Getting tickets to popular concerts can be incredibly difficult these days. As soon as tickets go on sale, they seem to sell out in seconds. This has led many people to wonder – are ticket buying bots being used to quickly snatch up large quantities of tickets, making it harder for real fans to get seats?
What are ticket buying bots?
Ticket buying bots are software programs that are designed to automatically search for and purchase tickets online. They can be programmed to buy tickets much faster than a human user could. This gives bot users an advantage to secure tickets before others have a chance.
Bots are able to complete the ticket buying process without any human intervention. They can be set up to search for newly available tickets, add a certain number of tickets to the cart, enter payment details, and complete the transaction very quickly.
Using bots to buy tickets in bulk is against the terms of service of most major ticket sellers. However, bot technology still allows people to unfairly buy up large quantities of tickets before regular fans can get their hands on any.
Evidence that bots are used to buy tickets
There are several key signs that point to widescale use of bots in the online ticket market:
- Tickets selling out in seconds – It’s extremely unlikely for high-demand concerts to sell out quite so quickly without bots snapping up tickets in bulk.
- Tickets immediately appear on resale sites – Large quantities of tickets appearing on secondary marketplaces like StubHub shortly after sellouts indicate tickets going straight from bot users to resellers.
- Fans report being unable to buy tickets – Despite waiting right on the ticketing website, real fans often cannot purchase tickets during frenzied onsales.
- Patterns of identical purchases – Ticketmaster has reported suspicious patterns like high volumes of ticket purchases using the same billing and shipping information.
These issues tend to only affect the most popular headlining acts where demand drastically outweighs supply. Bots have the opportunity to swoop in and buy up inventory before actual fans can participate in the onsale.
Impact of bots
The use of ticket buying bots has had a number of negative effects:
- Higher prices – With bots buying up tickets en masse for resale, prices on secondary markets often end up inflated well above face value.
- Real fans get shut out – The average fan is left ticketless due to bots snatching up inventory.
- Undermines primary ticket sellers – Major ticketing companies like Ticketmaster lose out on revenue when tickets immediately get resold through unofficial channels.
- Rewards scalpers – Use of bots allows scalpers and secondary sellers to make big profits off in-demand events.
Essentially, bots cut regular fans out of the ticket buying process and drive up costs. They contradict the goal of getting tickets directly to people who actually want to attend events.
Estimates on number of tickets bought by bots
It’s unclear exactly what percentage of tickets are purchased by bots versus normal fans. However, reports indicate bots may gobble up a substantial number of tickets to major concerts and shows.
Some estimates on the bot ticket market share include:
- Up to 60% of tickets to popular shows are purchased by bots, according to a New York Attorney General report from 2016.
- Between 30-70% for high profile concerts – An investigation by trade publication Pollstar provided that broad estimate range.
- 50% of tickets to U2’s 2015 tour were purchased by bots, according to Ticketmaster.
Extrapolating the upper end of these ranges, it’s possible bots could be responsible for purchasing a majority of tickets to the highest demand concerts.
Anti-bot efforts
The unfair advantages gained by ticket buying bots have led to various efforts to thwart them:
- CAPTCHA – CAPTCHA tests that require the user to prove they are human are implemented during the ticket buying process. However, sophisticated bot operators have found ways around these protections.
- Purchase limits – Maximum ticket purchase limits per customer are instated. But bot users can space out purchases across different bogus accounts.
- Cancelations – Ticket sellers may review purchases and cancel large bulk buys clearly made by bots. But this can be a difficult manual process.
- Legislation – Some states have enacted anti-bot laws, with penalties for using bots to illegally buy tickets in bulk.
Ticketmaster has heavily invested in digital defenses, claiming to have blocked billions of bot attempts across all events in recent years. But bot operators continue inventing new tactics to game ticket systems.
Are bots used for other limited-supply items?
The success of ticket buying bots has led to similar bot technology being used to buy up limited inventory of other high demand products online, including:
- Sneaker releases – Sneaker bots can automatically buy limited edition shoes as soon as they go on sale.
- Video game consoles – Bots have sold out preorder supplies of new video game consoles like the PS5 within minutes of launch.
- Graphics cards – Hot items like the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 have seen bot users scoop up inventory to resell at a markup.
- Collectibles – Whether it’s Funko Pops or rare trading cards, bot users leverage the technology to buy up popular collectible inventory.
Anywhere online sellers release limited supplies of covetable products, bots are utilized to undermine regular consumers. The online ticket market catalyzed this technology, which has expanded into buying up other physical and digital goods.
Typical profile of a bot user
So who is behind these ticket buying bots? There are a few key profiles:
- Scalpers – Sellers who scoop up inventory simply to list it again on secondary marketplaces at inflated prices. Bot technology has allowed scalpers to buy far more tickets than physically possible in the past.
- Brokers – Large ticket brokerages that provide ticketing services to major resellers and marketplaces. They use bots as an efficient supply source.
- Heavy concert-goers – Some frequent concert fans have adopted bots to gain more convenient access to tickets.
- Opportunists – Tech-savvy opportunists may utilize bots to capitalize on arbitrage opportunities for in-demand tickets.
Based on investigations, professional scalpers and brokers make up a significant portion of the bot market. But ordinary individuals have also been tempted by the advantage bots provide.
Ethics of bots
The ethics of using bots to buy tickets are questionable at best. Reasons why many find the practice unethical include:
- Circumvents intended ticket distribution – Bypasses limits and safeguards designed to give fans fair access to tickets.
- Prices regular fans out – Drives up prices by limiting supply available on primary market.
- Rewards scalpers – Funnels profits to scalpers rather than producers of the event or entertainers.
- Breaks terms of service – Usage is prohibited by most ticket sellers, so it requires deceit.
- Unfair advantage – Cuts normal fans out of the process through technological advantage.
Some of those who use bots may try to justify it by the financial incentives or saying it levels the playing field against other bots. But overall the practice contradicts the ethical norms of fairness and honesty.
Possible solutions
There are a few ways the issue of ticket buying bots could potentially be better addressed:
- More stringent bot prevention – Better technological defenses and purchase reviews could cut down on bot usage.
- Tighter purchase limits – Lower limits per person would reduce bots’ mass purchase capabilities.
- Fan-focused presales – Presales just for a band’s fan club members or album buyers could reward real supporters.
- Paperless tickets – Requiring ID matching the ticket buyer upon venue entry would deter mass scalping.
- Higher scrutiny of resale – Cracking down on resale sites and brokers profiting off bot purchases.
- More pricing tiers – Wider pricing options aligned with seat quality could better match willingness-to-pay.
A combination of technology, policy, and law enforcement could help curb bot ticket buying. However, as long as limited ticket supply and huge demand exists, the incentive for bots will remain.
Conclusion
In summary, ticket buying bots are a growing phenomenon, especially for highly popular concerts. The usage is difficult to quantify, but bots likely claim a significant double-digit percentage of tickets to in-demand shows. This leads to negative impacts for venues, artists, and most importantly, fans. Ethics of bot usage are widely scrutinized. Progress is being made on countermeasures, but challenges persist as long as limited-supply goods can be instantly bought online. Tickets represent just one facet of a broader technology ethics debate as automation increasingly permeates online commerce.