Minnesota Repeals 1913 Ticket Scalping Ban

Most crimes involve a victim - someone who has been assaulted, raped, murdered, burgled, deceived by fraud, attacked, blackmailed, slandered, or otherwise damaged or harmed in some way. Ticket reselling or "scalping" is an exception, it's a "victimless crime," involving a voluntary buyer and a voluntary seller engaged in a mutually advantageous transaction for tickets to a sporting event or concert. Win-win. The buyer values the tickets more than the cash, and the seller values the cash more than the tickets.

Houses often sell for more than the list price, coins often sell for more than face value, cars sometimes sell for more than the sticker price, and thousands of bonds sell daily for more than face value. Why should tickets to the Superbowl or a Prince concert be any different?

Well, they're not different any more in Minnesota, where the 94-year-old Minnesota law that made reselling tickets for more than face value a misdemeanor was erased from the books at 12:01 a.m. today, see the story "Scalp All You Want" here in the Twin Cities StarTribune.

Minnesota is now the 42nd state to decriminalize scalping. There are only 8 left.