Ticket ripoff!

Distance hit the nail on the head. Why should I spend ridiculous money to see bands that I saw a while back in smaller venues for far less money? I'm convinced that as long as there are people on a limited budget who enjoy good music, there will always be "alternative" rock. How can one justify spending hundreds of dollars for a 2-hour show, when you can go to a small club with fewer people to enjoy a band playing for 15 bucks? There are plenty of decent bands that play for even less dough, you just have to find the ones that suit your taste. It's not like going to see U2, but at least it's a way to still enjoy concerts without breaking the bank.

I will also stick up for the 9:30 and say their $1 ticket charge is quite reasonable…compared to $3.50 that the Birchmere charges.

Originally posted by [username edited by p.c. moderator]:

Originally posted by BoomBoom:
Again, I go back to my first point: a stamp costs 37 cents, a lot less for bulk mailers. Tickets.com is charging $3.25 for mailing or will call.

NO! This is where you're mistaken. Tickets.com DOES NOT charge $3.25 for mailing you the tickets or for holding them at will call. That 3.25 is part of the "CONVENIENCE fee". That's $3.25 is the cost for the CONVENIENCE of you not having to come to the venue like I've outlined. This is why it's called the "CONVENIENCE fee" not the "COST OF MAILING IT TO YOU fee."

You are a moron. They charge a convenience fee, then they add a $3.25 mailing fee which they charge you even if you Will Call tickets.

Very Bright YOu ARe NOT.

Originally posted by MTB-Markie:
They charge a convenience fee, then they add a $3.25 mailing fee which they charge you even if you Will Call tickets.

It's all part of the same blanket as far as I'm concerned. If you get it mailed, it's part of the convenience of not having to be at the box office. If you get it at the venue via willcall, same thing plus the costs of them running a box office. Would it make you feel better if they just called all $7.50 a convenience fee?

Anyway you want to slice it, the buyer has a choice, and for those of us who take advantage of the service provided by ticketing agents, it's almost always cheaper then the alternative, all things considered.

To complain about ticket fees is sort of like going into a restaurant and complaining they aren't selling food at cost. No shit.

Besides tickets.com now has a shopping cart feature for 9:30 shows. I've got tickets for Thrice and SFA in my cart with a single handling fee of $3.25 for the entire order, plus individual shows fee of course. In the past you had to pay the handling fee for each show.

How do you know they're not colluding? Congress did hold "hearings" on this once, and they were a charade – basically a lot of excuse making for TicketMaster, a major campaign contributor. As for "convenience" charges vs. mailing, I just went through the steps for buying a ticket to Super Furry Animals. Base price: $15. "Service charge": $4.50. "Your tickets will be mailed to you": $3.25. In plain English, that's $3.25 for something that costs them 37 cents or less. Otherwise, they need to find a different way to say it. If they want to have a markup for mailing, fine; that's the way it works. But $3.25?

Originally posted by BoomBoom:
Otherwise, they need to find a different way to say it. If they want to have a markup for mailing, fine; that's the way it works. But $3.25?

Oh, so is it your contention that if all $7.50 in fees were just called convenience fee you'd be better with it?

You do realize the fact they break it down as such saves you money if you buy a second ticket, right?

Originally posted by BoomBoom:
In plain English, that's $3.25 for something that costs them 37 cents or less. Otherwise, they need to find a different way to say it.

Just think of the charge as a little over half of a Yeungling at the club, you'll feel much better that way.

Originally posted by BoomBoom:
How do you know they're not colluding? Congress did hold "hearings" on this once,

So Congress is on the collusion? Better watch out of the FBI will make you disappear!

How do you know the weather man and umbrella manufacturers aren't in collusion? Demanding proof of innocence isn't very American.

did you look into seeing if there is tickets.com outlet near you?

another nifty feature of this forum is you can go ask in the F.A.Q. section about how well a show is selling so you can guage whether or not you need to buy them in advance or if they'll be at the door sans service charge fees. Obviously it's a risk for any show and I don't see SFA selling out… But eddie can give the party line on that one. He's cool that eddie…

Here's what I don't get: someone comes here and complains about ticket fees. OK, people are entitled to their own feelings on things, I get that. But it's not as though he/she is forced to pay it; this poster even said he/she doesn't, and they are aware of the alternative. So, why are you here starting the thread about it? Whining just for the sake of whining? People cannot honestly be stupid enough to think we've never had this discussion before. What's the point? Letting off steam over the moral outrage of $7 you didn't even pay. How very trite. Thinking it's going to change anything? How naive.

No. $7.50 is a ripoff no matter what it's called. It's monopolistic and it's dishonest. The only reason they get away with it is because so many people willingly argue against their own interests, sticking up for them while they're gouging you. I don't get it. Why doesn't the 9:30 Club just say, "We want to sell the most tickets to the most people possible. So we'll sell them through TicketMaster and Tickets.com. Then they can compete with each other through their fee structure." Answer: they'd make less money if there were competition. TicketMaster and Tickets.com would never stand for it. They'd both blacklist the 9:30 Club.

Originally posted by [username edited by p.c. moderator]:
So, why are you here starting the thread about it? Whining just for the sake of whining? How very trite. Thinking it's going to change anything? How naive.

Yep,that never happens here. For shame!

BoomBoom: This is not the place to argue against the policies of the 9:30 Club or anything affilated with it. There are a number of people who post here that will complain about the unfairness of just about anything, but they will never, ever question their beloved 9:30 Club. They will defend it, no matter how irrational their arguments are, or how incorrect the 9:30 Club might be. Some of them will even defend $15 for a cup of Yuengling.

Now, welcome to the community. As long as you say positive things about the 9:30 Club, and like all the cool new indie bands that everyone else likes, you'll get on just fine. ;)

Originally posted by BoomBoom:
In plain English, that's $3.25 for something that costs them 37 cents or less.

Do the tickets magically get put in the envelope and addressed by themselves? A stamp may only cost $0.37, but what it costs them isn't quite the same, now is it?

Originally posted by BoomBoom:
No. $7.50 is a ripoff no matter what it's called.

I'm slow, so you'll have to bear with me, as I ask for one last clarification. I live in Richmond. Richmond is two hours away from the 9:30 Club. It takes me ~4 hours of my life, plus a tank of gas to get to the 9:30 club. Are you saying that somehow it's a ripoff for me to pay $7 to avoid driving for 4 hours and spending $30 on gas? How in doing so, am I "willingly arguing against my own interests"?

What's naive is to just sit back, let people rip you off and think that's the way it always has to be.

Originally posted by Xavier Bush, Power Forward:
There are a number of people who post here that will complain about the unfairness of just about anything, but they will never, ever question their beloved 9:30 Club. They will defend it, no matter how irrational their arguments are, or how incorrect the 9:30 Club might be.

Considering I'm leading the pro-tickets.com argument, I don't see how this applies. I disagree with club employees on lots of things, as I'm sure you're observant enough to notice. So, try for once sticking to the issue and not going off on ad hominem.

No, Richmond. What I'm saying is that the fee is way too high, no matter how far you're coming. It costs them the same to mail a ticket to Richmond as it does to the apartment across the street from the 9:30 Club. But you're paying $3.25 for it. If that's OK with you, OK by me. But it's not OK with me.

Again, I'm not arguing that they have to mail at cost. But $3.25 is outrageous.

Originally posted by BoomBoom:
What's naive is to just sit back, let people rip you off and think that's the way it always has to be.

what is also naive is not exploring other ticket purchasing options, such as outlets, ordering tickets with friends, have someone buy you a ticket when they are at the club or in the area.

there was a classic seth quote about how no one is questioning the price of milk in the store..

Originally posted by BoomBoom:
What's naive is to just sit back, let people rip you off and think that's the way it always has to be.

You're right, it could be different. Tickets.com and ticketmaster could shut their doors, all venues could do their own ticketing, and I could be stuck spending $30 on gas and half a vacation day to get tickets to an event.

If you have any sort of constructive criticism, like, "here's the link to an online ticketing company that charges signifigantly less in ticket fees, perhaps Seth should consider using them" then by all means. I'm all for things being better. But complaining on 930.com about another entities fees under the guise of "not taking it, and thinking that's the way it always has to be"? Ridiculous.

As I said, you're just blowing off steam over the "moral outrage" over $7 you didn't even pay. If you want to change things, be constructive, or vote with your dollars, don't be a whiner.