Comments on: Moral or Immoral? The Oktoberfest Hustler…

By: Sue D

Sue D — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 22:29:17 +0000

I would not bite on the discounted tickets, I would think that is stealing.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 01:55:39 +0000

@Lance @ Money Life and More – Yeah, that was our #1 concern at first too – that they could be fake… but then even if they were, my friend figured he could always try and still sneak it by and then if THAT failed it was only a loss of a few bucks :) Or, in this case, 1 beer, haha…
@MikeTheRed – Haha nice nice… I agree it’s hard to figure out how many you’ll need at these things! And if the tickets are legit (ie you bought them and just can’t use as you said) then I don’t have a problem w/ that at all actually. And might even re-sell ’em myself! :) I guess in this case here it was more of the “sketchy” factor and not knowing where he had gotten them from… we should have just asked, haha…
@Brian – I WOULD LOVE TO!!! The closest I’ve gotten was some sort of beer festival outside of Prague. And it was magnificant :)
@Stephanie – Yikes! Can’t be doing that ;) And I agree with the “knowing where the tickets came from” thing too – it def. makes the most difference here.
@Budget & the Beach – I love me some Goldstar! My last few dates came from their tickets!
@LB @ Finanical Black Sheep – Haha, there you go :) Or bring a flask, right?
@Joe @ Retire By 40 – See, that’s the weird part here – for some reason I’m TOTALLY okay with that (maybe cuz it helps the homeless person more? rather than a feisty kid?) and I’d probably pick up that 50% offer too, as long as it WORKED. Which again is the trickiest part. If I coulnd’t prove it first I would probably just say forget it and go buy the regular one and avoid the hassle altogether ;)
@Melissa@LittleHouseintheValley – I used to fall for that “too good to be true” rule allllll the time as a kid. And each time I learned a valuable lesson, haha…
@Jenna, Adaptu Community Manager – Haha… so you’re not opposed to the morality of it all, just the price? ;)
@Adam Hathaway – Yep… and since he took the risk, he got all the rewards! hehe…

By: Adam Hathaway

Adam Hathaway — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 21:27:48 +0000

I do not trust people so readily so I probably would have thought that they were fake also. Could for your friend who took the risk though. The worst that could happen is that he had to buy 2 tickets which would have cost him $15 with the failed investment.

By: Jenna, Adaptu Community Manager

Jenna, Adaptu Community Manager — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 20:34:58 +0000

I wouldn’t have taken him up on the offer.

But if someone was walking out of the tent with tickets and was giving them away for free, I would totally take them up on it.

By: Melissa@LittleHouseintheValley

Melissa@LittleHouseintheValley — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 16:28:52 +0000

I would pass on this deal because I would think it fell under, “if it’s too good to be true,” not to mention to morality. What i want to know is how did he get the tickets? I know at our town’s food fair, homeless people wait right outside and ask for the extra tickets. Maybe he got them this way and was then selling them to others? In that case, the full price was already paid by the people who first bought them. Just a guess.

By: Joe @ Retire By 40

Joe @ Retire By 40 — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 16:13:39 +0000

I totally would buy those tickets. I got a light rail ticket from a homeless (maybe) person before. Not sure where they got it, but I couldn’t pass up the 50% discount.
We’ll go to Oktoberfest next year. 8)

By: LB @ Finanical Black Sheep

LB @ Finanical Black Sheep — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 15:44:47 +0000

I would have thought they were fakes, but I never purchase tickets anyway.

Most of the events I go to that use tickets for food and drinks, are 1.5X to 2X higher than places that only charge money. My guess is if you purchase something with 2 tickets, it feels less than if you purchased it with real money. Once I do the math, I walk around, purchase a couple of things from non-food/drink vendors, and then find somewhere else to eat/drink.

By: Budget & the Beach

Budget & the Beach — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 13:59:04 +0000

I have a tendency not to buy from any kind of scalper. If I do deals, it’s usually from a discount site like goldstar or groupon. But everyone is different and I don’t blame you for trying. :)

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 12:18:30 +0000

I’d say the morality of it depends on how the seller got the tickets in the first place. If that person just purchased too many (the venue already got their money) and was just trying to recoup some money from the extras, then it’s not immoral in the least. Of course, if the tickets were stolen or counterfeit, it’s a whole other story.

As to why they sell tickets, it could have to do with the way things are set up with the vendors, moneywise. I live close to Bethlehem, PA, where they have Musikfest every August, and I believe that the rationale behind the tickets there is that group that runs the festival takes a cut of the sales that each vendor makes. If the vendor took cash, they could shortchange the festival by underreporting their income for the night, so instead they do the ticket thing and the vendor gets reimbursed X amount per ticket they take in. But I’ve heard through the grapevine that in the past at least one vendor has also accepted cash from people, which resulted in the festival not getting their cut, so needless to say they got in trouble and haven’t been there since. :-P

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 12:10:28 +0000

While local Oktoberfests are nice… you really should go to Germany and experience the real deal! It is amazing! Probably some of the most fun I have had (as long as you are in one of the fun tents). I also learned that German’s freaking love “Country Roads Take me home.” Also the traditional food is delish!

Highly recommend Oktoberfest!