This year’s big story around Great American Beer Festival tickets may not be about the ticket-buying frenzy during Wednesday’s record-breaking twenty-minute sellout.
But instead about the reselling frenzy on Stubhub and other aftermarket sites after the sale ended.
As of 1:40pm EST on Wednesday, just 90 minutes after the sale, there were more than 850 tickets available and that number looks to be still rising by the hour. That, of course, does not include other sites like eBay and Craigslist where additional tickets are being resold.
Tickets for the non-member sessions could be had for as cheap as $115 or $40 over the original selling price.
Tickets for the members-only session could be had for as cheap as $179 or $114 over the original selling price, which included a $10 discount. The official sale for these tickets took place on Tuesday.
The Great American Beer Festival shared this message on its Facebook page regarding reselling.
Hi Everyone. We’re reading your comments, and we hear your frustration about scalpers and the secondary market. We share those concerns and wish there was a feasible fix. Unfortunately, there’s no perfect way to successfully avoid a secondary market for hot tickets—whether for popular concerts, sporting events or festivals like the GABF.
There are measures in place to decrease access for scalpers, including ticket limits we set for GABF ticket purchases (enforced by Ticketmaster), and Ticketmaster’s anti-bot and other security measures. Does this prevent scalper access? No, but it does decrease it. We will continue to evaluate options and solutions going forward.
Easy. Put the purchaser’s name on the ticket, and check ticket against ID at the gate. Piece of cake. /scalping
Seriously? 850 tickets spread over 4 different sessions. What percentage of the total tickets sold for the event is that? 1-5%? Get a fucking grip.
Well, 850 is a fraction of the total that will or has been sold on Stubhub alone. What has been sold on Stubhub is also a fraction of the broader aftermarket. 5% or 1 in 20 tickets being resold may not seem like a lot to you but it is a lot to some in the beer community.
scalpers can go die. its not the point whatever percentage of them are scalped. the point is that people with a true interest in the event, such as myself, are unable to get them. i guess maybe its ok for you that someone else, whom has nothing to do with the event, or its host, should get almost equal to the price of the event back from honest ticket holders while providing NO service, and choking the lines, squeezing out actual consumers, then i guess i just dont have much to say to you besides go to hell?
Everyone forgets that GABF has 49,000 participants. That includes brewery reps, volunteers, security, janitors, food sales… then all the free tickets that the BA gives away to their buddies. Ticket sales to the public are probably less than 6000 per session.