tex_phil

I saw this on digg and wanted to share.

http://digg.com/d31R9w8

I've actually been in the process of ordering tickets and when I see the extra charges I decide not to get the tickets out of principle. This annoy anyone else?

And check this out.
https://i.imgur.com/6FoiQ.png
Its more expensive to have them emailed!

swajames

Utterly shameless, aren't they... That "convenience charge" is egregious enough but to have to actually pay for the privilege of printing tickets on your own printer is just appalling...

I don't begrudge anyone a reasonable buck, but these guys are just out of control.

Frankly, the sooner artists realize that that they can charge their fans less for music and concerts while making more for themselves just by cutting out the middlemen the better.

The day will come soon when artists control their own rights, fund their own recording and production and will distribute everything electronically.

pukka

The problem is Ticketmaster has a LOCK on ticket sales & distributions for many if not all of the major event promoters and venues.

If I remember correctly, Pearl Jam waged a war with them years ago and lost.

kscarrol

They did, and yes they lost...

theXman

Talk about monopoly in business. That should be one of them.

robg

And things are only going to get worse. The planned merger between Ticketmaster (a/k/a Ticket Bastard) and Live Nation has been approved by the Justice Department. Live Nation is the largest concert promoter and the merger with Ticketmaster will increase Ticketmaster's monopoly by steering artists away from the few venues that do not use Ticketmaster.

Here in the NY/NJ area Ticketmaster came under investigation for its practice of redirecting online customers to Ticketmaster's own related website that resells tickets (like Stubhub). Ticketmaster redirected customers to sold out shows (especially those that "sold out" almost immediately), but miraculously, Ticketmaster's own secondary market site already had inventory of tickets to the sold out show.

The way Ticketmaster screws its customers is not limited to just fees.

tex_phil

It doesn't bother me much, I simply will not ever get any ticket thru ticket master. If I really want to buy a ticket I'll either use ebay or craigslist. There will always be someone who is selling a ticket to a event I want to go to like the spurs cheaper than ticketmaster. I've probably purchase tickets to 50 games and I've only used ticket master once.

bigwill222

My experience is that ebay and craigslist is more expense because they sell above the ticket cost (which I thought was illegal). The best way I've found to eliminate ticketmaster cost is to buy directly from the box office. Of course that's not always convenient. That's probably why they charge a "convenience fee" (I hate them so much).

Ticketmaster can eat a ...

tex_phil

I've always been able to get it way below ticket value.

pukka

+1

They usually are more expensive since their value is determined by the market. The laws for selling tickets via the "gray market" differ from state to state. In most cases, you have to be an "authorized reseller". That's how Stub-hub is able to do business. They make the transaction while you either post or order the tickets from their website


Ticketmaster is the biggest PRIMARY seller of event tickets, so they can only sell them at face value plus their b/s fees. If attendance for a specific event is in high demand, the prices for these tickets on resellers like Craigslist or Stub-hub are going to be much higher. You might be able to get tickets to an event from another primary seller (e.g. the venue itself). You might pay a bit less in fees, but I seriously doubt you will get them way below their face value. The only way I've seen that happen is if nobody's buying any tickets to an event in the first place or you wait until about 20 minutes after the event starts before you buy. I've got great prices on MLB and NFL tickets that way.