Can you buy same day tickets outside of an event in San Francisco? IF SO, is it legal to do so or is scalping illegal?

In particular, tickets to Wicked at the Orpheum for this week or next.

Thanks,
Deb

i'm not sure if buying from an unauthorized person is legal or not.
but, be careful of scams. i have heard that there are ticket sellers out there with tickets that look like the real thing but do not scan at entry.
you may be able to buy same day tickets at the theatre box office.

check out www.goldstar.com for discount tickets to many shows and tours. - not wicked though!

I'm pretty sure it's illegal to sell tickets for more than face value ON THE PREMISES. You can sell them for any price off-premises. Have you tried StubHub?

On NY tickets it's printed that you cannot sell a ticket within 500 feet of the venue (which is quite a distance). It also warns about buying counterfeit tickets and you can be denied admission. I don't know what SF rules are, but beware.

Counterfeit tickets are a problem, but, unfortunately, there is nothing printed ON SF tickets that explains the law.

This is from Wikipedia:

Another issue in the United States is that since ticketing laws vary by state to state, many ticket resellers use a loophole and sell their tickets outside of the state of an event. Therefore, a ticket reseller who is reselling tickets to an event at New York's Madison Square Garden is not subject to New York State's markup laws as long as the sale takes place outside of New York. The majority of ticket brokers in the New York metropolitan area have their offices in bordering states New Jersey and Connecticut for this reason. Many states such as California limit their definition of scalping to the resale of event tickets at the venue for above face value only. Note, however, that many state and local laws prohibiting peddling on public property or local thoroughfares can effectively prohibit scalping of any kind.

And the actual law:

SUMMARY: Prohibits resale of a ticket in excess of its face value while being on the property of the event.
Title 9, s.346. Ticket scalping on property on which entertainment event is to be, or is being, held.
Any person who, without the written permission of the owner or operator of the property on which an entertainment event is to be held or is being held, sells a ticket of admission to the entertainment event, which was obtained for the purpose of resale, at any price which is in excess of the price that is printed or endorsed upon the ticket, while on the grounds of or in the stadium, arena, theater, or other place where an event for which admission tickets are sold is to be held or is being held, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

Note a couple of things -- legally-speaking, it is the sale of the above-face-value ticket that constitutes a "crime" (misdemeanor), not the purchase. Also, the ticket has to have been acquired for "the purpose of resale". So if it's just me, and I bought tickets, and I'm sick and can't attend the event, I'm not prevented from selling for a higher-than-face-value price because I didn't acquire the tickets for purposes of resale.

The issues are:

The chances of anyone having tickets for sale outside the theater on the day of the event

The chance of the tickets being real

And yes, illegal - but to sell, not to buy.

There are $25 lottery tickets available on the day of the show, according to the website.

http://www.shnsf.com/shows/show.asp?key=18&subkey=885

Thanks all. I know about the lottery, but I am not sure how many tickets they give out using that system.

There are lots listed on craigslist, but I am wary of them and there don't seem to be any for the day I am interested in attending.

Deb

UPDATE:

We got into San Francisco at about 10:45 am. We headed to the Orpheum at signed up for the lottery. We walked around the farmer's market [in Civic Plaza] for 30 minutes; went back to theatre and we were the first name picked!!

We got $25 tickets in Row G in Orchestra. They were pretty far right and we missed a bit of the action but all in all; it was a great price for a great show.

FWIW - there was at least one person trying to sell tickets right outside of the box office on the sidewalk.

Deb

Hi Deb, welcome back to SF and congratulations on getting the tickets to Wicked! Have a wonderful week and I will keep my fingers crossed there won't be much rain.

Hi Deb - lucky you! Enjoy your trip!