> If 2000 people want to see the concert and there are 1000 seats, what choice do they have? Sure, next time book a bigger venue, but this time... you just have to let people bid on the tickets and sell them to the 1000 highest bidders.
They do have some choices, at least when venues will cooperate and the government doesn't interfere on behalf of businesses with competing incentives. If the performer wants to make sure every fan has the same chance of purchasing a ticket at the list price, then checking ID when picking up tickets is probably the easiest policy. This has downsides, of course, like preventing sales if someone gets sick or has last-minute scheduling conflicts.
Perhaps a better idea is to have a ticket lottery with measures to prevent bots from flooding it and nabbing most of the tickets for resale. Ideally, each human who is interested (whether they want to attend the event or resell the ticket) would have the same chance of being able to purchase a ticket. I believe sites like Ticketmaster make some attempt at implementing this, but I have no idea how effective it is. It's probably effectively impossible to detect bots.
Personally, I won't bother going if I have to wait in line for my ID to be checked. At that point, it's a chore, not something fun to do. Maybe I'm the only one.
The real strategy is to just change your name to "John Smith" to maximize the probability that you can sell your ticket to someone, at least until they start checking your birthdate and TSA Known Traveller Number.
They do have some choices, at least when venues will cooperate and the government doesn't interfere on behalf of businesses with competing incentives. If the performer wants to make sure every fan has the same chance of purchasing a ticket at the list price, then checking ID when picking up tickets is probably the easiest policy. This has downsides, of course, like preventing sales if someone gets sick or has last-minute scheduling conflicts.
Perhaps a better idea is to have a ticket lottery with measures to prevent bots from flooding it and nabbing most of the tickets for resale. Ideally, each human who is interested (whether they want to attend the event or resell the ticket) would have the same chance of being able to purchase a ticket. I believe sites like Ticketmaster make some attempt at implementing this, but I have no idea how effective it is. It's probably effectively impossible to detect bots.