They’ll probably call me something snotty like “bucolic” or “pedestrian” but I just don’t get it: paying somebody for their reservation at a trendy restaurant.* Matter of fact, the 30-days in advance but only if you’re of the desirable clientele idea sounded dumb enough – as though they’re giving out death vaccines or something.
The good news is there’s a market for everything – that’s the thing about humans, some blow the curve but the rest are still 1.8 percent away from being chimps.
If you’re offended by that, include yourself among the curve-blowers and remember it’s just a joke.
Anyway, on with it. Websites are popping up, targeting residents of cities like New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles, devoted to reservation scalping. At least the going rate for the reservations isn’t too bad – just $10 to $25, which you might tip the hostess (sorry, maitre d’) when there’s an hour wait and you’ve got a movie catch.
Yeah, I know. Sophisticated big city types do Friday differently. I’ve seen “Friends.”
Sites like these seem to be becoming more common – or maybe it seems that way because I’ve heard of three of them in the past half hour. I’m not going to encourage them with a mention, but you can check out CNet and TechDirt for links if this sort of thing interests you.
Still, it’s interesting where niche markets pop up, isn’t it? And it just might work, too.
*For the record, I never, ever camped out for concert tickets or let myself be extorted by scalpers either.
