ticket scalping

I came across a new word yesterday. I actually came across this word on CCTV - 9 the Chinese TV News Service in English describing people who make money selling tickets at above face value.

I experienced something similar. Two Web Sites: one run by the Government that does not work very well, and a Commercial Web Site that comes to the top of the list when you look it up on Google.

The Government Web Site provides a free Service. The Commercial Web Site charges £9.95 to access a service provided free by the Government.

It is annoying, but not totally annoying. The commercial web site was providing some sort of service. I believe that Ryan Air suffer from people 'screen skimming' and selling Ryan Air tickets above the face value.

One reason why I did not find it totally annoying was that I used the Government Web Site which was not working very well. I suppose it is called: "a mixed economy".

Are you saying that you don't use the terms "scalping" or "scalpers" in that context?

Google makes its money off of paid advertising, which is why you see those ads in the sidebar on any search.

Hello Uriel

I live in the UK, and I rarely come across the expression 'scalping'.

I realise now, that my Post does not make very much sense.

The basic point that I was trying to make is that CCTV - 9 is using American English that British viewers are unfamiliar with. The British English expression for 'ticket scalping' would be 'ticket touting'.

I also introduced another new expression that I had come across recently. 'screen skimming': which was an expression that I found on a Ryan Air web site.

Collins Cobuild Dictionary CD 2006

A tout is someone who sells things such as tickets unofficially, usually at prices which are higher than the official ones. (BRIT; in AM, use scalper)

I believe that the largest English speaking community in the world lives in China. It is interesting to think that in a few years they might develop a form of English that English people cannot understand.

Well, we get accused of that all the time -- it'll be nice to have some competition!;P

Oddly, tout is rarely used in the context of selling tickets any more in the US, but the word remains in the language in the sense of advertising something's uses and value, as in when we say that something is touted as the next best thing for preventing cancer or attracting a mate or solving conflict in the Middle East. The verb is still in use, anyway. I don't think I've ever heard tout still used as a noun in the US, though I know it's still in use in the UK. I can see why you don't use "scalp"; that (original) practice was probably never very big in the UK, and didn't enter your popular consciousness and slang as readily as it did over here.