[KarlInOhio]

The only problems I have with scalpers is when I have to pay more than I want for an event :-) and when the venue or ticket agency colludes with the scalpers to keep most tickets from ever being sold at list price. Other than that it is just the free market's way of saying that the actual value of a ticket is above the list price. Similarly empty seats say that the asking price was too much.

That being said, I still get a kick out of scalpers getting stuck with a whole pile of tickets when they overestimate the desirability of their event.

[C. Edmund Wright]

and when the venue or ticket agency colludes with the scalpers to keep most tickets from ever being sold at list price.

And to clarify, THAT is not scalping per se. THAT is collusion, corruption, acting in bad faith. In that case, the scalp is merely a tactic by which to exercise a criminal strategy.