Originally posted by Random Citizen:that fee schedule is crap–it's the same thing Ticketmaster does: why charge a higher fee just b/c the ticket price is higher? it doesn't cost anymore to print out and process a $100 ticket than it does to print out a $10 ticket. they charge a higher processing fee for higher priced tickets b/c they figure people paying more won't care and they can get away with it. which, unfortunately, usually works for them.
Ottobar, Sidebar and a few other places in B'more use MissionTix for online ticket sales.
From the MissionTix's help section on processing fees: "Unless otherwise noted:
â?? Tickets that are $24.99 or less have a processing fee of $2.50 - $3.50
â?? Tickets that are $25.00 - $49.99 have a processing fee of $4.25
â?? Tickets that are $50.00 - $74.99 have a processing fee of $5.00
â?? Tickets that are $75.00 - $100 have a processing fee of $5.75"
Originally posted by Sir HC:
I think the Ottobar/Mission Media in baltimore does this. I forget their charge, it is like $3 per ticket I think and that is just for your name on a list when you get to the show.
Ticket Service Charges
Originally posted by Bags:Bags ain't Jewish b/c she has a Catholic confirmation name (as i do)–which i just learned tonight but forget what it is…
Originally posted by mankie:I figured someone would eventually ask – no, not jewish, but attended heavily jewish educational institutions! ;)
Originally posted by thirsty moore:Bags, are you jewish because you make comments just like my old boss, rest his soul.
a higher service fee is charged because the vendor has to pay a fixed percentage to the credit card company for processing the charge.
ticketbastard adds their fees on top of the ticket price which the promoter gets. ticketmaster would lose money if the didn't at least recover what it costs to process your credit card, and that cost goes up as the amount charged goes up.
ticketbastard adds their fees on top of the ticket price which the promoter gets. ticketmaster would lose money if the didn't at least recover what it costs to process your credit card, and that cost goes up as the amount charged goes up.
I got the opportunity to get half price lawn tickets for Blondie and Cheap Trick concert at Pier Six for this Sunday (08.29.2010). Originally the tickets are $30, so half price is $15. Then add two $3 fees for a new total $18. Right before you agree to buy, you get one more fee. $2 to print your tickets on your home printer or $3 for will call. The last fee was the final straw and I canceled my order.
They use their own system for ticket sales. So, you do not need to be Ticketmaster to be greedy.
They use their own system for ticket sales. So, you do not need to be Ticketmaster to be greedy.
TM/LN have started to display the price, including fees, on the first page because (ahem):
August 23, 2010
Live Nation and Ticketmaster announced their new transparent pricing policy on a blog which you can see here and we?ve reprinted for your perusal below:
Today we?re excited to announce three important changes to the way we interact with you.
How We Present Pricing and Fees
We get it?you don?t like service fees. You don?t like them mostly because you don?t understand what the heck they are for. We?ll try to do a better job in this space over the coming months of helping you understand our business, and how our fees compare to others in the industry (both in ticketing and ecommerce in general). But the reality of the live entertainment business is that service fees have become an extension of the ticket price. Most of the parties in the live event value chain participate in these service fees either directly or indirectly?promoters, venues, teams, artists, and yes, ticketing companies?and service fee rebates are our largest annual expense at Ticketmaster.
All of the research we?ve done, and all of our conversations with fans like you tell us that the way we present these fees in the checkout process is a huge frustration for you and hurts ticket sales. You just want to know UP FRONT in the buying process how much of your hard-earned money you are being asked to pay for a given seat. If we are as transparent as possible with you sooner in the purchase process, you can make the decision about how much you want to pay to go to an event. The problem is that historically we haven?t told you how much you have to pay for a given seat until very late in the buying process. And our data tells us this angers many of you to the point that you abandon your purchase once you see the total cost, and that you don?t come back. The data also says (and this is the important piece) that if we had told you up front what the total cost was, you would have bought the ticket! So by perpetuating this antiquated fee presentation, fans are getting upset, while we and our clients are losing ticket sales.
This practice changes today. Over the next few days, we are rolling out a new way of presenting pricing and fees on Ticketmaster.com. Going forward, just like almost every other business in the world, we?ll tell you up front how much you can expect to pay for a certain ticket. We?ll still break out the ?face value? from the other fees where required, and we haven?t broken down per-order fees yet (although you will begin to see many of our clients move to truly all-in pricing, because they know it sells more tickets and makes you happier). This user experience mirrors what you see across the web from leaders in their field?Amazon, Apple, Expedia, Zappos and more. It?s not complicated, it?s just the right thing to do.
We are the leader in the industry, and so we are accountable for taking the initiative to drive industry change. We take that responsibility very seriously, and at the new Ticketmaster we wake up every day obsessing over the fan experience. We think this change is a big step toward creating pricing transparency that is good for fans, and thus good for business. We hope it arms you up front with the info you need to decide how you want to experience the incredible live events we sell on Ticketmaster.com. You can see the new layout here (http://bit.ly/a1IZHU). We?re looking forward to your feedback!
PS After this week, you may see a few events on Ticketmaster.com that have the old pricing presentation?this is most likely because in a select few cases our contracts with venues prevent us from making this change. We?re working with these clients to help them see the benefits, and are confident they?ll want to join in! Almost all of our clients are enthusiastically supportive of this change. Stay tuned?
August 23, 2010
Live Nation and Ticketmaster announced their new transparent pricing policy on a blog which you can see here and we?ve reprinted for your perusal below:
Today we?re excited to announce three important changes to the way we interact with you.
How We Present Pricing and Fees
We get it?you don?t like service fees. You don?t like them mostly because you don?t understand what the heck they are for. We?ll try to do a better job in this space over the coming months of helping you understand our business, and how our fees compare to others in the industry (both in ticketing and ecommerce in general). But the reality of the live entertainment business is that service fees have become an extension of the ticket price. Most of the parties in the live event value chain participate in these service fees either directly or indirectly?promoters, venues, teams, artists, and yes, ticketing companies?and service fee rebates are our largest annual expense at Ticketmaster.
All of the research we?ve done, and all of our conversations with fans like you tell us that the way we present these fees in the checkout process is a huge frustration for you and hurts ticket sales. You just want to know UP FRONT in the buying process how much of your hard-earned money you are being asked to pay for a given seat. If we are as transparent as possible with you sooner in the purchase process, you can make the decision about how much you want to pay to go to an event. The problem is that historically we haven?t told you how much you have to pay for a given seat until very late in the buying process. And our data tells us this angers many of you to the point that you abandon your purchase once you see the total cost, and that you don?t come back. The data also says (and this is the important piece) that if we had told you up front what the total cost was, you would have bought the ticket! So by perpetuating this antiquated fee presentation, fans are getting upset, while we and our clients are losing ticket sales.
This practice changes today. Over the next few days, we are rolling out a new way of presenting pricing and fees on Ticketmaster.com. Going forward, just like almost every other business in the world, we?ll tell you up front how much you can expect to pay for a certain ticket. We?ll still break out the ?face value? from the other fees where required, and we haven?t broken down per-order fees yet (although you will begin to see many of our clients move to truly all-in pricing, because they know it sells more tickets and makes you happier). This user experience mirrors what you see across the web from leaders in their field?Amazon, Apple, Expedia, Zappos and more. It?s not complicated, it?s just the right thing to do.
We are the leader in the industry, and so we are accountable for taking the initiative to drive industry change. We take that responsibility very seriously, and at the new Ticketmaster we wake up every day obsessing over the fan experience. We think this change is a big step toward creating pricing transparency that is good for fans, and thus good for business. We hope it arms you up front with the info you need to decide how you want to experience the incredible live events we sell on Ticketmaster.com. You can see the new layout here (http://bit.ly/a1IZHU). We?re looking forward to your feedback!
PS After this week, you may see a few events on Ticketmaster.com that have the old pricing presentation?this is most likely because in a select few cases our contracts with venues prevent us from making this change. We?re working with these clients to help them see the benefits, and are confident they?ll want to join in! Almost all of our clients are enthusiastically supportive of this change. Stay tuned?
There's one way to get around ticket service charges. No advance sales, no tickets and cash only. Like Mr. Zimmerman…
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/culture/detail?entry_id=70917
I'm always suspicious of authoritative Monday Morning Quarterbacking for something as ephemeral as a rock music/concerts. "It didn't sell out because of X. That single didn't chart high because of Y." But it was an interesting experiment. The whole analysis seems whiny, though. "People don't like to stand in lines today." "People only like to purchase tickets at home.", etc.
I agree that most ticket fees are gouges but no matter what ticket system is in place at least 40% will bitch and moan about it.
Brian
Bingo. Hopefully publishing the fees up front will help some, but it seems most concert goers get pissed at paying anything over face…yet do it over and over and over again.
Brian_Wallace wrote:
I agree that most ticket fees are gouges but no matter what ticket system is in place at least 40% will bitch and moan about it.
Brian