Buying and selling lift ticket vouchers - Is it illegal?

Scalping lift tickets is illegal under many local and state laws. In the case of lift ticket vouchers, there are laws designed to prevent people from re-selling tickets. For example, California Penal Section 537 restricts the resale of lift tickets. The relevant material is highlighted in the following reprint of the California Code Section:

537. (a) Any person who obtains any food, fuel, services, or accommodations at a hotel, inn, restaurant, boarding house, lodging house, apartment house, bungalow court, motel, marina, marine facility, auto camp, ski area, or public or private campground, without paying therefore, with intent to defraud the proprietor or manager thereof, or who obtains credit at an hotel, inn, restaurant, boarding house, lodging house, apartment house, bungalow court, motel, marina, marine facility, auto camp, or public or private campground by the use of any false pretence, or who, after obtaining credit, food, fuel, services, or accommodations, at an hotel, inn, restaurant, boarding house, lodging house, apartment house, bungalow court, motel, marina, marine facility, auto camp, or public or private campground, absconds, or surreptitiously, or by force, menace, or threats, removes any part of his or her baggage there from with the intent not to pay for his or her food or accommodations is guilty of a public offence punishable as follows: (1) If the value of the credit, food, fuel, services, or accommodations is four hundred dollars ($400) or less, by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000) or by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not exceeding six months, or both. (2) If the value of the credit, food, fuel, services, or accommodations is greater than four hundred dollars ($400), by imprisonment in the county jail for a term of not more than one year, or in the state prison. (b) Any person who uses or attempts to use ski area facilities for which payment is required without paying as required, or who resells a ski lift ticket to another when the resale is not authorized by the proprietor, is guilty of an infraction. (c) Evidence that a person left the premises of such an hotel, inn, restaurant, boarding house, lodging house, apartment house, bungalow court, motel, marina, marine facility, auto camp, ski area, or public or private campground, without paying or offering to pay for such food, fuel, services, use of facilities, or accommodation, or that the person, without authorization from the proprietor, resold his or her ski lift ticket to another person after making use of such facilities, shall be prima facie evidence of the following: (1) That the person obtained such food, fuel, services, use of facilities or accommodations with intent to defraud the proprietor or manager. (2) That if, after obtaining the credit, food, fuel, services, or accommodations, the person absconded, or surreptitiously, or by force, menace, or threats, removed part of his or her baggage there from, the person did so with the intent not to pay for the credit, food, fuel, services, or accommodations.

This law prevents people from legally reselling a ticket they purchase at the resort. It also supports the idea that the resale of any voucher can be controlled and disallowed by the proprietor (the ski resort). However, this position is similar to the issue of scalping football or other tickets. It's illegal to scalp professional sports tickets or other event tickets in 75 percent of the areas where people live, meaning that 75 percent of U.S. residents are subject to scalping laws. But people scalp all the time and in some jurisdictions it is legal, so now there are lots of ticket brokers all over the country. People also frequently sell lift ticket vouchers in ski resort parking lots. They usually are not reselling an "active" ticket (one they bought for use that day). Instead, they are reselling a voucher that was purchased at an earlier date. An important distinction, we argue, is that the intention of the California law is to control the sale of what we call an “active” ticket. In other words, someone goes to the resort and purchases a ticket, skis only a half-day and then resells the ticket to somebody else. This is what the law was intended to prevent.

In the case of lift ticket vouchers, the kind that are generally sold in ski resort parking lots by lift ticket scalpers, are obtained at ski movies or events which are run throughout the world prior to the ski season as a way to promote the upcoming season. Lift tickets are often given away as an enticement to get people into the show. People pay an inflated price to attend the movie or event and most of the time they come for the lift ticket voucher. Ski resorts usually sell or trade the lift tickets to the show's promoter for an advertising commitment. It's a cheap way for the resort to buy advertising. But the resort is not "giving away" lift tickets for free. They are exchanging the tickets (which cost them nothing) for advertising (which costs plenty). Then the promoter exchanges the vouchers for money at the ticket window when he charges people to come into the event.

We stopped selling lift tickets anywhere except on the Internet a couple of years ago because web sales have not to this point been subject to the same kind of rules as everywhere else.

Why We Think It Should Legal to Resell Lift Ticket Vouchers:

We believe the advertising generated by the resale greatly benefits the resorts, as long as the actual transaction is kept off the premises.

We're also working on developing a way of trading lift ticket vouchers over the web, just in case the resorts get too upset about it. If we receive too much negativity from resorts about reselling certain vouchers, then we will move exclusively to trading the vouchers.

While it is illegal in most jurisdictions to resell lift ticket vouchers or coupons, it's also illegal to scalp football, baseball, or other event tickets which are commonly scalped for tremendous profits for popular events. It is also illegal to sell grocery coupons and frequent flyer miles, but it is done everyday and what better forum than eBay? It keeps it off the streets and provides much coveted advertising to resorts that might otherwise not be able to afford it. Much of that activity on eBay is not illegal, regardless of what the ticket, voucher, or coupon might say on the reverse or in fine print. These types of printed “contracts” on a ticket are generally not legally binding since they are essentially “one-party”. In the case of resale, people are simply trading services they have taken time to acquire. Ski resorts do not usually provide events but instead provide an experience.

We believe that with a good dose of free trade, resorts would be able to sell some popular days (e.g. the day after Christmas, President's Weekend) for more money than they do now. It is no mystery that ski resorts cater to an upper-class crowd. Further, the industry has remained relatively flat in terms of skier-days sold, even with the popularity of snowboarding. One major factor is that prices are tightly controlled, so it is very expensive. If the system is allowed more latitude, it can't hurt an already-dismal economic situation. (The economic fundamentals of North American ski resorts are not good in that there is a long-term downward trend in the number of skier days, even with a rising population).

The exposure that is generated by “scalping” over the Internet is worth it for the industry to endure. Granted, ski resorts should never be expected to allow scalpers to sell in front of their ticket windows, or in their parking lots, but some latitude in this area would help provide some grass-roots fire to get the industry going.

For more information visit www.cato.org.

Special Note: This information is not intended in any way as legal advice. Reselling lift ticket vouchers is illegal in many jurisdictions. Consult your local municipality for more information on laws governing your area.