Scalpers raid eBay, didn't take long
by Michael Gray 
Aug 14th 2008 at 9:00AM
It's probably not helpful to hundreds (thousands?) of customers who suffered the slings and arrows of BlizzCon ticket purchase, but scalpers are already selling tickets on eBay. Since Blizzard has done quite a bit to try and make the event scalper unfriendly, this is entirely an example of folks attempting to profiteer on an honest effort.
Blizzard's rules for BlizzCon are set up to mitigate scalpers' ability to resale on eBay and other internet venues. The ticket pickup rules, from the official BlizzCon website say:
Tickets and badges must be picked up at the Anaheim Convention Center; Blizzard Entertainment will NOT be mailing the badges out. To pick up your tickets, you will need to provide the credit card used to make the purchase. There are no exceptions to this.
And as one eBay scalper says in his auction, he'll have to deliver the tickets "near" the convention center. So, the buyer should beware. You don't have any assurances your scalper will actually show up, and you could find yourself out a grand or two pretty. Of course, you'd kind of be bringing it on yourself anyway.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Events, Blizzard, News items, BlizzCon
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Anomis Aug 14th 2008 9:10AM
There are actually a lot of tickets on ebay 20+
axxel Aug 14th 2008 9:27AM
Capitalism ftl!
You should devout a column on the way people make real money by fooling gamers all over the world. It would be intersting reading!
LandMineHare Aug 14th 2008 11:55AM
It would be even better if they "devoted" an article to stupid gamers.
Edboy Aug 14th 2008 9:31AM
Obvious scam is pretty obvious. Funny how people expect the scalper will travel all the way out to Anaheim just to pick up the tickets and then send them out.
Magma Aug 14th 2008 9:37AM
Too bad for you he lives in California. Fail more.
Edboy Aug 14th 2008 11:03AM
Yeah, because all us Californians have special teleportation devices that send us to Anaheim at a moment's notice.
Pat30319 Aug 14th 2008 9:33AM
I bet they are Chinamen.
Ryan Aug 14th 2008 9:43AM
The Chinamen are not this issue here, dude.
OnniHopeDream Aug 14th 2008 11:15AM
Nah, he's prolly a troll rogue who ganks you with shadowstep when your at 20% hp then face humps you.
Badger Aug 14th 2008 12:14PM
Ryan, where were you the other day when I was being blasted for citing that film? I could have used your help.
Also: Dude, Chinamen is (still) not the preferred nomenclature. Asian-American, please.
Tolthalan Aug 14th 2008 12:19PM
I'd assume he was referring to Chinese gold farmer types, who are not in fact from America?
Badger Aug 14th 2008 12:30PM
Tol: My post was a quote from "The Big Lebowski." As was Ryan's. I'm genuinely disturbed by the number of readers on this site who fail to recognize it.
senitortroll Aug 14th 2008 1:33PM
@Badger Who gives a flying rat's rear end what the "preferred nomenclature" is? Most people do not describe a persons race in such a manner. You are what you are. I don't expect people to refer to me as a Caucasian American, I am just the White guy or dude over there.
You just wanted to use a big word, admit it!
senitortroll Aug 14th 2008 1:37PM
I totally missed that, sorry dude!
What-Have-You Aug 14th 2008 3:02PM
Dudes:
Lebowski Fest New York
New York, NY
Irving Plaza / Lucky Strike
Nov. 15th & 16th, 2008
Lebowski Fest San Francisco
San Fran/Bay Area, CA
Mezzanine / Classic Bowl
Sept. 5th & 6th, 2008
Lebowski Fest is a celebration of all things Lebowski and includes:
•Unlimited Bowling
•White Russians, Sarsaparillas, and Oat Sodas
http://lebowskifest.com
Badger Aug 14th 2008 11:12PM
No worries, Senitor. ^^
Ironically, Lebowski's favorite drink is a White Russin, which he calls a "Caucasian."
As for the Lebowskifest: "Fuckin' A, Dude."
KJS Aug 14th 2008 9:36AM
I just logged onto eBay, and people are bidding like 600-700 bucks for a ticket and they don't even get a goodie bag with? Just another example of idiots buying stuff from greedy scalpers.
Mera Aug 14th 2008 9:51AM
Too sad to see such profit ... Blizzard shows us again a lack of experience to stop this..
tanek Aug 14th 2008 9:57AM
Mera...
How, exactly can Blizzard stop something like this from happening? even without the ticket sale problems, people would still be trying to pull this kind of thing.
Plus, it has already been suggested that these listings be reported to both Ebay and Blizzard. Don't know what they will be able to do, but if these sales are against policy, they may be shut down.
Verodio Aug 14th 2008 9:36AM
Can't wait to see how upset some of these people are after they can't get in after buying scalped tickets. It's a shame that people who wanted to attend legitimately couldn't get a ticket because of greedy bastards like these guys too.
I can't but think of the saying "a fool and his money are soon parted".