wentzell says it’s a tool to protect consumers and the true buyer who is frantically trying to get a ticket. He explains, “The protections it provides far outweighs the inconveniences.”

But, businesses like Stub Hub don’t like that idea, and are working on what they call the Fan Freedom Project. They are trying to stop these all paperless ticketing concerts, and argue that consumers won’t be able to give away tickets or sell them.

What do consumer advocates say?

ConsumerWorld.Org’s Edgar Dworsky says while there are some drawbacks, on balance paperless ticketing is pro-consumer.

He says, “There is a real disincentive for scalpers to buy tickets, that means more tickets available to the real purchaser at face value. You’re not competing with scalpers on the internet or phone lines.”

Curious About Pros And Cons Of Paperless Tickets For Events

Michelle A.

I FREQUENTLY buy tickets as soon as the show is available, only to find I’m unable to go. So I either give away or sell the tickets. If Ticketmaster does this, I’ll never buy tickets through them again. The problem is, many shows are available ONLY through them, so it really does a huge disservice people like me.

Cynic

So how long have you been grabbing tickets and selling them to scalpers?

Cynic

Yeah they are really so concerned with “Protecting” the consumer…BS.. They are concerned with protecting their own getting $500.00 for a $40.00 ticket. Who do they think they are kidding?
Cynic

“The Fan Freedom Project”? BS… The Stub Hub Protection project is more like it.” The fans won’t be able to give away or sell them”? No one gives them away and who are they going to sell them to? Stub Hub of course who is going to mark them up 6 or 8 Hundred percent and SELL THEM. These parasites have been getting away with for so long one can tell from the lodness of their screams how effective a Real Fan Freedom Project this will be.
Michelle A

@ cynic: Good name for you. I buy tickets because I’m a live music junkie. I also have a life which means that sometimes, when the show date rolls around, I have other priorities. I sell my tickets on eBay, usually at a loss. So :-P
Complaining

The ticketless system was a BIG PAIN when I took my daughter to see Justin Bieber in December. We were forced to wait in an enormous line in the FREEZING temperatures. Took about 40 minutes to make it inside and we were all numb by the time we got there. AWFUL system.
kayla

The majority of fans still prefer ticket stubs as a memento. When I purchase tickets to a show I want to be able to hold them, show them off, frame them or whatever I feel like, not just look at my credit card statement and try and remember what that $200 charge was for. I want to wave my ticket stub around and brag to people that I got to sit in the 1st row.