Dear Jay Leno: Embrace eBay auctions, don't kill them

Times are tough in Detroit. Many citizens of the city are struggling to find ways to keep their homes and find steady work. It couldn't get much worse.

But thanks to Jay Leno and eBay joining forces, it actually has gotten worse.

Jay Leno is planning a free stand-up comedy show for struggling Detroit residents. The tickets were made available Monday morning. By Monday night, Leno noticed that some of the tickets he gave away were on sale on eBay for "eight hundred something dollars," he said.

During his television monologue Monday night, Leno told viewers about the situation and explained that "you're out of your mind to pay $800 to see me." And then he asked eBay to cease all ticket sales for his live show. "I would like to ask the people at eBay to take the tickets down," he said. "There's nothing for sale here. It's just totally free."

By Tuesday, all instances of the sale were down from eBay. According to the company, Leno's request to have the tickets removed falls under its "Authorized Resellers Only" policy, so all would-be sellers were banned from selling tickets to the events.

Jay, what did you expect? Many of the people who would be in your Detroit audience are down on their luck and need cash to pay bills and feed the family. Doesn't it make sense that they would try to make a few dollars off the free tickets if they could?

If Jay Leno really wants to do what's best for these people, he should allow them to use eBay to sell the tickets. Maybe they need the money more than they need to listen to Jay's jokes. Just a guess.

This isn't the only example of people using eBay to resell special access to events. As a New York Yankees season ticket holder, I received an e-mail earlier this week with information on the team's "pre-on sale ticket sale." I have a password that I can input Thursday or Friday that will let me buy individual game tickets to Yankee Stadium before the public has access to those tickets. It's a perk for people who were season ticket holders last year.

After those passwords were made available, I noticed some of them up for sale. Some people were selling their passwords on eBay because they knew they were valuable and they needed the money. Those are the same people that declined seats this year due to financial hardship.

Unlike Leno, the Yankees didn't respond by taking the passwords down from eBay. Instead, those auctions were allowed to continue and people made hundreds of dollars from them.

I'm all for it. Those who have been hurt by this recession shouldn't be held back when they see an opportunity to get some extra cash. I realize Leno thinks he's being altruistic by hosting a free show, but if he really wanted to do what's right, why would he stop people that need the money from reselling tickets to it?

eBay is the place where people can turn found junk into money. I would like to see Leno less surprised or galled when so-called "fans'" sell his tickets. Comedy pays his bills. Let it pay some other peoples', too.

Check out Don's Digital Home podcast, Twitter stream, and FriendFeed.

[jug831]

You are an idiot. The guy does a charity event because he wants to have people come see him perform. Maybe just for a second, those people down on their luck will have a good time and laugh and relieve some stress and not go postal. But, as usual someone has to make it all about money...because money is everything right? That $800 will fix everything? Please. Just enjoy the show and stop trying to make a quick buck.

[haub123]

It is all about money if you have no job and you need money to bay a bill on your house that you can barely afford as it is. Ethically I don't think it's right, but practically if you need the money, it is a money maker.

[rhynole]

Hmmm....if I'm down on my luck, unemployed, have bills to pay, children to feed...$800 will go a lot farther in preventing me from going postal than seeing a free comedy show.

[mishmash0101]

Just because you can doesn't mean that you should.

[DORDTENAAR]

Personally I feel that Ebay is nothing but a vehicle for scam artists to operate. I lost $400.00 on one of those sum. The only recourse I had from Ebay was to go through the local authorities.
This makes Ebay no better than the scum they represent. This problem with Leno is exactly what I've come to expect. He is fully in his right to demand they they stopped the sale of something he wanted to give away for free.

I guess using the logic that it is O.K. for people who see an opportunity to make cash can be used for robbers and such criminals also.

[open-mind]

Nothing but a vehicle for scam artists? Sounds like Ebay has a lot in common with our US government in Washington.

Ebay does not "represent" anyone but themselves. Nobody forced you to use Ebay. Guess what ... there's a thing called "personal responsibility".

I too was scammed about $300 on ebay, and I too went to the authorities. I did not blame Ebay. I blamed the con-man who took me. Then I blamed myself for being gullible. Buyer/seller beware.

[sriggins]

Jay was right!!!!!!!!! He and all of the sponsors, the venues, were giving away a free concert. People should not profit from it; There is no way to know if the sellers are broke and out of work, or are drug-dealing scalpers. No way to know, so take them down. Get your free tickets and go to the concert, NO EXCEPTIONS.

[open-mind]

It seems fitting that President Obama will be on Jay's show tonight. They clearly have something in common ... both have shown a desire to control their dependent subjects, and both have shown a dislike of capitalism.

[Sam Papelbon]

if capitalism means protecting scalpers, then socialism can't come soon enough.

[ViTaL0000]

the people selling those tickets should have been alowed to sell them. if its a free concert then dont hand out tickets! just let x number of people in. remove them from ebay if you like but people will find other places to sell them. way not let people sell them and let a some cash flow from those who have it to those who dont.

[patty0130]

Apparently the tickets weren't exactly "free" since the recipients couldn't put them up for sale. If I were down on my luck I would have done the same thing...money is money and when there are bills to pay and food to buy for your family you simply can't afford the luxury of a "free" concert when there is the possiblity of making much needed extra cash! I think Jay should have thought this out first. He's a very charitable person and he should have seen that some of these people would just have to to sell those tickets because of the possible revenue.

[SlimGem]

This is Detroit he's talking about. They probably needed the money to buy more crack.
I'm surprised Leno didn't say it himself.

[Randys2cents]

did I miss something? If this is a free concert, why are there tickets at all??

[TheGeekReview]

There are tickets to these kinds of events to prevent 50,000 people showing up trying to get into a 10,000 seat venue.

[pdditty]

I think the Yankees is not a fair comparison. For one the Yankees are a for profit business and will do whatever it takes to make a buck. So it behooves them to not impede in any doings that prevent fans from coming to their stadium. More people come means more concession sales. In Leno's case its free, the motive behind the show was to benefit those in Detroit. So when someone tries to flip the ticket to make some money its defeats the whole purpose. I don't know why someone would pay $800 for the ticket but thats besides the point. Ebay isn't the only game in town, people will still find a way to sell the ticket. So why don't you encourage those wanting to sell their tickets on Craigslist? At least they wont have to pay Ebay and Paypal fees.

@Randys2cents - Its free but they obviously need to put a limit how many people can enter. The stadium can only hold but so many people.

[claytonroche]

The author is clearly correct here. For everyone. For those getting paid, for those who can afford it and who really value seeing the show, and for Leno's PR.

re: Randys2cents, a ticket is a "seat" or in some cases, an amount of personal space around you in a venue. The ticket is not the same as a receipt.

[OutOfWorkCrook]

I've reached the same conclusion years ago that eBay is nothing more than a dump for scammers and con artists, big and small, on either side of the transaction. These scumbags now apparently want to ride along as crooked pimps as well. God bless them with their $800 proceeds, or whatever they managed to pimp out of clueless folks--hope that'll tide them over till ... the end of the week. But that seems to be the genuine "American way" nowadays, from large pimping corporations on down...

[umbrae]

Thing is, the tickets weren't free. You actually had to waste time sitting through Jay's boring routine. That is far to costly for me.

[mcooper13]

@umbrae:

Too true.

[marct22marct22]

Besides, the concert isn't free for everyone. It takes money to rent the hall, staff it (tickettakers), work the lighting, do press releases, pay for advertising, as well the the costs of getting Jay to the site. If (and this is hypothetical, I don't know for sure) Jay paid out of his pocket many of those expenses, and maybe someone matched (like the facility owner donating the costs of using his/her hall for this event), then I think it's fully in Jay's right to ask that ebay sales get taken down. He's not making money, heck, he's losing money, because he could go a gig in Vegas and get paid. And how many of those folks are really down/out and need to sell it? I'm guessing a good portion of those sellers are scalpers anyway.

[Last_of_the_Gray]

So, what we do is we get E-bay to allow a re-sale 'tax'. Leno registers the event with e-bay and any arbitrary % of the vendor's sale to go to his pocket. If he wants to prevent the sale completely; he puts the resale % rediculously high; and if he wants to not care sets it to 0%. I don't know how it would work but it'd be fun to see outrage in each direction about implementing one of these systems.

[David Turner]

Sorry but I don't agree.

Leno is putting on a free show which no doubt has very real costs for him and his partners such a venue promotion, insurance etc. I don't believe people should then go on to resell his tickets for a quick buck. If that was the aim it would be better for Leno to put on a show and charge and have the money go to the most needly.

Not those that got lucky to get free tickets and know how to make a quick buck on e-bay. I don't think your Yankee comparison is the same. The yankees have already made their cut. If people make more on top of that then whom cares. It is correct of them to let it be onsold.

Leno's show is a charity event which is free, if money was to be made it should be by Leno and his partners and this given to the most needy.

[trybotherin]

$800? - Leno is not worth a free ticket.

Now Letterman - I'd pay $800 to see Dave.

Ebay has good and bad, DORDTENAAR . I've been a buyer and seller on ebay for 11 years and have 100% positive feedback. I got scammed out of more than you did - $550 in 2001 from a seller, but I didn't hold that against other sellers. You are making an unfair generalization.

[lvonegger]

What's remarkable here is the undeniable lesson it provides in economics, but people listening to their hearts rather than their heads just can't see it. One good class in economics in high school would drastically improve this country. No one is done a favor by denying resale of the tickets. Those willing to part with the tickets value them less than what they will get paid for them. They are not "losing out" on seeing a show they value, which is why they desire to sell the tickets. If you got rid of the tickets, you would replace the currency of dollars with the currency of time - exactly what socialized health care does. People waiting at the gate for days to see the show value the show greater than their time. No one working might do this, unless they could trade vacation (time) for the show and wait in line. As you may recall from the days of gas lines, you then foster an enterprise in those with cheap time (those in low pay or with no jobs) of waiting in line for those who can pay them and then trading places with them prior to the gates opening.

Scalping tickets (except for the very real cases of true cheating among those in the ticket delivery channel itself) simply does the same thing. Those willing to trade their time waiting in line for the tickets are compensated by liquidating that investment to the ticket buyer. It isn't evil except to those who want something for free: people who want to neither invest their time nor money to ensure availability and just get the ticket "because they deserve it at face price." This model stands no test of real economic theory, resulting in the exchange of goods for less than real value, thereby representing an uncompensated transfer of wealth from the original ticket provider to the ultimate consumer, which is really what those consumers desire.

Shutting down e-Bay does little: it just slightly reduces the potential market and perhaps slightly increases the marketing costs of the scalpers. Most of all it is just a show for e-Bay's detractors. The way to deal with it is to increase supply (add more shows), increase the initial cost or stay out of it and let the market forces stabilize everything at the optimums, but then again nobody seems to willing to play by these rules in any endeavor today. Unfortunately, they are like laws of nature and will ultimately not be denied.

[reyes89]

Sure Don.. then maybe since I was in need of money during katrina, I shoulda sold the supplies the red cross was giving away for free so I can pay for my bills and recontstruction of my house, instead of handing them out. I mean what gives right? thats what capitilism is about.

If Jay Leno decided to make a free event, if u whre him lets imagine, u are writing articles for free, would u like somebody to copy them and hten sell them off?? No u wouldnt you would probably sue that person and leave him on the street.