Ticketmaster debate - again

Originally posted by Seth Hurwitz:
the bottom line should be do you wanna pay $60 for that ticket - shouldn't matter which part of it goes where - figuring that out isn't going to change anything

Well, yeah. Ultimately, it comes down to whether or not the show is worth $60 to me. But I can't help feeling ripped off if I request one $40 ticket and the total comes to $60.

But it does matter to me where the money goes. I'd be more inclined to pay a little more if I thought the money was going to the artist, or even the club, rather than some large, faceless corporation with questionable business practices trying to make as much money off of me as they possibly can.

I know that's just a matter of perception - I really have no idea how the money is split-up. But sometimes it does make a difference to me.

How come fandango can sell cinema tickets for only a $1 premium?

Originally posted by Seth Hurwitz:
the bottom line should be do you wanna pay $60 for that ticket - shouldn't matter which part of it goes where - figuring that out isn't going to change anything

Yeah, I understand that. The problem is that you see the show in the citypaper or w. post and it's $40. When your final price is $60 later during your purchase, it's jarring. Especially if you're buying multiple tickets and what you thought would be $400 is $600…. I realize we should all be doing the math in our heads when we read about a show, but we forget.

Originally posted by Bagalicious Tangster:
I realize we should all be doing the math in our heads when we read about a show, but we forget.

YEAH! my motto is

thee who makes the money, does the fucking math.

How about making ticket agencies list the service charges in all advertisements? Sort of like how car dealers have to list the amount of money required to sign up for a lease, or their "price-as-shown" notices in their commercials. Similarly, all facility fees and required parking fees would have to be listed.

Yeah - I know that would be difficult…just a thought.

Originally posted by Seth Hurwitz:
see, now, this is where I think people are overthinking this

the bottom line should be do you wanna pay $60 for that ticket - shouldn't matter which part of it goes where - figuring that out isn't going to change anything

That's an odd position to take and I'm surprised by it. Then why do you offer tickets at the box office for a $1 fee?

The truth is, some of us do care where our money goes. I prefer it not to go to Clear Channel by opting not to go to concerts in their venues whenever possible. I prefer it not to go to TicketMaster so I go out of my way to buy tickets from non-TM vendors whenever possible. I prefer it to go to Seth Hurwitz rather than Dave Grohl because he spends time on the message board and appears to really care about both his patrons and bringing music to the area.

Furthering on your statement, then why even make any effort to curtail scalping?

If I'm willing to pay $100 for a Beastie Boys ticket and someone is willing to sell it, it shouldn't matter where the money goes….

Originally posted by vansmack:

Originally posted by Seth Hurwitz:
see, now, this is where I think people are overthinking this

the bottom line should be do you wanna pay $60 for that ticket - shouldn't matter which part of it goes where - figuring that out isn't going to change anything

That's an odd position to take and I'm surprised by it. Then why do you offer tickets at the box

actually, thats a great point!!!! if i buy a ticket online, i pay a building/parking/convenience charge, but if i go to the box office….do i not pay the facility or parking charge? just the convenience? perhaps this isnt true for 930 but perhaps some cases it may be the case?

Originally posted by mark e smith:
How come fandango can sell cinema tickets for only a $1 premium?

Oh that is a good question Mark E. I had never thought of that. Maybe ticketmaster are just scam artists afterall.

Originally posted by mark e smith:

Originally posted by mark e smith:
How come fandango can sell cinema tickets for only a $1 premium?

Oh that is a good question Mark E. I had never thought of that. Maybe ticketmaster are just scam artists afterall.

talk amongst yourselves.

Originally posted by mark e smith:

Originally posted by mark e smith:
How come fandango can sell cinema tickets for only a $1 premium?

Oh that is a good question Mark E. I had never thought of that. Maybe ticketmaster are just scam artists afterall.

Crying out for attention are we?

Maybe it's because they can sell more volume because there are more theaters than concert venues and more movies than concerts, thus they can spread their profits around? Maybe it's just that they're more efficient. Maybe it's what the market dictates because there's less demand and more options? I don't really know.

Originally posted by vansmack:
Maybe it's because they can sell more volume because there are more theaters than concert venues and more movies than concerts, thus they can spread their profits around? Maybe it's just that they're more efficient. Maybe it's what the market dictates because there's less demand and more options? I don't really know.

Well there are more theatres, and multiple showings a day. But I bet only a small proportion of tickets, in total, are sold on Fandango.

I guess they just do not have a monopoly. You can go to a different theatre at a different time to avoid the service charge.

to answer a few of the above posts:

we only charge $1 at the box office (and $0, of course, for the show going on) because we're already up and running, whereas a ticket company is up and running for the sole function of selling tickets��and we want to encourage people to buy tix while they're there��and I really think that people ought to have the opportunity somewhere to buy tickets for face value (or close) besides the night of

and when you talk about who is more deserving of the money��I can tell you that most of the people that I deal with, at either ticket company, are way better people than most of the bands I deal with

artist agents are the scum of the earth in my opinion

Originally posted by Seth Hurwitz:

and when you talk about who is more deserving of the money��I can tell you that most of the people that I deal with, at either ticket company, are way better people than most of the bands I deal with

I know a manager who could use a small attitude adjustment, and a clue, among other things.

ticketmaster sucks shit. i ordered a pair of tix sunday night to a show in philly via the ticketmaster website. then i get an automated phone message monday saying something is wrong with the address verification. i call back, and apparently some computer system is saying my billing address doesn't match my current address. asswipe operator calls my cc company and gets it handled. get same automated message yesterday and spent three hours on the phone today attempting to get it handled. the whole time ticketmaster is saying it is my cc company's fault, however, i was put on three way with reps from my cc company, and their parent company, and at all times, the address was correct, and the reps pointed the finger at ticketmaster. i requested to talk to a supervisor several times and was rebuffed, then finally got one. i apparently lodged a formal complaint over one customer service dickhead, and the only other thing that could be done by the super. was refund the $5 processing, and ups the tix out. i really want to blow their asses up!

Some of this has already been said, but here's my two cents:

I have no problem with Ticketmaster trying to make a buck and providing a service, esp. over the Internet, which is helpful. And i understand that there are costs of doing business, and % on credit card transactions and all that.

But the main problems i have are the enomorous inconsistencies on the "convenience fees". There's no consistency on the level of the fees from event to even. Plus, they go up exponentially when the base price of the ticket is more. TM does it b/c they can get it away with it. Period. They figure if someone is already paying $100, they may as well charge them $15-20 more on the fees. Even when there are different ticket prices at the same show (i.e., $35 for a nosebleed vs. $200 for a floor seat), the fees will be much higher for the higher priced seats.

Plus, the fees at one show by one band will differ from another show with another band even when the ticket prices are the same. That has nothing to do with credit card fees, etc. The same thing happens with sporting events.

The other problem is that you never know what the fees are until the order is being processed. They don't list it anywhere until you're actually buying them. And I think the reason for that is that they set the fees for each individual event depending on what they think they can charge.

As long as TM has the market cornered, it will continue.

ok..someone is trying to take on ticketbastard again…wish them much success
https://consequence.net/2023/01/zach-bryan-2023-tour-dates/
Zach Bryan has taken the sentiment of his recent live album All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster one step further by sidestepping the ticket platform entirely for his newly announced 2023 North American tour. To accompany the announcement, Bryan shared a video of comedian Theo Von breaking down the relatively affordable ticket prices and his plan for avoiding the issues that plagued Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” pre-sale.


this vid is great https://twitter.com/zachlanebryan/status/1616120970489610266

potentially related, if you a sufficiently creative thinker:

AMC Theaters is changing the way it charges for seats.

America’s largest movie chain announced that the prices of a ticket will now be based on seat location, meaning seats in the front will be cheaper while more desirable seats in the middle will now cost more. The ticket pricing initiative, called Sightline at AMC, will roll out at all of its roughly 1,000 movie theaters by the end of the year.

sweetcell wrote:
potentially related, if you a sufficiently creative thinker:

AMC Theaters is changing the way it charges for seats.

America’s largest movie chain announced that the prices of a ticket will now be based on seat location, meaning seats in the front will be cheaper while more desirable seats in the middle will now cost more. The ticket pricing initiative, called Sightline at AMC, will roll out at all of its roughly 1,000 movie theaters by the end of the year.

This has been de rigeur in Julian’s America for years. Want a better viewing experience? Rent out a minor theater in Cannes and schedule a private out-of-competition showing with the Director like everyone else.

Julian, wrote:
schedule a private out-of-competition showing with the Director like everyone else.

the director doesn't rent himself out to anyone with a theater buy-out in france, thank you very much.