How to safely exchange a ticket for $$ when not physically meeting

[andyr]

Hoping that this has an obvious answer, but I saw lots of warnings but no "this is how to do it".

Seller has a ticket to sell. Buyer wants to buy it. Seller wants to be sure to get paid, and not have it fraudulently disputed or payment reversed. Buyer wants to get an actual non-voided ticket in their hands.

Lots of advice to use STEP, do electronic transfer, etc, etc, none of which works after the tickets have shipped.

An in-person trade seems pretty secure, absent counterfeit $$ or large guys with baseball bats.

But, remote ... Paypal + FedEx seems fair, as "Friends and Family" if you have community connections, or maybe as a "commercial transaction" if not. Risks: tickets may be voided, but is it safe to send a pic of the ticket with the number before the person pays? Another risk: Buyer can get the shipment, claim the envelope was empty, how do you prove that you actually sent a ticket?

Is there a best practice for this that works?

[Token]

The only option you have is to protect the money via escrow transaction.

It won’t prevent the ‘voiding’ possibility, but it will cover the ‘blank envelope’ scenario.

An ideal solution would be a consignment service, where a bonded third party holds both the merchandise and the cash for the transaction. It’s basically what STEP does.

Alas, outside specific items like clothes, real estate, furniture … consignment tends to be a pawnshop kind of thing to this day … one of the few things left behind in our Internet revolution.

So, you roll the dice with a physical ticket, simple as that.

I do not think there is an answer for your question other than STEP.

[some seeing eye]

This sounds like a Reddit thought experiment where you have already decided something foolish you are seeking approval for.

If you look at the Burning Man Census, a fair amount of tickets exchange in the face to face friends in real life world in a city with an active Regional. The social impact of cheating is severe.

There is no foolproof defense against the canceled ticket scam.

Only Gate can determine the validity of a ticket. I believe they have a technical way to extend ticket validity testing to the bxb and bxa embark points, but not sure.

Tickets are only valid within the great Gate software brain. The closer to the event the fewer staff are available to intervene in the brain functions.

[andyr]

Thanks for everyone who took the time to comment. It sure would be cool if a Seller could transfer a ticket online via STEP-plus *post* delivery, and when this happens the Buyer gets the rights to the ticket, including what name to attach to it at Will Call, and the Seller's physical ticket gets voided so it isn't useful to anyone.

Of course then the scammers would be trying to hack into the STEP-plus system to move people's tickets to other people without permission, and if you didn't check you wouldn't know until your now voided ticket was presented at Gate.

Ah well.

And not looking for approval for something foolish, looking for a series of steps that makes it not foolish. There are a couple of ways to do it, but they are a bit cumbersome.

[easyburner]

Have this same exact issue and question.

I have two FOMO tickets that we no longer need. Selling them at face value and have prospective buyers from outside the SF Bay Area who are interested. Kind of a quandary to keep both sides safe.

If a buyer asks for my order number or ticket number, is it safe to give out that info? Can they get my legitimate tickets voided somehow? I know people advise not to post photos of the ticket backs with the ticket number and QR code.

Also, not sure how to get around the "empty envelope" claim, but was thinking I would video the whole process right up through handing the envelope to the FedEx clerk.

Cheers!

[Token]

Back in the Fabulous 80’s and 90’s we had this crazy marketing ploy called COD.

Collect on Delivery.

Everyone was doing it!

USPS still offers it but the hard limit is $1000.

Not quite enough for the modern era.

Y’all should actually call FedEx or UPS and see if they still use this old-school solution in the modern era and if they can accept FoMo level payment transfers.

When I Google the stuff, it oddly jumps to UPS and FedEx Canada … maybe not available for the US anymore.

[fastgaz]

This sounds like a Reddit thought experiment where you have already decided something foolish you are seeking approval for.

What's the foolish part? He needs to transfer a ticket and he's asking a question. Seems like a very straightforward and legitimate question.