The Scalper

Mother Thunder: How does one get into the business of scalping tickets?

Daniel: Somebody brings you in- it kinda happens on accident. For me, it was my brother, while we were working on a farm in Wisconsin.

He told me to pack up a bag of clothes and move to Chicago with him, where he lived. He said, “I’ll show you how to work and make money. Stay with me for a month, and we’ll see what happens. If after a month you don’t make any cash, you can go back home.”

MT: What happened in Chicago?

D: I slept on his floor. He took me to work with him. He said that all I have to do is act naturally.

MT: Which venues did you work? Did you start out small?

I started at Wrigley Field. It’s like a national event; people come from all over the world to see it. When tourists come to Chicago, they go see the Sears Tower, the Magnificent Mile, and Wrigley Field. I got put right out on the street for one of the biggest events in the country. And from then on, you learn how to hustle. There’s definitely a learning curve to it. I went from chopping wood and feeding animals, and all of a sudden I needed to learn how to feel people out and become a salesman.

MT: Did you run into any trouble?

D: Not in Wrigley. But yes, you get locked up sometime. You either get a warning, a fine, or you get locked up for no more than 12 hours.

MT: You said that you travel with your friend. How did you meet?

D: A lot of debauchery happened. I don’t even remember how I met him…(Aside to friend Adam) Might as well have known you my whole life, bro.

MT: Is it easier to work in teams or alone?

D: It’s easier to work in a team- you can have one person talking to the customer and the other handling the money. Plus, when you’re on the road, you can share expenses.

MT: How do you get people to trust you?

D: I don’t screw with people’s money. There are guys who sell fake tickets, or “blinkers”- they don’t care who they screw. I’m the most honest person you can meet. I walk my customers to the doors and see them in. If anything’s wrong with the ticket, I either buy them another one or refund them. You don’t have to trust me, but you’ll get a signed receipt from me. It’s a dirtier side of life than most people are used to, but I don’t steal from people. I’m not a thief. Today at Yankee Stadium, I walked 3 people to the door. I spent an hour of my time making them comfortable when I could have been making more money.

MT: Have you seen a loss in business with the economic downturn?

D: Yeah, it’s terrible. I used to buy for $50 and sell for $150. But the margins have gone down, and it means you just have to work a little harder.

MT: Do you have a plan when you move from city to city?

D: No! For example, I can’t go to Washington and do the nationals. They’ve lost 100 games. You go where there’s winning baseball and high profile teams, international events. Like, the U2 show is a big, international event. You go online and find cities where you’ll make a profit.

MT: How often do you work?

D: Every single day of my life. There’s always something going on somewhere. Any day I’m not doing something, I feel like I have to get up and find the action.

MT: What’s the record number of cities you’ve traveled between in one stretch?

D: In a day, I’ve driven from Chicago straight to Miami. I’ve driven from Chicago to New Orleans. You can only do so much in a day. I’ve done 3 month stretches where I’ve gone New York, Boston, Miami, out to Phoenix, San Diego. I’ve gone coast-to-coast in a few days and back again.

MT: Do you plan on expanding your business out of the country?

D: I’ve lived in Japan for a few months, but I didn’t work. Actually, you could do that in Japan. They like their baseball over there.

MT: Do you ever take vacations?

D: My whole life is a vacation! Look what I do. I get to lay in the sun in the winter, go to huge events all over the nation. Plus, no one tells me what to do. You only have yourself to blame if something goes wrong.

MT: Are there any icons in the business?

D: No names that you’d recognize, but if you were in the business you’d know. There are definitely some legends in the business. Anything you can learn, you learn by experience. I went to school twice, once for psychology and once for business. But I got good by working.

MT: Do your friends know what you do?

D: Yeah, they do. Some of them are really offended by it. I grew up in a small town, and they can be offended by my fast-talking. But they also get starry-eyed when I tell them I live in Chicago. Some of the stories I tell, they don’t believe them. And I don’t even tell them the half of what’s going on. Some really crazy shit will happen with what I do. I’ve sold tickets to celebrities…. sports stars… you get to meet all sorts of people. Go backstage at all sorts of events.

(Adam, the friend, interjects with a laugh: “But, really, we’re in real estate”. Daniel then pulls out his phone and shows me his pictures of dozens of stadiums and concerts he’s visited from the beginning of 9/2009 to now, the end of the month. Some of them are the same concert in different parts of the country. He answers me too clearly, too earnestly. He looks and talks like a street-smart kid; definitely not real-estate salesman material. My instinct says that he’s not bluffing.) Do you believe me now?