Service charges a little high?

sweetcell wrote:

fatskippy wrote:
If this was about ticketmaster, people would be outraged at having to pay 44% markup.  The 9:30 Club and their Mom & Pop ticket provider can do no wrong though.

wrong.  ticketmaster DOES charge the same types of fees (look up a $20 ticket on TM and see how much that will cost you).  argument FAIL.

folks seem to forget that $20 = cost of the ticket, and of the ticket ONLY.  delivery, handling, etc. is extra.  you decide how that ticket gets in your hands.  go to the club = less money, more time.  online = faster, easier, more expensive.

i wonder if the venues simply charged $28 "face" for the ticket and included delivery, if that would made you happier.  cool, less choice.

or if the venues dropped online ticketing, and the only way to get a ticket was at the box office… just like 20 years ago.  yeah, that would be great too.

hutch wrote:
However, for many shows if you want to get a ticket at all- before the scalpers get them all and hawk them- that'll cost you $8.75.

vs. having to line up for 12 hours, overnight, to get tickets in the good ol' days.  pick your poison.  my point here is that for high-demand shows, there is always a premium to get a ticket.

No one is questioning the idea that there should be a ticket charge or a charge for delivery/printing of tickets.

What is being questioned is the AMOUNT of that charge. When its 44% its gouging. When it costs more to provide the service depending on the price of the ticket- when we know providing the service costs the same- its simply untenable. When every year it goes up- bearing no relation to the increase of providing other goods and services- its gouging.

Really, don't you have anything better to do than defend the right of a business to rip you off?

Julian, wrote:

Driveway wrote:
$20.00 x 1 $4.75 x 1
$4.00
$28.75

No thanks.  looks like i'll be paying my 'service fee' and 'processing charge' to the green line later today.

Great! Looks like you made a decision on all your own! What a big boy/girl!

Now hopefully, in time, this will become such a commonplace occurrence that you don't feel the need to inform us all of it!

nah, I'll just tell you since you care so much.

Honestly, I don't even know what show we're talking about or who the broker was.  But again…if you don't like the charge, don't pay it.  It's not a necessity we're talking about here.  It's a fucking concert ticket.

fatskippy wrote:
If this was about ticketmaster, people would be outraged at having to pay 44% markup.  The 9:30 Club and their Mom & Pop ticket provider can do no wrong though.

Nada Surf?

Driveway wrote:

Julian, wrote:

Driveway wrote:
$20.00 x 1 $4.75 x 1
$4.00
$28.75

No thanks.  looks like i'll be paying my 'service fee' and 'processing charge' to the green line later today.

Great! Looks like you made a decision on all your own! What a big boy/girl!

Now hopefully, in time, this will become such a commonplace occurrence that you don't feel the need to inform us all of it!

nah, I'll just tell you since you care so much.

yes sir.  nada surf.

hutch wrote:
No one is questioning the idea that there should be a ticket charge or a charge for delivery/printing of tickets.

What is being questioned is the AMOUNT of that charge. When its 44% its gouging.

What no ticket fee imbecile zealot has ever been able to answer me is why do you guys always frame the argument about fees vs. ticket cost (i.e. the 44% argument here), when in fact, the ticketing agents fee should have NOTHING to do with the ticket cost, but rather be in relation to the convenience it provides (in this case $8.75 vs. the costof your time and gas to drive to the venue and buy it at the box office)?

People just keep hammering the percentage vs ticket face value which is absolute non-sequitor trying to avoid the fact that compared to what you're getting for your $8.75, it's quite reasonable for most people.

i will buy mine on monday at box office, i don't think it will sell out quick. I mean, they're no Vampire Weekend. I can buy one for you if you want if you just need one and you can pay me later.

Driveway wrote:
yes sir.  nada surf.

So just out of curiosity - how is it that ticketweb service charges are always quite a bit lower?? (im quite sure theyre now owned by ticketmaster). The only difference I noticed from them is they now charge $.25 to mail tix. My Of Montreal ticket ($30) only comes with a $6.35 service fee. Not too bad (im certainly willing to pay 20% to not have to go to the venue).

It seems to me that ticketweb and some other one that Le Poisson Rouge uses (i think brown paper tickets/bag??) are by far the cheapest when it comes to service fees. I wish more places used ticketweb. :(

AND TicketAlternative and even other venues that ticket through ticketfly have lower charges. 

The answer is…Seth decides…

ticketfly for the Knitting Factory - Brooklyn


$20.00 x 1 $4.50 x 1
No Charge
No Charge
$24.50

Apparently a stump of paper costs twice as much in dc than new york.  who knew.

(double post deleted)

xneverwherex wrote:
So just out of curiosity - how is it that ticketweb service charges are always quite a bit lower??

maybe they offer lower levels of service?  have less servers = less able to handle a surge?  spend less on advertising?  their tickets aren't as shiny?

MonkeyPants wrote:
even other venues that ticket through ticketfly have lower charges. 

i poked around TF, evidence didn't really bear this out - some were cheaper, some were the same (one that was cheaper had a 2-drink minimum, sooooo…)

something that i feel is a valid complaint is the fact that service charges rise as the ticket price rises:

thievery:
Ticket $40.00 x 1
Service Fee $6.50 x 1
Order Processing $4.00
Total Charge $50.50

st vincent:

Ticket $15.00 x 1
Service Fee $4.75 x 1
Order Processing $4.00
Total Charge $23.75

it doesn't cost any more to print & ship one ticket over the other… seems to me that the price should be constant.  only argument in favor of this that i've come up with is the actual cost is somewhere in the middle, and the expensive tickets are somewhat subsidizing the cheap one (although a more likely explanation is that they wanna squeeze a little more out of those who are already willing to pay a lot for a ticket).

Driveway wrote:
ticketfly for the Knitting Factory - Brooklyn


$20.00 x 1 $4.50 x 1
No Charge
No Charge
$24.50

Apparently a stump of paper costs twice as much in dc than new york.  who knew.

shows at the knitting factory are will-call only, so i'd expect lower fees - nothing to print or ship.  nice try, tho.

oh, i didn't notice that.  makes sense i suppose.

sweetcell wrote:
shows at the knitting factory are will-call only, so i'd expect lower fees - nothing to print or ship.  nice try, tho.

fees are the same at the 9:30 club regardless of whether you pick up at will call or have your tickets mailed to you.  it's always been that way, and it has always not made sense.  The $4 "order processing" fee takes the place of a charge for mailing, but you pay it regardless of whether the tickets are mailed to you or not.