J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, John Irving, and Hillary Clinton

[sabbrielle.livejournal.com]

A few months ago I purchased four tickets to "Harry, Carrie, and Garp" ( http://scholastic.com/harrycarriegarp/about.htm ) at Radio City Music Hall on August 2nd. Though I do not have my own vehicle, I live in upstate New York and had friends and an adult who I thought would come with me, so I was confident in my ability to get there. J.K. Rowling has not done a reading in America since 2000, and I was extremely excited.

My friends bailed. My adult (and transportation) bailed. It's very early Sunday morning and I have four extremely valuable tickets that I really would like to use myself but can't. I've cried already and I'm trying not to do so again right now.

The tickets were $12.50 each face value, but with Ticketmaster fees they came to $79 for four. Good deal, right? Last night, Friday night, I put them up on eBay. I waited all that time because I was a naive idiot and I was holding out hope. I just want somebody to use them. And to get my $79 back. Which should be extremely easy, considering other eBay sales of identical tickets have sold for an average of $160 each.

But here's the wretched part: New York state liberals have made a law that says I can't sell these tickets for more than something like $6 over face value each, because I am a New York state resident. I don't know the exact law, or how it works. All I know is that I spent about $20 each for them and I can only get $18. When bidding hits that amount, the auction is over. That's not capitalism. It's sick. Even somebody desperate for the tickets, willing to spend hundreds of dollars, wouldn't be able to get them because somebody else got there first.

The $160 average is from eBayers who live outside New York state, apparently.

I guess I'm here to rant. Share my pain. And hope that somebody who reads this comm is a total Potterhead who would like to go. They're e-tickets, so you could get them immediately. *shrug* I'm desperate. And angry. And really depressed.

At this point, I'm willing to give them away to anybody who just promises to give me a very detailed account of the J.K. Rowling portion.

Comments

[phoenix-starr.livejournal.com]

Oh hon, that just so sucks majorly. I wish I could help. :(

[phoenix-starr.livejournal.com]

Too bad you can't give them to someone outside your state you trust and let them list them. Then they could just happen to give you the same amount they made as a random gift...

[valerie-valerah.livejournal.com]

Oh man, that is so disappointing :( Have you thought of taking the train down? I've never actually done it, but my brother has with his church to see a show in the city and said it was really easy. And once you're down there you could hop the subway to Radio City Music Hall (much much cheaper than a taxi, and easier than a bus :P). Of course, I don't know how comfortable you would feel trying to navigate the city by yourself. The closest I've come to doing it myself was hanging out with my brother, who was just as clueless as I was :P

Btw, where from upstate are you, if you don't mind sharing? I'm from the Mid-Hudson Valley area :)

[shaolin.livejournal.com]

Seconding the train option. Or bus option. I don't know how young you are, but it's actually pretty easy to get around NYC, particularly to Radio City Music Hall.

But that's really tough. In the future, you may be able to get an out of state friend to list the auction. Pennsylvania, my home state, has a similar law, but people get around it.

Hope you find a reasonable solution to your problem. =/

[m-annalore.livejournal.com]

I live in New Jersey, and I sort of really want to go to this. I'm in Vegas right now (for Lumos), but I can ask my mother if she'd want to go and/or let me. I'd pay what you did for the tickets.

[sabbrielle.livejournal.com]

That would be great. E-mail me at sabbrielle8888@aol.com when you find out if you can do that and we can talk details.

[sabbrielle.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to e-mail you back now, but it's not working. Do you have a different address? Mailer Daemon in capitals doesn't seem to like that un.

[m-annalore.livejournal.com]

I got two e-mails from you, so I figured you were having issues. My AIM screenname is MidnightAnnalore, and I am on right now. My connection's not terribly great, though, I must warn you.

[m-annalore.livejournal.com]

Oh, right. Other e-mail address. midnightannalore @ hotmail . com.