65 lines
3.2 KiB
Markdown
65 lines
3.2 KiB
Markdown
# Swift — Event Ticket Queues & Price Tracking
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> *Part of the Circuit Forge LLC "AI for the tasks you hate most" suite.*
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**Status:** Backlog — not yet started. Peregrine must prove the model first.
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## What it does
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Swift manages the full event ticket lifecycle: joining queues at the right moment, monitoring resale prices against face value, tracking algorithmic price surges, filing FTC/DOJ/state AG complaints about anti-competitive practices, and flagging when fees are added deceptively at checkout.
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Swifts spend almost their entire lives airborne — they sleep, eat, and mate in flight. They never land unless they have to. Speed is everything. That's what getting tickets requires.
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The Taylor Swift / Ticketmaster Eras Tour fiasco in 2022 was the public inflection point that brought Congressional attention to Live Nation's monopoly. The name is intentional.
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## Why it's hard
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The ticket market is deliberately hostile:
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- Presale codes are distributed unevenly and expire without notice
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- Queue systems are opaque — you can wait 2 hours and be dropped without recourse
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- Dynamic pricing (Ticketmaster "Platinum") can 3–10× face value within minutes of sale opening
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- Fees (facility, service, order processing) are hidden until the final checkout screen
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- Secondary market is dominated by bots and scalpers with API access
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- DOJ antitrust investigation into Live Nation is ongoing but slow
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## Core pipeline
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```
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Configure target event (artist, venue, date, max price + fees)
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→ Monitor presale / onsale announcement dates → Alert with countdown
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→ Queue entry timing optimization (enter queue N minutes before open)
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→ Price monitoring: face value vs. resale vs. dynamic pricing over time
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→ Checkout fee tracker: capture final all-in price at checkout
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→ Complaint drafting: FTC, DOJ, state AG (NY, CA), CFPB for fee deception
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```
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## Price tracking & complaint triggers
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- **Platinum / dynamic pricing surge > X%** above face value → flag + log evidence
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- **Fees > Y% of ticket price** at checkout → flag as potentially deceptive (FTC Sec. 5)
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- **Queue drop without notification** → log with timestamp + draft complaint
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- **Presale code not honored** despite correct entry → log + escalation path
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## Regulatory angle
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| Issue | Relevant body | Basis |
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|---|---|---|
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| Algorithmic price gouging | FTC | Section 5 unfair/deceptive practices |
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| Monopoly / anti-competitive bundling | DOJ Antitrust | Sherman Act (ongoing investigation) |
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| Hidden fees at checkout | FTC, state AGs | Junk fee rule, consumer protection laws |
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| Bot-assisted scalping | FTC, state AGs | BOTS Act (2016), state-level anti-scalping |
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| Venue exclusivity contracts | DOJ | Vertical restraints investigation |
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## Product code (license key)
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`CFG-SWFT-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX`
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## Tech notes
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- Shared `circuitforge-core` scaffold
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- Queue timing: Playwright automation for queue entry at optimal moment
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- Price history tracking: scrape Ticketmaster, AXS, SeatGeek, StubHub over time
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- Checkout fee capture: Playwright session recorder for fee breakdown at checkout
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- Complaint generation: FTC complaint portal (ftc.gov/complaint), state AG formats
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- DOJ complaint: antitrust.atr@usdoj.gov structured complaint template
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- Fee database: track which venues / promoters use which fee structures
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