I stress enough how it’s a bad idea to post your tickets on craigslist or eBay, even if it’s a situation where you’re selling them for face value or even “giving” them to another person (meaning you’d claim the badge so they would walk around with your name all day or all week). A friend of mine saw all the other folks with extra badges listed on craigslist, so he figured he could too. He had an extra child’s badge that he didn’t need. Almost immediately, someone contacted him. In fact, it was a person who worked on one of the major motion pictures featured at Comic-Con this year (seems even they have a hard time getting badges too). When my friend realized who the person was, he was willing to GIVE HIM THE BADGE FOR FREE. But before he could, Comic-Con stepped in and REVOKED ALL OF HIS BADGES. This means any badge associated with his name is no longer valid. And he is forbidden from purchasing a badge in his own name next year as well!
Comic-Con International is SERIOUS about their badge sale policy, make no mistake. So if you were thinking of publicly selling your badge ANYWHERE, pull it now. God help you if you actually tried to make a profit on the sale. While I think CCI’s measures were a bit extreme in the case of my friend, it’s completely within their rights to do so.
So be careful, kids. Buy a pass the legal way if the opportunity arises. Otherwise, you may never get to go to Comic-Con ever again…
Comments: 4
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by ZombieWalk:SanDiego and readysteadystop, SDCC Survival Guide. SDCC Survival Guide said: New Blog post: Woe to He Who Tries to Sell His Extra Comic-Con Badges! http://ow.ly/185iHU […]
It says it right on the badges and all paper work they are not for resale.. so SDCC had everyright to do what they did…
You're absolutely right and that's what I said. And I'm glad they are tough on the anti-scalper policy. There are plenty of people just waiting to rip off the common geek, preferring that the event be open only to industry retailers that would re-sell everything at a premium, barring fans from ever setting foot inside the event to make things that much more exclusive. They care nothing for the fans, the panels, or anything else except getting a stack of exclusives to resell at 10x the price. They are NOT the spirit of Comic-Con and I’m glad CCI keeps them at bay.
[…] Buyers aren’t the only ones who have to be careful. If you try to get rid of your extra passes without going through the approved process provided by Comic-Con (return to Comic-Con for a refund), you run the risk of losing access to Comic-Con forever! Yes, there are people who will likely have bought their tickets and at the last minute, a member of their family or group of friends are unable to make it to the show. They might even go online and innocently offer up their friend Susie Smith’s membership for just a few bucks over the original price (or even the same price or FREE!). They might even offer to meet you outside to make the exchange after they pick up the badge (by the way, they wouldn’t be able to pick up Susie’s badge unless she was actually there to get it with her ID). If they’re not legit, they’ll be handing you a fake badge for your money and you won’t get in. If they are legit, you will be walking around with Susie’s badge around your neck, even though your name is Bubba. And yes, there are a number of other ways you can probably snake the system among friends, but that’s a risk I do not recommend taking. See my post from last year that tells the story of a friend who WASN’T scalping and still got … […]