Comment Re:Ticket Lottery (Score 1) 49
Well Lottery vs FCFS is the major unique thing there.
The advantage of FCFS is more diligent fans actually get a better chance. With the lottery people who are marginally interested and don't jump on the opportunity Day 1 still have an equal chance: Which sucks for the diligent fans who were waiting for months have a reduced chance, because people who are entirely new to the artist and will hear about them for the first time during the lottery period will be interested and sign-up before it closes.. Thus diluting the chances of the more committed fans.
Another approach that could possibly work is staging the sale with phased pricing - time-based reverse auction. For example: Before ticket sales open hold a public auction for the chance to get the first tickets. Supposing the first tickets sell for the $3000, then. For the first 48 hours all other tickets go on sale generally, and the price starts at $3000 per seat reserved. After 48 hours all unsold tickets go on sale for $1500 per seat reserved for next day after the first 48 hours. Phase 3 ticket price decrease sto $1000 per ticket. Then for each 48 hours thereafter: price decreases by 5% of the original $3000, until the organizer's selected minimum price is reached. This possibly should reduce scalping in theory, because it makes sure everyone who feels it is important enough to pay a higher price to make sure they can attend has many chances to pay a slightly less stepped up price to attend the event then people would be willing to pay the scalpers. I mean that in theory it takes away the market from scalpers, so anyone hoping to resell tickets would have to go in at a much higher investment and risk level.
Non-transferrable tickets already exist and are already common in other industries. Perhaps Musical concerts are actually the outlier and unusual case compared to other events?
For example.. Conferences. You register to an industry conference for example, Blackhat conference, or fan conventions/shows such as DragonCon, Quakecon, PAX, EGX, TwitchCon.. Your registration is by name anyways; depending on their policies they either mail the badge, Or they have a badge pick-up desk where the attendee has to prove their identity to either pick up their pre-printed security badge, Or have it printed at the desk, and noone goes in without their verified name badge.
Each organizer makes that decision on their own about transferrabilty and can even exercise their own discretion at their venue.
Airlines. If for some reason a passenger is sick and won't be able to fly - the passenger cancelling may even surrender the ticket, but they can't transfer it. The ticket gets sold by the original carrier to a Standby passenger. (The person who doesn't or Can't use their ticket Does not keep the right to control the seat they would have had nor who it goes to)