Millennials are getting scammed by ticket scalpers

Maggie O'Brien
Sep 7, 2018 · 3 min read
Photo Credit: Gift Habeshaw

There are about 71 million Millennials currently living in the United States. A tenth of them, or 7.1 million people, have been victims of ticket fraud.

Really.

CNBC published a story last month offering advice to fans who shop online for tickets to concerts and other live events on how to avoid getting duped by scalpers and shady marketplaces.

Some of the statistics the story cited were staggering.

First, the Millennials thing. How can such a tech-savvy generation — poised to become the country’s largest by 2019 — get taken advantage of so easily?

Because scalpers are very good at what they do.

About one-third of event-goers across the country have purchased tickets from a scalper, according to CNBC. Many of these stories echo one another: they bought an online ticket for a higher-than-face-value price only to never actually receive their order. Others received fake tickets or arrived at will call and learned that the tickets were never there in the first place.

The story noted that most of the fans surveyed viewed the secondary market — and its grossly inflated prices — as “unethical.”

Not only is it unethical, it’s downright wrong.

Let’s take a look at some of Lyte’s data.

Every year, at least $8 billion in revenue goes into scalpers’ pockets instead of artists, franchise owners, venues and concert promoters. (Without the latter groups, there would be no great live events, period.)

Thankfully, the tides are turning. Lyte saved fans more than $1.5 million in 2017 through our fan-to-fan ticket exchange. We are on track to save them a lot more this year.

Fans who purchase tickets on the Lyte platform receive valid tickets issued by our partners to ensure that no ticket is fake. Artists are seeing fewer empty seats in venues that are actually bringing in revenue instead of losing money from lower beverage, food and product purchases.

Lyte is revolutionizing the ticketing industry so that everyone can experience and embrace the true fan experience. Our technology platform gives venues and event owners the ability to take control as well as keep their seats full and their fans happy.

As an extension of the primary box office, Lyte integrates by partnering with ticketers like Ticketfly to reduce fraud, lower no-show rates and deliver huge savings to fans.

CNBC wrapped up its story with tips from the Better Business Bureau. So how do you protect yourself when buying tickets to live events?

“The best way to get your money back is to avoid the scam,” a BBB national spokeswoman told the website. “Make sure you know who are buying your tickets from.”

The “who” is Lyte and its partners. By working together, we can end ticket scalping and protect fans once and for all.

Want more information on Lyte?

email: press@lyte.com

Maggie O'Brien

Written by

Maggie is a writer for Lyte, a technology platform that puts the secondary market back in the hands of rightsholders and fans. Visit Lyte.com.

Lyte

Lyte

Company blog for Lyte, a service to get or return tickets to sold out shows.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade