No, you can't buy a Comic Con pass on Craigslist

It's almost June, and that means two seasons are upon us:

1) the season where CCI begins to sell off any refunded passes
2) the season where wily scammers sell off fake Comic Con passes on Ebay, Craigslist, dark alleys and other dubious venues

If you don't have a pass, there are only three ways you're going to get one. Be one of the lucky few who buy the CCI refunded passes after June 20, be one of the very lucky few who win a contest, or affiliate yourself with a retailer/industry person who already has passes for their staff. That's it.*

Here's why. You can't buy a pass off someone else. CCI doesn't allow that. You must bring in your bar-coded confirmation letter and a photo ID when you pick up your badge. There's no way around this. I suppose you could buy the pass and then get a fake ID made, but there's no guarantee the pass is legitimate to begin with and CCI is pretty good at detecting offenders.

Bleeding Cool notes that four-day passes are being hawked for $250-$300, as noted in this super-sketchy Craigslist ad. It's possible this person has actual passes and is genuinely trying to make a profit, but whoever is naive enough to buy them won't be able to use them. They'll just be out hundreds of dollars and whatever they spent on plane fare/hotel room to get there.

Nor can you buy someone else's pass, then call CCI and ask for it to be transferred into your name because your friend who originally bought it can't go. I've seen people attempt this for very valid reasons and get denied. Refunds only, no transfers. This is a bitter pill when your sole travel companion has to cancel and your other friend would like to come instead, but CCI won't allow the pass transferred.

So. Don't fall for the many, many scams rising up online like so many zombies. The Con got a lot of attention for selling out so quickly this year, and enterprising scammers know that someone will be dumb or desperate enough to buy their fake passes. Don't. People will try to sell off real passes, too. Don't buy those either. You won't be able to use them.


* Okay, there are two other ways. If you have friends who are going, persuade them to let you come along, then swap one badge back and forth. Photo ID is only checked when you pick up your badge - after that, the security staff just checks that you have admittance for that day, so you can indeed use someone else's badge to enter the convention center. Obviously this means you and your friend can't attend the same panels and events. Your other option, which only works if you're local, is to stand outside the convention center that weekend and somehow find people with four-day badges who aren't coming back, then offer to buy theirs off them. CCI frowns on this and despite the massive crowding, their staff is everywhere so be very discreet if you try this.

20 comments:

  1. Is there a list somewhere of contests? How mny usually run in a year?

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  2. I post them as I find them. I don't know of another compilation.

    as for how many are held - it used to be just a few a year, but given the rabid Con mania, many businesses have seen PR potential in contents. So I'm guessing there will be more and more each year.

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  3. I just received a message from a friend of mine on Fb saying she had a friend with four-day badges (I have a few coworkers looking for badges currently) for $250, without preview night. I'm going to give her a phone call later, to ensure her account hasn't been hacked. We had been discussing this since badges initially went on sale, but it still feels a bit out of left field.

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  4. Comic Con should move to a larger venue. I've never been able to get tickets, and it's been years.

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    1. There's been a lot of discussion over Anaheim and Vegas, but both have their drawbacks. We're in San Diego until at least 2017.

      Have you been shut out of the badge sale every time?

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    2. Lol Comic Con Should not leave SAN DIEGO. Maybe hollywood should leave there crap in LA. Like tv shows lol the hell, or corny movies trying to be tied into comics.

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    3. I've been shut out for the past 5 years, and I have been trying everywhere. its not right and I live in san diego! I used to go years ago when it was at the old community concourse, but would love to go this year, but if the craigs listers are scams, then I don't want to buy one and be out $.

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  5. " Okay, there are two other ways. If you have friends who are going, persuade them to let you come along, then swap one badge back and forth. Photo ID is only checked when you pick up your badge - after that, the security staff just checks that you have admittance for that day, so you can indeed use someone else's badge to enter the convention center."

    So basically you concede that you can buy someone's badge on craigslist???

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    Replies
    1. Not unless they're willing to claim it themselves at the Con with a photo ID, then give it to you. Which some people do, but you're taking it on faith that it's a real badge and not a fake one.

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  6. Are the badges colored as male/female? In other words, if you have 4-day passes and don't plan to go all 4 days, can you give a male and female badge to 2 females?

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    1. I don't know about color-coded, but the badges do display names quite prominently - so if a badge is for Brandon, and a girl is wearing it, she may be stopped and ID'ed.

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  7. there are websites selling the tickets for about 500dlls FOR ONE DAY

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  8. i bought a Saturday ticket on Ebay...did i get ripped off?

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  9. I purchased an Sat pass for Emerald City Comic Con from a verified seller on Ebay...did i get ripped off? Does this mean ill show up Sat and not be let in?

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    1. Hi Jen, this post actually applies more to San Diego ComicCon, which has different rules. It's highly possible you got a valid badge for ECCC, since their badges don't have names assigned and can be passed around (though they don't technically authorize reselling.) So hopefully you're in good shape.

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  10. Jenn - same here, I am going ECCC tickets off eBay aren't a scam.

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    1. Again, this was written in 2011 and applied to SDCC. Congrats on your ECCC ticket.

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  11. This year they are mailing badges instead of picking them up (i got thursday and sunday)..so if i cant make it thursday ..i would already have the badge so...how would that work?

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  12. So this year they are mailing badges instead of pick up..so no ID is required since your not picking up badge...i got thursday and sunday for 2..if i cant make it thursday and a friend wants it...how would that work?

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    1. Most likely he'd be able to use your badge. They will be probably IDing people in spot checks to induce at least a little fear in scalpers, but it's unlikely they'll be able to do that in huge numbers.

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