When most of us hear the word "scalper," we probably conjure up an image of a scraggly-looking dude standing outside Texas Stadium on a Sunday morning in autumn. But ask some owners of local live music clubs what they think of the term, and you'll probably get a totally different description, one that may involve a gent in a suit, sitting at an oak desk in a neatly appointed office.

Big-time venues -- like Texas Stadium, the American Airlines Center, the Smirnoff Centre, and others -- have always battled scalpers, people who buy game or show tickets and re-sell them at prices that can be either higher or lower than face value (but that are frequently higher). But now, both small and mid-sized live music venues are being forced to join the fray. They're squaring off against a relatively new type of scalper, the malicious ticket broker. These types of re-salespeople have no home among the professionals at fair ticket brokerages like Ticket Master and Front Gate Tickets, established companies that add only a small $1 to $3 service charge to the face value of tickets. By contrast, the bottom-feeders often charge two to three times a ticket's face value and pocket the difference. While they've always been on the fringes of local live music, they now, according to several different local music sources, seem to be getting more involved than ever.

One of the brokers that many sources complain of is Texas Tickets, a 25-year-old company that sources say charges sometimes twice the face value of tickets. Owner Scott Baima says he's just providing a service. To those who complain about it, Baima said, "That's their prerogative."

Said Pam Minick, marketing director for Billy Bob's Texas: "I definitely believe it is 'buyer beware.' We are still in America. I hate that it happens, and I hate that it is the consumer that pays, but it is like anything you buy that is a limited edition. Whether a piece of art or a car, it escalates in value with its limited sale. Then good for those people for being smart enough to capitalize on the situation."

But don't look for these brokers loitering around clubs near showtime. They do their business chiefly over the internet. Go to any search engine, plug in, say, "Modest Mouse tickets, Ridglea Theater," and you'll receive a list of brokers. Some fair. Most not.

Wesley Hathaway, co-owner of the big old Ridglea, has heard the complaints from her patrons who've been gouged. She's now made it her mission to warn potential customers about local predatory brokers, some of whom surreptitiously try to affiliate themselves with the Camp Bowie Boulevard venue and other busy local live music outlets. There's no telling yet whether she's had any success.

"I know it's 'buyer beware,' and I've always believed in free enterprise," she said. "But it is ridiculous. It is ridiculous because fans think that [some of these brokers] are legitimate companies that probably all the venues are affiliated with, and the fans are paying prices that are way too high. I think it ought to be against the law."

Hathaway knows that brokers don't hurt her club directly; a ticket sold is a ticket sold. But, she says, she knows that in the long run if predatory brokers continue selling tickets to her venue at two -- sometimes three -- times face value, music fans are going to sour on the club.

Hathaway and other local club owners have some help in Austin -- but not enough. Bills seeking to limit or outlaw scalping have never made it out of the legislature. "A lot of people don't want to place any restrictions on scalping because of the fear that people will see it as impeding on capitalism," said State Sen. Jeff Wentworth of San Antonio, who, with then-Sen. Buster Brown (R-Lake Jackson), sponsored two unsuccessful anti-scalping bills several sessions ago.