Published: Fri, Jul. 11, 2008 12:30AM

Modified Fri, Jul. 11, 2008 05:09AM

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The show was sold out within minutes. Peraldo saw tears in little girls' eyes and angst on the faces of parents who wouldn't be able to pay scalpers' prices.

Peraldo, who lives in Greensboro, quickly bought four tickets from online broker TicketsNow. She said she paid $225 each, plus a $125 service fee.

Then, she sued TicketsNow, claiming it violated the state's antiscalping law. Her husband, lawyer Jeff Peraldo, sued StubHub on behalf of another client over tickets to the same concert. Both suits are pending.

Pate, the StubHub spokesman, said his company acts as a third party between seller and buyer, and therefore is not liable. Efforts to reach TicketsNow were unsuccessful.

Could prices drop?

Pate said that in many cases, the secondary ticket market reduces prices.

He said StubHub is useful when, for example, a Bobcats season ticket holder, can't attend some of the 41 home games on the schedule. StubHub allows the season ticket holder to get money for the ticket and guarantees the buyer will get into the game.

Meanwhile, the Bobcats don't lose revenue for concessions and parking for tickets that might have gone unused. The creation of a safe, secondary market has meant that tickets for some events sell for less than face value.

Pate declined to comment on the portion of the bill that calls for a 3 percent tax on the amount paid above the face value of the ticket. A representative of StubHub and parent company eBay argued against the tax, to no avail, in the House committee meeting Thursday.

The city of Chicago is suing StubHub and eBay for failing to collect an 8 percent amusement tax on tickets. But ticket resellers have benefited in the past few years when states such as Colorado, Missouri and New York weakened or eliminated antiscalping laws.

North Carolina's bill is generating debate in the House. Rep. R. Van Braxton, a Kinston Democrat, expressed reservations Thursday.

"My big concern is that a family cannot buy tickets to a Hannah Montana concert because the scalpers have bought all the tickets up," Rep. Braxton said. "The way this bill looks in the first place, it looks like it would enhance that. ... It would make it legal."

Meanwhile, Billy Martin, an NFL fan from Nebo in McDowell County, says he has learned after buying counterfeit tickets for a Carolina Panthers game in 2006. He bought those tickets on the street for more $400, and that's where he stayed while the team played the Cowboys.

"We paid ... to grill out some hot dogs that day," he said.

Now he just clicks on the Internet and buys from StubHub.