Wyn Delano
WMAL.com
RICHMOND — (WMAL) A slew of new laws took effect in Virginia over the weekend – one of which will make life a lot easier for concert-goers trying to re-sell their tickets in the state.
The law was spearheaded by Delegate (and self-professed Metalhead) Dave Albo (R-Fairfax) who had purchased a ticket to an Iron Maiden concert six months before the show on Ticketmaster.
“One day I got online to buy tickets…no one lied to me, it was just a bunch of ‘blah, blah, blah.’ Unbeknownst to me one of the screens said that you cannot re-sell these tickets – if you can’t go you have to re-sell them on Ticketmaster’s own site,” he said.
Like so many other concert-goers, to Dave this seemed to be a minor inconvenience, something one would just click through with a grimace – if you even saw it at all.
Yet, two weeks before the show, Albo’s wife told him that he could not go see the band:
“I said [to my wife], ‘hey we’re going to go see Iron Maiden,’ and she said ‘no you’re not, you’re going on family vacation,’ and I said, ‘no, I’m going to Iron Maiden,” and she was like “no, you’re going to put your fingers around the steering wheel and you’re going to drive on family vacation,” Albo said.
When he tried to get rid of the tickets, the fine print he skimmed over earlier came back to haunt him:
“I couldn’t give those tickets to somebody else – they’d have to arrive at the same time I do and walk in with me.”
Delegate Albo, always one to point out that the Assembly is made up of ordinary citizens, felt inspired to take action on behalf of others who shared his frustration.
To him, the issue was that under the law, Ticketmaster basically had the ability to “double dip” and get a 10% surcharge on both initial ticket sales and the lucrative re-sell market.
Ticketmaster said that the old law thwarted scalpers, though the delegate disputes that claim.
So, Albo did was lawmakers do best – change the law.
“What this new law says is as of July 1st you are allowed to transfer [tickets] or re-sell [them] on whatever platform you want,” he explains.
Simply put, the ticket becomes personal property that one can do with as they please, from re-selling for profit to giving away to charity.
Many people complaining about the high price of re-sell tickets for in-demand shows, however, won’t find solace in this law. It only opens up sales to other outlets and doesn’t regulate the resale market itself in any way.
But to many free-market minded individuals that’s the point – to allow market forces to be the judge of where you can get a ticket to see a popular show.
As for Del. Albo, even though he couldn’t go see Iron Maiden, he still has found ways to get his Metal fix:
“I just rented a car that had Sirius radio – I drove to Virginia Beach for 3 hours listening to ‘Hair Nation.’ It’s not on my brochure though.”
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