If you've bought tickets to a sporting event, concert, or other type of event and can no longer attend, you'll commonly find that you cannot return them for a refund. While giving them to a friend might be suitable for you, you may also want to get some money for the tickets by selling them. Plenty of people sell event tickets, but there are some legal hurdles that may get in your way and that could potentially lead to an arrest for scalping tickets— something that is illegal in certain areas—leading to the need to retain a defense attorney. Before you attempt to sell your event tickets, here are some things to confirm.
Legality In Your Jurisdiction
Selling event tickets is illegal in some jurisdictions and legal in others. You should never attempt to sell your tickets to someone else before you research the legality of doing so. Don't assume that doing so is legal just because you've seen people selling tickets outside of sporting arenas and concert venues — it's highly possible that they're breaking the law. An internet search can reveal to you the legality of selling event tickets wherever you live.
Distance From The Venue
If it's legal to sell event tickets after you've bought them, you may decide to do so in person. Selling event tickets outside of the venue can be preferable in some ways to selling them online. Before you solidify this plan, you need to confirm how many feet you must be from the venue. For example, different areas have different rules about how close secondhand ticket sellers can be. Generally, this information will be posted on signs around the venue property. In some cases, there will even be a painted line or other barrier that you need to stay behind if you're selling tickets.
Allowable Markup
If there's a considerable demand for tickets to the event in question, which may be the case if it sold out early, you might be tempted to sell your tickets for significantly more than their face value. And, it's reasonable to expect that people keen on attending may indeed give you a lot more than you paid for the tickets. However, this could be illegal in your area. Many jurisdictions that allow the resale of tickets stipulate that you cannot mark them up more than certain percentage beyond the face value. You'll need to confirm this detail and price your tickets accordingly.
If an oversight has led to a scalping arrest, contact a criminal defense attorney.
