There’s no law in Nova Scotia banning the resale of tickets
Deborah Bayer, spokeswoman with Service Nova Scotia, said this province is one of many which doesn’t have an anti-scalping law.
In fact, only Ontario, Alberta and Manitoba have made it illegal and have their own problems trying to enforce it.
“We will continue to monitor it,” Bayer said.
“But at this point, there really isn’t a need for legislation because it happens so infrequently.”
Big concerts such as Elton John, which create such a demand for tickets, are rare, she said.
Tickets that sold from $99.50 and $149.50 plus services charges are selling for at least double that online.
Tony Cushman, 22, buys and sells tickets, but not for Elton John.
“I can see how people would think there’s something wrong with it, but I guess, in a way, it’s no different than how most things work in this society where things are in hot demand and they sell it for more money,” Cushman said.
Scalping tickets is a bit risky. Cushman recently got burned on some Spice Girls tickets in Toronto, so he didn’t try to get any tickets for John’s two concerts.
Plus, a lot of money is needed up front to buy a bunch of tickets.
“I’ve paid through the roof before to go see certain shows, so I thought I’d try doing the same thing,” said Cushman, who only sells concert tickets occasionally.
He said he feels for John fans who weren’t lucky enough to get tickets and who don’t want to pay a huge markup.
“It’s pretty insane. I’m sure there a lot of frustrated people out there.”
