LiquidSeats helps fill the house, sans scalping

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by James A. Martin

(IDG) -- Paying scalper prices on eBay is no longer the only wired way to avoid spending hours on the phone only to score nosebleed seats for a top concert or the play-off game. LiquidSeats is offering a new way to play the game, which it says benefits both secondary ticket buyers and sellers.

LiquidSeats has developed what it calls the Web's first Ticket Service Provider technology, an online database engine designed to connect after-market ticket buyers and sellers. The technology is being offered, at no charge, to sports, music, concert arenas, radio stations, and other Web sites.

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A site devoted to a professional football team, for instance, could offer the LiquidSeats service as a way to draw traffic to the site. Fans could conveniently sell their excess or unwanted tickets to others, while buyers, in theory at least, could obtain good seats at reasonable prices. Tickets can be sold at a set price or auctioned. In exchange, LiquidSeats receives 10 percent of the price of each ticket sold.

StubHub Offers Peek

To showcase its technology, LiquidSeats operates StubHub.com, an online ticket marketplace. Currently, only one third-party site, localmusic.com, has partnered with LiquidSeats to provide the ticket exchange service. Additional companies will be announced soon, a LiquidSeats spokesperson says.

An informal review of StubHub.com turned up some decent seats that weren't otherwise readily available. For an upcoming San Francisco 49ers game, for example, StubHub offered two upper box seats at 3Com Park for $70 each. Though the price is a bit high, Tickets.com had no seats available for that game whatsoever.

On the other hand, we found no seats for the Late Henry Moss, the hot stage play in San Francisco that's become a scalper's dream. Meanwhile, a pair of orchestra seats for the play would cost $300 and up on eBay.

Some states have antiscalping laws on the books. A spokesperson for LiquidSeats says the company hired a legal team to investigate such laws in every state to ensure the service is not in violation of those.

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The ultimate guide to online ticket buying
(PCWorld.com)
Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch to acquire USA Networks
(The Industry Standard)
Buy tickets online, not in line
(PCWorld.com)
Where to buy tickets on the Web
(PCWorld.com)
Ticketmaster to offer wireless sales
(Computerworld)
Turn your home into a ticket booth
(Computerworld)
Print your own tickets
(IDG.net)
City guide puts nightlife at your fingertips
(The Industry Standard)

LiquidSeats, Inc.
StubHub.com
Tickets.com, Inc.

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