Hello everyone, I'm your financial journalist. Today, we're not talking about candlestick charts or GDP, but about a stand-up comedy performance that left countless people feeling frustrated and disappointed.
On the evening of September 11th, at the Meiqi Grand Theatre in Shanghai, stand-up comedian Fu Hang's special show, "Happy Management Monkey," was supposed to be a night filled with laughter. However, it turned into an awkward battle between "rules" and "human nature." The theatre was empty inside, yet the outside was packed with people. The show was scheduled to start at 7 PM but was delayed until 7:20 PM.
Why could a stand-up comedy performance that costs just a few hundred yuan cause such a stir? Behind this lies not only the rampant activity of scalpers but also a thorny issue in our current ticketing market: the inability to effectively regulate scalping while also not wanting to completely ban it.
Let me break down this situation into five key points in plain language to help you understand the issues behind it.
1. The Embarrassing Scene: Why Didn't "Strict Real-Name Verification" Stop the Scalpers?
Let's start with the most obvious aspect. To prevent scalping, the organizers implemented a strict real-name verification system. This meant that the person buying the ticket, their ID card, and the actual ticket holder had to match. If you bought a ticket for Person A, Person B with that ticket couldn't enter the theatre.
Logically, this should have been an effective measure. If scalpers couldn't resell the tickets, or if the person with the ticket couldn't enter, they would lose money. But the reality was different:
- Scalpers have technological advantages: Modern scalpers are not the old-fashioned ladies who queue at the door; they use software to bulk-buy tickets or obtain them through internal channels (such as from sponsors or with work permits).
- Audience members are too eager: Many people couldn't get tickets, or they got tickets but couldn't attend (for example, they bought them for friends). At this point, scalpers stepped in: "I have the ticket, and you can use my ID information to get a photo/video, or I can take you in personally."
- Weak enforcement at the door: Although the rule was strict, enforcing it proved challenging when hundreds of people were waiting at the door. If the staff strictly checked each person's ID, the situation could have gotten out of control. Under the pressure of public opinion and the chaos, the organizers chose to compromise and let people in.
The result: The rule was in place, but it wasn't effectively enforced. Fu Hang even joked from the stage that there were more people outside than inside and extended the show by 20 minutes as a form of compensation. However, this couldn't erase the feeling of frustration among the audience who felt they had followed the rules only to be bypassed by scalpers.
2. The Math: How Much Did the Scalpers Make, and How Much More Did We Pay?
Let's do some simple math to see how much profit scalpers made and how much more we were forced to pay:
- Original price: The tickets for Fu Hang's show ranged from 280 to 580 yuan, which is relatively affordable compared to concert tickets.
- Scalped price: Some tickets were sold for up to 3500 yuan, a sevenfold increase!
- Scalper profit: According to the police, three scalpers made an illegal profit of 18,000 yuan by reselling 104 tickets, averaging a profit of over 170 yuan per ticket.
There's a ironic twist here: The organizers and the comedian wanted to make tickets more accessible to the general public, but scalpers drove the price up sevenfold, excluding ordinary fans and only allowing those with high incomes or those willing to pay a premium.
What's more concerning is that the scalpers' profit isn't high relative to the risks they take and the technical resources they use. However, the social costs are significant:
- Misallocation of resources: People who really wanted to attend couldn't buy tickets or had to pay a lot.
- Damaged experience: The delay in the show due to many invalid tickets ruined the experience for everyone who arrived on time.
- Trust crisis: Fans began to wonder if the organizers were colluding with scalpers or if there was insider ticket trafficking, which damaged the brand's reputation.
3. The Dilemma of Rules: Should They Be Strict or Flexible?
The biggest debate around this incident was whether the organizers should have let people in with invalid tickets:
- Strict supporters: If they had let everyone in, scalpers would have become even more rampant, buying tickets but not attending and then selling them at higher prices. Once the rules were broken, they would become meaningless. Comedians like Yang Li and Pang Bo insisted on keeping the seats empty to maintain fairness.
- Flexible supporters: With hundreds of people waiting outside, not letting them in could have led to riots or safety issues. Some invalid tickets might have been bought for friends or family members, so a one-size-fits-all approach wasn't fair. The "invalid ticket buffer zone" used at the Yang Li concert was an attempt to find a balance.
My opinion: Flexibility shouldn't lead to arbitrariness. If the standard for admission is "whoever causes the most trouble gets in first," the rules become meaningless. If it's based on strict verification and confirmation that the tickets were bought for a relative or friend and not for resale, then it's acceptable. However, in Fu Hang's case, the organizers didn't conduct proper verification and were forced to let everyone in, resulting in honest fans being treated unfairly.
4. A Common Problem in the Industry: It's Not Just Stand-Up Comedies; the Entire Ticketing Market Is in Disarray
Fu Hang's show is not an isolated case; it reflects the overall state of the ticketing market:
- Concerts: Tickets for Zhao Lei's Bird's Nest concert soared from 900 yuan to 6800 yuan. At Liu Ruoying's concert in Taiyuan, thousands of invalid tickets were blocked, and the organizers had to compromise.
- Theatre and musicals: Popular shows are also in high demand, with scalping prices often doubling or tripling.
The root cause is an imbalance between supply and demand:
- Limited supply: There are few high-quality performers and shows, and the number of performances is limited.
- High demand: People are willing to pay for the emotional value of attending performances; it's about social interaction, experience, and being there.
- Technological advantage of scalpers: Ticketing software is faster than manual methods.
A deeper issue is the lack of responsibility among ticketing platforms. Many platforms only focus on selling tickets and ignore after-sales issues and resale. Some even tolerate the secondary market due to high traffic. In the UK, laws have been enacted to restrict price gouging, affecting the stock prices of ticketing platforms.
5. A Way Forward: Stop Scalping from Profiting at the Expense of Fans' Trust
There are solutions to this problem:
- Technological improvements: Implement multi-factor verification (ID card, face recognition, and photo comparison). This would prevent scalpers from entering even if they have tickets.
- Clear rules: Clearly state how invalid tickets will be handled on the ticketing page, including the option for real-name changes through official channels.
- Proper compensation: Provide fair compensation for those who can't attend due to invalid tickets, such as a full refund plus additional compensation. This only makes sense if those with valid tickets are indeed allowed in.
- Industry self-regulation: Small venues, like stand-up and theatre companies, should prioritize maintaining the community feel and avoid price gouging. They might prefer to let tickets circulate within their fan bases rather than letting scalpers profit.
In summary, the chaos at Fu Hang's show was caused by flawed ticketing rules, poor enforcement, and an imbalance in the market. For fans, the simplest wish is to enter the theatre, pay for their tickets, and enjoy the show without disruption. This passion shouldn't be exploited by scalpers or used as a bargaining chip between organizers and fans.
Next time we go to a theatre, let's hope we see a venue filled with laughter and a respected experience, not empty seats and crowds outside.