scalping

Reselling tickets for a profit. When done on an individual level, this is often considered illegal, but when it's a company catering to rich people, somehow that makes it o.k. for them to buy up all the tickets and then scalp them. Here is how a ticket company delicately explains what they do: "The box office is the original source for tickets. Tickets out of the box office are sold at “face value”. If available, tickets out of the box office are generally less expensive, but the seat selection may be severely limited. If you are unable to obtain the tickets you want through the box office, and you are willing to pay above the face value for tickets, we can help you get the seats you are looking for. Many people use our services because the official box office no longer has the type of seats they want. It is important for the customer to understand that we are an independent agency that buys and resells event tickets on the secondary market. We apply a service charge to each ticket that we sell, so the price printed on the ticket will generally not be our selling price. Since our tickets are sold on the secondary market, our prices are determined by the "market value", which is based on supply and demand. The “market value” can be substantially higher than the “face value” of the ticket. Please remember that in most cases we have to pay quite a bit over the "face value" for the tickets that we offer for sale."