The O'Reilly Radar profiled a pre-release service today named SuperOyster.  It's to be federated out to commercial vendors with high demand and a line of prospective customers.  The vendors use it to manage their waiting lists and draw revenue by facilitating the sale of postions in line to people with longer to wait, for whatever.  Football tickets, winery events, super exclusive foo-fee-foos.  I don't know that much about rich people, but isn't a certain amount of the hipness quotient mitigated by the public knowledge that you didn't get into the soiree because you were hip enough to know about it first - but because you bought out some one else who did?

One way or the other, I find this software offering-to-be fascinating.  The company says it utilizes "a patent pending process known as waiting list monetization."  Presuming they get past the non-obviousness requirement in the patent proccess, it could be quite a succesful service.  I'm sure their value proposition will rest in the quality of their services, even if you or I feel like we should have thought of that once we see what they are doing.  Their FAQ adresses the "why should I not just use eBay?" question by saying that they provide a direct link through the trusted vendor you're wanting a ticket to patronize.  I imagine most jerks online would be less willing to stiff say, the 49ers, than you or me over eBay.  That's an interesting proposition in thematic terms, and seems smartly alligned with some key psychological tendencies in the e-commerce space.