Bard Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Heh. It's interesting how many people want to believe it's all a big conspiracy, a corporate sham. Of course that could be true. But to me, it's far more likely that Rush is simply more popular than ever, and with the whispered notions that it might be their last tour, coupled with their increasing popularity even in their last era, I think it's just a matter of more people, casual fan and Rush nerd, wanting to go see Rush. Is it not possible that Rush is at their highest demand, their peak, even now? I think so. :) But sure, yeah, ticket brokers are bad, duh. Still, that doesn't explain how the heck SOME people actually have VIP gold tickets and pit seats for face value. :) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troutman Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 I'm just stating t's business as usual. Nothing unusual. Conspiracies about ticket agencies have been around since the sixties. It's all true. But again....it's only fueled by supply and demand. If there are people out there willing to pay x amount a ticket...the business of secondary markets will thrive. And there are, and there always have been, and always will be. I posted about the supply/demand thing here or in a different thread. Prices what ever the situation is allows one to decide to buy or not. Its that simple. Actually, i think it is a little more complicated than simple supply & demand. It's about a large entity not connected to the band, with considerable resources, exploiting the band and the fans, blocking fan's access to tickets at face value and reselling them in mass quantity at much higher prices, in many cases prior to a public sale. All of this is done with the blessing (and one has to suspect cooperation) of Ticketmaster. Yes, simple supply and demand can result in very high ticket prices, and there will always be a secondary market. But when entire rows on the floor are available for "Resale" at 4 to 10x face value the day before the public sale, and no more than a couple fans in a group of a few hundred report even being offered a floor seat, the system is broken. This is most certainly not a free market! You make a good point, The system might be broken. But if people dole out the cash its not the system so much as those who are willing to pay. They are creatng it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bard Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Ah, there's the rub. So the fault lies with the people who pay the premium price for a premium product. If that's so, then blame 2 thousand years of human commerce, LOL. Not some recently manifested corporate boogaloo. :) It's always been this way. The only reason it seems more exacerbated now in modern times is because of the InterWebs, we have access to information we previously did not. Like checking when somebody buys a premium ticket you were eying yourself. :) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goose Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Only a fool would put themselves in debt for a band that already is quite wealthy. I take that back and I will explain why. I've been on this forum for a long time now. I have come to know what Rush means on different levels to so many here. Rush has saved the lives of not a few fans. Fans love them and want to see them at any price for that very reason, and I think it is unfair and unjust to take advantage of that love so many have for them by milking them dry.Of questionable ethics, for sure. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goose Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 From the Ticketmaster Sire, where you can get row 19 in Seattle for only $525.00: What are Official Platinum Seats? Official Platinum Seats are premium tickets to concerts and other events made available by artists and event providers through Ticketmaster. They give fans fair and safe access to some of the best seats in the house. Are Official Platinum Seats resale tickets? No. Official Platinum Seats were not purchased initially and then posted for resale; they are being sold for the first time through Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster's Official Platinum Seats program enables market-based pricing (adjusting prices according to supply and demand) for live event tickets, similar to how airline tickets and hotel rooms are sold. The goal is to give the most passionate fans fair and safe access to the best tickets, while enabling artists and other people involved in staging live events to price tickets closer to their true value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmotionDetector Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 (edited) Heh. It's interesting how many people want to believe it's all a big conspiracy, a corporate sham. Of course that could be true. But to me, it's far more likely that Rush is simply more popular than ever, and with the whispered notions that it might be their last tour, coupled with their increasing popularity even in their last era, I think it's just a matter of more people, casual fan and Rush nerd, wanting to go see Rush. Is it not possible that Rush is at their highest demand, their peak, even now? I think so. :) But sure, yeah, ticket brokers are bad, duh. Still, that doesn't explain how the heck SOME people actually have VIP gold tickets and pit seats for face value. :) I'm sorry...and I mean this in the nicest way I can, but this all sounds very delusional. If you truly believe that there is no shady stuff going on with TM, LN, etc...then I don't really know what to tell you. But in the end, it doesn't matter that they are more popular than ever (which I obviously agree they absolutely are). This whole thing goes well beyond Rush. Personally, I've been buying tickets for various concerts, sporting events, etc. through TM for years now...and I've seen the same thing for all of them. This is not only about Rush...they just happen to be the example we're all talking about here (of course). I've said this before...a person is on TM for 10am SHARP...Public on-sale time, and yet, cannot find ANY tickets. No Floor, No Lower Bowl, and not even any Upper Bowl. Does this make any sense whatsoever? As "popular" as they are, I highly doubt Rush sells out 15,000 tickets within seconds of release. Sorry...don't buy it. 'Platinum Seats'...is this not essentially legalized scalping? Pretty sure it is. They take all the top seats...then put them on this "Platinum" page and charge a premium price for them...BEFORE anyone ever gets the chance to purchase them at face value. Another common theme I've seen a lot...and I find it funny because it has happened to me multiple times in the past (again...not just for Rush, but other shows). I have tickets for some pretty good seats (at least the best at that time)...start going through the checkout process, where it proceeds to "crash", and those tickets are gone. (Sure...you could likely argue that "it's the Internet", and "tons of people purchasing at the same time", so "it crashes". But it's interesting that every single example I've heard of this happening is when the people had their best seats by far.) Again...I'm sure you think I sound like I'm complaining about conspiracy. But there are way too many factors that point to ridiculous and shady garbage happening with TM. Like I said...in the end, I'm just going with the flow. I opted to purchase two upper bowl tickets for a show, and intend to enjoy the show. Would I have preferred to sit down on the Floors? Absolutely. But money is a factor, sadly. Throwing down a mortgage payment on a concert...even for the greatest band of all-time, is too difficult for this fan. Edited February 10, 2015 by EmotionDetector 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue J Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 (edited) Ticketmaster's Official Platinum Seats program enables market-based pricing (adjusting prices according to supply and demand) for live event tickets, similar to how airline tickets and hotel rooms are sold. The goal is to give the most passionate fans fair and safe access to the best tickets, while enabling artists and other people involved in staging live events to price tickets closer to their true value.[/i] I think the most passionate fans may not necessarily have enough spare coin to justify paying what it costs for a Platinum ticket, let alone more than one. When Ticketmaster refers to the 'most passionate fans', I think their definition is something a bit different from mine. Passion does not necessarily equal thousands upon thousands of disposable dollars in the bank. Edited February 10, 2015 by Blue J 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmotionDetector Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Ticketmaster's Official Platinum Seats program enables market-based pricing (adjusting prices according to supply and demand) for live event tickets, similar to how airline tickets and hotel rooms are sold. The goal is to give the most passionate fans fair and safe access to the best tickets, while enabling artists and other people involved in staging live events to price tickets closer to their true value.[/i] I think the most passionate fans may not necessarily have enough spare coin to justify paying what it costs for a Platinum ticket, let alone more than one. When Ticketmaster refers to the 'most passionate fans', I think their definition is something a bit different from mine. Passion does not necessarily equal thousands upon thousands of disposable dollars in the bank. LOL...no kidding, eh? You gotta love that. I guess despite owning every Rush release, in almost every format, as well as with over half the items sold on the Backstage Club, going to multiple shows every tour since I've been a fan, being a member of TRF, and overall being a fan of literally every song they've ever written... ...the fact that I don't have disposable income to just drop $500-$1000 on a $150 dollar ticket means I'm just not that passionate of a Rush fan. Who would've thunk it?! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glennb2112 Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Ticketmaster's Official Platinum Seats program enables market-based pricing (adjusting prices according to supply and demand) for live event tickets, similar to how airline tickets and hotel rooms are sold. The goal is to give the most passionate fans fair and safe access to the best tickets, while enabling artists and other people involved in staging live events to price tickets closer to their true value.[/i] I think the most passionate fans may not necessarily have enough spare coin to justify paying what it costs for a Platinum ticket, let alone more than one. When Ticketmaster refers to the 'most passionate fans', I think their definition is something a bit different from mine. Passion does not necessarily equal thousands upon thousands of disposable dollars in the bank. LOL...no kidding, eh? You gotta love that. I guess despite owning every Rush release, in almost every format, as well as with over half the items sold on the Backstage Club, going to multiple shows every tour since I've been a fan, being a member of TRF, and overall being a fan of literally every song they've ever written... ...the fact that I don't have disposable income to just drop $500-$1000 on a $150 dollar ticket means I'm just not that passionate of a Rush fan. Who would've thunk it?! The casual fan..the most passionate fan..whoever, shouldn't have to pay exorbitant prices for any concert.. never knew fan = how much money you have to shell for tickets. Maybe they should equate traveling expenses, hotel, gas, food, wear on your vehicle, ect 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mara Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Ticketmaster's Official Platinum Seats program enables market-based pricing (adjusting prices according to supply and demand) for live event tickets, similar to how airline tickets and hotel rooms are sold. The goal is to give the most passionate fans fair and safe access to the best tickets, while enabling artists and other people involved in staging live events to price tickets closer to their true value.[/i] I think the most passionate fans may not necessarily have enough spare coin to justify paying what it costs for a Platinum ticket, let alone more than one. When Ticketmaster refers to the 'most passionate fans', I think their definition is something a bit different from mine. Passion does not necessarily equal thousands upon thousands of disposable dollars in the bank. LOL...no kidding, eh? You gotta love that. I guess despite owning every Rush release, in almost every format, as well as with over half the items sold on the Backstage Club, going to multiple shows every tour since I've been a fan, being a member of TRF, and overall being a fan of literally every song they've ever written... ...the fact that I don't have disposable income to just drop $500-$1000 on a $150 dollar ticket means I'm just not that passionate of a Rush fan. Who would've thunk it?! Well, I must hate the band, then, because I took the first 3 seats that popped up. Granted, they're in prime territory (for short people like me) 4 rows behind the boards. But still, I'm not a fan because I didn't spend hours looking for some $2000 seats. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apollo Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 When I see entire rows of my show all marked as resale and with ridiculous prices, you know there's shady stuff going on. This happens at almost every arena show though, everyone just needs to be patient and don't start seriously looking until about three weeks before the show. With the VIP scam, you know seats in the first 15 rows will not pop up until TM realizes not everyone will pay those ridiculous prices and they release them back into the general sale , which seems to happen about three weeks before the show. This has happened at every Rush show I have seen since the VIP scam began. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmotionDetector Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 When I see entire rows of my show all marked as resale and with ridiculous prices, you know there's shady stuff going on. This happens at almost every arena show though, everyone just needs to be patient and don't start seriously looking until about three weeks before the show. With the VIP scam, you know seats in the first 15 rows will not pop up until TM realizes not everyone will pay those ridiculous prices and they release them back into the general sale , which seems to happen about three weeks before the show. This has happened at every Rush show I have seen since the VIP scam began. Agreed. I'm planning to take this approach this year. I've already got upper bowl tickets to one show, and for the other...I will wait it out. I fully intend to be there...but not at these ludicrous prices. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syrinx Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 I love the TM explanation of Platinum seats. How come they can do this and the guy on the street corner gets busted when he tries to sell tickets at a premium 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmotionDetector Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 I love the TM explanation of Platinum seats. How come they can do this and the guy on the street corner gets busted when he tries to sell tickets at a premium Exactly. It's what I was saying earlier...this is basically legalized scalping. Absolutely ridiculous...yet people think that TM has nothing shady about them! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bard Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Heh. It's interesting how many people want to believe it's all a big conspiracy, a corporate sham. Of course that could be true. But to me, it's far more likely that Rush is simply more popular than ever, and with the whispered notions that it might be their last tour, coupled with their increasing popularity even in their last era, I think it's just a matter of more people, casual fan and Rush nerd, wanting to go see Rush. Is it not possible that Rush is at their highest demand, their peak, even now? I think so. :) But sure, yeah, ticket brokers are bad, duh. Still, that doesn't explain how the heck SOME people actually have VIP gold tickets and pit seats for face value. :) I'm sorry...and I mean this in the nicest way I can, but this all sounds very delusional. If you truly believe that there is no shady stuff going on with TM, LN, etc...then I don't really know what to tell you. But in the end, it doesn't matter that they are more popular than ever (which I obviously agree they absolutely are). This whole thing goes well beyond Rush. Personally, I've been buying tickets for various concerts, sporting events, etc. through TM for years now...and I've seen the same thing for all of them. This is not only about Rush...they just happen to be the example we're all talking about here (of course). I've said this before...a person is on TM for 10am SHARP...Public on-sale time, and yet, cannot find ANY tickets. No Floor, No Lower Bowl, and not even any Upper Bowl. Does this make any sense whatsoever? As "popular" as they are, I highly doubt Rush sells out 15,000 tickets within seconds of release. Sorry...don't buy it. 'Platinum Seats'...is this not essentially legalized scalping? Pretty sure it is. They take all the top seats...then put them on this "Platinum" page and charge a premium price for them...BEFORE anyone ever gets the chance to purchase them at face value. Another common theme I've seen a lot...and I find it funny because it has happened to me multiple times in the past (again...not just for Rush, but other shows). I have tickets for some pretty good seats (at least the best at that time)...start going through the checkout process, where it proceeds to "crash", and those tickets are gone. (Sure...you could likely argue that "it's the Internet", and "tons of people purchasing at the same time", so "it crashes". But it's interesting that every single example I've heard of this happening is when the people had their best seats by far.) Again...I'm sure you think I sound like I'm complaining about conspiracy. But there are way too many factors that point to ridiculous and shady garbage happening with TM. Like I said...in the end, I'm just going with the flow. I opted to purchase two upper bowl tickets for a show, and intend to enjoy the show. Would I have preferred to sit down on the Floors? Absolutely. But money is a factor, sadly. Throwing down a mortgage payment on a concert...even for the greatest band of all-time, is too difficult for this fan. In no way am I saying the state of affairs in the ticket industry is acceptable as it's evolved. However, I have been one of those folks who's landed premium seats right at 10 am on the general sale, and I'm also one of the folks who didn't get offered jack diddly, even in the upper bowl nosebleeds. It's a total crapshoot. It depends on the scarcity of the artist at hand and demand, once again. High profile shows will overload TM's ridiculously slow and antiquated servers, for sure. Do I think TM is monopolizing the ticket industry by buying subsidiaries like TicketsNow and setting aside premium seating to mark up Platinum prices at 750 a pop? Of course I do. But I also think you'll have little difficulty getting seats on TM or LN for low profile artists and tours. Premium product - premium price. My point this whole time has been noting posters' apparent frustrations in what they seemingly believe to be a recently manifested difficulty. In my 30 plus years of ticket buying, I do not remember a time when it was easy to get good seats, and when good seats were offered, more often than not they cost more than not as good seats. A floor seat on the Coliseum floor in 1988 was more expensive than a third level terrace seat. One had to pick and choose according to budget and preference. So what seems to be the main sticking points for a lot of folks is that (1) they'd like equal opportunity access to ANY level of ticketing, and (2) they'd like the premium levels to be priced with fair business practices in mind. Does that sound like reality to anyone? Because it's just not, LOL. For any business. Not just Ticketmaster. Haha, I'm not defending the ticket agencies and their various outlets in how they distribute seats at a ridiculous markup. Don't get me wrong. But it isn't a new practice, I've been subject to it for 30 plus years, with varying rates of inflation. I think about the times I lucked out, though. Catching a pit seat on general sale face value. Scoring a couple VIP packages through the mess that is 10 am super fan presales. Landing a meet and greet where only 30 were offered and 20 thousand folks were trying to get all 30 at the same time. And so on and so forth. It just isn't that surprising to me, because I've been dealing with the pitfalls of ensuring concert attendance for a long time. Are prices higher? Yup. So is milk. Bread. (currently not gasoline for some odd and suspicious reason :) ) Organic foods. Produce. Sunglasses. Health care. Quality sound systems. Cars. In the end, what we're really lamenting is that our 'nerd' band is more popular than ever. And that results in two things when it comes to attendance. 1. More people are going to take those opportunities you may have had open to yourself when you were making sure you would get tickets to the TFE or VT tours. :) and 2. The ticket companies, upon realizing or estimating demand, are going to adjust prices accordingly. I'm not condoning the practice. But I'm not surprised. It's been this way for as long as I can remember. And those of you that protest and claim it used to be easier, TM didn't have such a lock, well, sure, of course internet subsidiaries like StubHub and TicketsNow didn't exist a while back, but then again, neither did your internet-wide access to all sources of tickets. And back then, rest assured, there were plenty of scalpers and runners who worked for a guy who scooped up a lot of premium seating and did it the old fashioned way. I know because I used to have to use those guys to get in the damn door. :) And again, if you're remembering a lot of times when you got premium seats with ease, or without much hassle or cost, you probably are a lucky person. Me, I'm about split down the middle in my ticketing history. Sometimes I got lucky. Sometimes I had to pass. Sometimes I found a way to pay. Perhaps I've been more unlucky in general sales than many of you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeeter Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Ticketmaster's Official Platinum Seats program enables market-based pricing (adjusting prices according to supply and demand) for live event tickets, similar to how airline tickets and hotel rooms are sold. The goal is to give the most passionate fans fair and safe access to the best tickets, while enabling artists and other people involved in staging live events to price tickets closer to their true value.[/i] I think the most passionate fans may not necessarily have enough spare coin to justify paying what it costs for a Platinum ticket, let alone more than one. When Ticketmaster refers to the 'most passionate fans', I think their definition is something a bit different from mine. Passion does not necessarily equal thousands upon thousands of disposable dollars in the bank. I'll chime in here, after reading the entire thread. Definitely Rush has hit their supply demand curve with this tour....limited shows, fervent desire to see the band before they are done = high demand. Limited shows = lower supply. Result = higher prices. I'm a huge fan, have seen Rush at pretty much every tour since Signals at the Rosemont Horizon. Have taken my (almost) 17 yo daughter to 7 Rush show....6/12 will be here 8th. I pulled 9th row from the pre-sale, but couldn't justify the cost....so went to good Tier2 seats instead. It is what it is. TM definitely holds back tickets in order to sell crappier 300level seats. Gets the earlier buyers to think "nothing left, I better buy before it's totally sold out". I don't buy that there are NO seats left for Chicago. I know there will be tickets released as we get closer to the show. I've seen it with EVERY band, no matter the popularity (Stones, U2...etc). Laugh at me for this next one, but I was able to score 8th row 1 Direction tickets at face from TM during the week of the show....I know the TM game and played it, and my kids think I'm a hero. If TM really wanted to reward the "loyal" fans...they would do what the Pabst Theater (Milwaukee) did for me for Brit Floyd for their upcoming 3/26 show. They offered a "pre sale", even before their presale, for their previous buyers. Special password needed. AND they sold the tickets at 20% BELOW face value. I got 2nd row seats at 20% discount. That is how you reward a loyal customer...access to the best tickets. Ticketmaster will never do this. Play their game and wait it out if you can....those great seats at platinum prices will come down. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeeter Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Heh. It's interesting how many people want to believe it's all a big conspiracy, a corporate sham. Of course that could be true. But to me, it's far more likely that Rush is simply more popular than ever, and with the whispered notions that it might be their last tour, coupled with their increasing popularity even in their last era, I think it's just a matter of more people, casual fan and Rush nerd, wanting to go see Rush. Is it not possible that Rush is at their highest demand, their peak, even now? I think so. :) But sure, yeah, ticket brokers are bad, duh. Still, that doesn't explain how the heck SOME people actually have VIP gold tickets and pit seats for face value. :) I'm sorry...and I mean this in the nicest way I can, but this all sounds very delusional. If you truly believe that there is no shady stuff going on with TM, LN, etc...then I don't really know what to tell you. But in the end, it doesn't matter that they are more popular than ever (which I obviously agree they absolutely are). This whole thing goes well beyond Rush. Personally, I've been buying tickets for various concerts, sporting events, etc. through TM for years now...and I've seen the same thing for all of them. This is not only about Rush...they just happen to be the example we're all talking about here (of course). I've said this before...a person is on TM for 10am SHARP...Public on-sale time, and yet, cannot find ANY tickets. No Floor, No Lower Bowl, and not even any Upper Bowl. Does this make any sense whatsoever? As "popular" as they are, I highly doubt Rush sells out 15,000 tickets within seconds of release. Sorry...don't buy it. 'Platinum Seats'...is this not essentially legalized scalping? Pretty sure it is. They take all the top seats...then put them on this "Platinum" page and charge a premium price for them...BEFORE anyone ever gets the chance to purchase them at face value. Another common theme I've seen a lot...and I find it funny because it has happened to me multiple times in the past (again...not just for Rush, but other shows). I have tickets for some pretty good seats (at least the best at that time)...start going through the checkout process, where it proceeds to "crash", and those tickets are gone. (Sure...you could likely argue that "it's the Internet", and "tons of people purchasing at the same time", so "it crashes". But it's interesting that every single example I've heard of this happening is when the people had their best seats by far.) Again...I'm sure you think I sound like I'm complaining about conspiracy. But there are way too many factors that point to ridiculous and shady garbage happening with TM. Like I said...in the end, I'm just going with the flow. I opted to purchase two upper bowl tickets for a show, and intend to enjoy the show. Would I have preferred to sit down on the Floors? Absolutely. But money is a factor, sadly. Throwing down a mortgage payment on a concert...even for the greatest band of all-time, is too difficult for this fan. In no way am I saying the state of affairs in the ticket industry is acceptable as it's evolved. However, I have been one of those folks who's landed premium seats right at 10 am on the general sale, and I'm also one of the folks who didn't get offered jack diddly, even in the upper bowl nosebleeds. It's a total crapshoot. It depends on the scarcity of the artist at hand and demand, once again. High profile shows will overload TM's ridiculously slow and antiquated servers, for sure. Do I think TM is monopolizing the ticket industry by buying subsidiaries like TicketsNow and setting aside premium seating to mark up Platinum prices at 750 a pop? Of course I do. But I also think you'll have little difficulty getting seats on TM or LN for low profile artists and tours. Premium product - premium price. My point this whole time has been noting posters' apparent frustrations in what they seemingly believe to be a recently manifested difficulty. In my 30 plus years of ticket buying, I do not remember a time when it was easy to get good seats, and when good seats were offered, more often than not they cost more than not as good seats. A floor seat on the Coliseum floor in 1988 was more expensive than a third level terrace seat. One had to pick and choose according to budget and preference. So what seems to be the main sticking points for a lot of folks is that (1) they'd like equal opportunity access to ANY level of ticketing, and (2) they'd like the premium levels to be priced with fair business practices in mind. Does that sound like reality to anyone? Because it's just not, LOL. For any business. Not just Ticketmaster. Haha, I'm not defending the ticket agencies and their various outlets in how they distribute seats at a ridiculous markup. Don't get me wrong. But it isn't a new practice, I've been subject to it for 30 plus years, with varying rates of inflation. I think about the times I lucked out, though. Catching a pit seat on general sale face value. Scoring a couple VIP packages through the mess that is 10 am super fan presales. Landing a meet and greet where only 30 were offered and 20 thousand folks were trying to get all 30 at the same time. And so on and so forth. It just isn't that surprising to me, because I've been dealing with the pitfalls of ensuring concert attendance for a long time. Are prices higher? Yup. So is milk. Bread. (currently not gasoline for some odd and suspicious reason :) ) Organic foods. Produce. Sunglasses. Health care. Quality sound systems. Cars. In the end, what we're really lamenting is that our 'nerd' band is more popular than ever. And that results in two things when it comes to attendance. 1. More people are going to take those opportunities you may have had open to yourself when you were making sure you would get tickets to the TFE or VT tours. :) and 2. The ticket companies, upon realizing or estimating demand, are going to adjust prices accordingly. I'm not condoning the practice. But I'm not surprised. It's been this way for as long as I can remember. And those of you that protest and claim it used to be easier, TM didn't have such a lock, well, sure, of course internet subsidiaries like StubHub and TicketsNow didn't exist a while back, but then again, neither did your internet-wide access to all sources of tickets. And back then, rest assured, there were plenty of scalpers and runners who worked for a guy who scooped up a lot of premium seating and did it the old fashioned way. I know because I used to have to use those guys to get in the damn door. :) And again, if you're remembering a lot of times when you got premium seats with ease, or without much hassle or cost, you probably are a lucky person. Me, I'm about split down the middle in my ticketing history. Sometimes I got lucky. Sometimes I had to pass. Sometimes I found a way to pay. Perhaps I've been more unlucky in general sales than many of you.I'm thinking about Mike Damone, from Fast Times at Ridgmont High......for the Van Halen tickets. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bard Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 I'm thinking about Mike Damone, from Fast Times at Ridgmont High......for the Van Halen tickets. I have dealt with weasels like Damone, LOL. Right outside the venue, and also in greasy WeHo offices en route to SoCal venues. That was always fun too, because you had to bring a wad of cash, and drive 4 hours round trip, to crapshoot a possibility. And I remember the extended protocol back then too, how folks would say, 'hey f**k those scalper guys, all ya gotta do is just wait 'em out until the band starts up, maybe you miss the first one, two, three songs, then they'll cave and sell it to you for face value cause recoup is better than outright loss.' And while that was a fair method of beating them at their own game, it was always : "uh, yeah, but I missed the opening of the show to get in." Pass on that. Here's your extra fifty bucks, Damone. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troutman Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Heh. It's interesting how many people want to believe it's all a big conspiracy, a corporate sham. Of course that could be true. But to me, it's far more likely that Rush is simply more popular than ever, and with the whispered notions that it might be their last tour, coupled with their increasing popularity even in their last era, I think it's just a matter of more people, casual fan and Rush nerd, wanting to go see Rush. Is it not possible that Rush is at their highest demand, their peak, even now? I think so. :) But sure, yeah, ticket brokers are bad, duh. Still, that doesn't explain how the heck SOME people actually have VIP gold tickets and pit seats for face value. :) I'm sorry...and I mean this in the nicest way I can, but this all sounds very delusional. If you truly believe that there is no shady stuff going on with TM, LN, etc...then I don't really know what to tell you. But in the end, it doesn't matter that they are more popular than ever (which I obviously agree they absolutely are). This whole thing goes well beyond Rush. Personally, I've been buying tickets for various concerts, sporting events, etc. through TM for years now...and I've seen the same thing for all of them. This is not only about Rush...they just happen to be the example we're all talking about here (of course). I've said this before...a person is on TM for 10am SHARP...Public on-sale time, and yet, cannot find ANY tickets. No Floor, No Lower Bowl, and not even any Upper Bowl. Does this make any sense whatsoever? As "popular" as they are, I highly doubt Rush sells out 15,000 tickets within seconds of release. Sorry...don't buy it. 'Platinum Seats'...is this not essentially legalized scalping? Pretty sure it is. They take all the top seats...then put them on this "Platinum" page and charge a premium price for them...BEFORE anyone ever gets the chance to purchase them at face value. Another common theme I've seen a lot...and I find it funny because it has happened to me multiple times in the past (again...not just for Rush, but other shows). I have tickets for some pretty good seats (at least the best at that time)...start going through the checkout process, where it proceeds to "crash", and those tickets are gone. (Sure...you could likely argue that "it's the Internet", and "tons of people purchasing at the same time", so "it crashes". But it's interesting that every single example I've heard of this happening is when the people had their best seats by far.) Again...I'm sure you think I sound like I'm complaining about conspiracy. But there are way too many factors that point to ridiculous and shady garbage happening with TM. Like I said...in the end, I'm just going with the flow. I opted to purchase two upper bowl tickets for a show, and intend to enjoy the show. Would I have preferred to sit down on the Floors? Absolutely. But money is a factor, sadly. Throwing down a mortgage payment on a concert...even for the greatest band of all-time, is too difficult for this fan. In no way am I saying the state of affairs in the ticket industry is acceptable as it's evolved. However, I have been one of those folks who's landed premium seats right at 10 am on the general sale, and I'm also one of the folks who didn't get offered jack diddly, even in the upper bowl nosebleeds. It's a total crapshoot. It depends on the scarcity of the artist at hand and demand, once again. High profile shows will overload TM's ridiculously slow and antiquated servers, for sure. Do I think TM is monopolizing the ticket industry by buying subsidiaries like TicketsNow and setting aside premium seating to mark up Platinum prices at 750 a pop? Of course I do. But I also think you'll have little difficulty getting seats on TM or LN for low profile artists and tours. Premium product - premium price. My point this whole time has been noting posters' apparent frustrations in what they seemingly believe to be a recently manifested difficulty. In my 30 plus years of ticket buying, I do not remember a time when it was easy to get good seats, and when good seats were offered, more often than not they cost more than not as good seats. A floor seat on the Coliseum floor in 1988 was more expensive than a third level terrace seat. One had to pick and choose according to budget and preference. So what seems to be the main sticking points for a lot of folks is that (1) they'd like equal opportunity access to ANY level of ticketing, and (2) they'd like the premium levels to be priced with fair business practices in mind. Does that sound like reality to anyone? Because it's just not, LOL. For any business. Not just Ticketmaster. Haha, I'm not defending the ticket agencies and their various outlets in how they distribute seats at a ridiculous markup. Don't get me wrong. But it isn't a new practice, I've been subject to it for 30 plus years, with varying rates of inflation. I think about the times I lucked out, though. Catching a pit seat on general sale face value. Scoring a couple VIP packages through the mess that is 10 am super fan presales. Landing a meet and greet where only 30 were offered and 20 thousand folks were trying to get all 30 at the same time. And so on and so forth. It just isn't that surprising to me, because I've been dealing with the pitfalls of ensuring concert attendance for a long time. Are prices higher? Yup. So is milk. Bread. (currently not gasoline for some odd and suspicious reason :) ) Organic foods. Produce. Sunglasses. Health care. Quality sound systems. Cars. In the end, what we're really lamenting is that our 'nerd' band is more popular than ever. And that results in two things when it comes to attendance. 1. More people are going to take those opportunities you may have had open to yourself when you were making sure you would get tickets to the TFE or VT tours. :) and 2. The ticket companies, upon realizing or estimating demand, are going to adjust prices accordingly. I'm not condoning the practice. But I'm not surprised. It's been this way for as long as I can remember. And those of you that protest and claim it used to be easier, TM didn't have such a lock, well, sure, of course internet subsidiaries like StubHub and TicketsNow didn't exist a while back, but then again, neither did your internet-wide access to all sources of tickets. And back then, rest assured, there were plenty of scalpers and runners who worked for a guy who scooped up a lot of premium seating and did it the old fashioned way. I know because I used to have to use those guys to get in the damn door. :) And again, if you're remembering a lot of times when you got premium seats with ease, or without much hassle or cost, you probably are a lucky person. Me, I'm about split down the middle in my ticketing history. Sometimes I got lucky. Sometimes I had to pass. Sometimes I found a way to pay. Perhaps I've been more unlucky in general sales than many of you.I'm thinking about Mike Damone, from Fast Times at Ridgmont High......for the Van Halen tickets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cygnify Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323838204578654220372996886 Ticketmaster Wants in on the Scalping Act Resellers, Long the Enemy, Invited to List Tickets on New TM+ System By HANNAH KARP Aug. 11, 2013 6:11 p.m. ETLive Nation Entertainment Inc. and its Ticketmaster subsidiary have a new strategy for dealing with their sworn enemies, ticket scalpers: If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.Heavy-metal fans looking for tickets to see Black Sabbath at the First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre near Chicago this month are getting a taste of the new approach. On Live Nation's website, an unusual seating map lists available face-value seats right alongside pricier seats being offered for resale by others. A block of seats nine rows from the stage was recently listed for their face value of $156 each, including fees; one row back, a reseller was offering a pair for $360.80 each.Live Nation and Ticketmaster for years have been seeking ways to boost their participation in the $4 billion-a-year business of reselling concert tickets, currently dominated by scalpers and brokers who buy tickets at face value and attempt to flip them for a profit via websites like eBay Inc. 's StubHub.com. Concert promoters, ticketing companies and even artists have expressed frustration that they don't see any financial benefit as those speculators charge many times face value for the best seats to hot shows. Of course, scalpers also can mitigate risk for those presenting concerts: If demand for a show doesn't meet expectations, the scalpers can end up holding unsold tickets or unloading them for below face. http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/MK-CF467B_RESAL_D_20130811223802.jpgENLARGEFinding a palatable way to participate in the aftermarket has proven elusive for Ticketmaster and Live Nation, which merged in 2010. Ticketmaster failed in its attempt to create a StubHub rival, TicketExchange, and it bought another resale site, TicketsNow, which also struggled. At one point Ticketmaster even considered forming a joint venture with several of the nation's biggest ticket resellers. That experiment fell apart after a limited test run.In recent weeks Live Nation has started a limited, beta-version rollout of its latest effort, which merges its ticket-resale businesses onto its primary ticketing site, blurring the line between the initial face-value ticket and pricier, secondary-market tickets and better positioning the concert promoter to profit from tickets' true market value.AdvertisementIf the new ticket-selling platform, "TM+," is to succeed, Ticketmaster and Live Nation need to persuade professional scalpers to use it instead of StubHub and other competitors. That could be a challenge given the long history of bad blood and mistrust between the two sides. http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/MK-CF462_RESALE_P_20130811173018.jpgENLARGEBlack Sabbath's Ozzy Osbourne performed in a concert in Tampa, Fla., last month. TAMPA BAY TIMES/ZUMA PRESSLive Nation and Ticketmaster officials testified before a congressional subcommittee in 2009 about the evils of scalping and how it should be kept separate from the primary marketplace, if not outlawed altogether. Now, the combined company says it is committed to making resale "fan-friendly"—a way to give ticket buyers as many options as possible.TM+ warns users that tickets offered for resale—marked clearly in red—often exceed face value, but assures them that they have been authenticated by Ticketmaster and can be downloaded instantly. Fans can't see who the resellers are.Live Nation is able to reap fees three times on such tickets: a percentage that is tacked on to the original purchase price, a resale commission and a final fee—the latter two from the consumer purchasing the resale tickets. It also collects fees from brokers who opt to use its new reselling software. http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/MK-CF471_RESALE_G_20130811183914.jpgENLARGEFor fans, the one-stop-shop could make ticket-buying more convenient. It could also help cut down on speculative selling—the practice of scalping seats for lofty prices with ambiguously described locations, without yet being in possession of those tickets—since TM+ allows resellers to post only barcode-bearing tickets that can be downloaded instantly.For Live Nation, one of the main goals is to capitalize on the millions of fans who click on Ticketmaster pages for sold-out shows, which offer them no way to get tickets, according to a person familiar with Live Nation's plan.But some economists and scholars say mixing the two markets could shrink the supply of good face-value tickets by encouraging concert promoters and artists to redirect tickets from the primary site. Instead, they could "sell the tickets for a profit right away on the secondary market," said Pascal Courty, an economics professor who studies ticket markets at the University of Victoria in Canada. Ticketmaster acknowledged helping artists do just that in a 2009 interview with The Wall Street Journal, saying the company had labeled high-priced tickets for numerous major artists as "fan-to-fan" resales on Ticketmaster's TicketExchange site, when they were in fact being sold to the public for the first time by the artists, with the ticketing giant's help.A terms-and-conditions page for the new TM+ says concert promoters and other "event providers" may be the ones selling resale tickets "in limited circumstances." Artists and promoters could use TM+ to conduct primary sales above face value, according to a person familiar with Live Nation's plans, but the company wouldn't actively help with such efforts, this person said. A company spokeswoman said the circumstances referred to on the website included sales of seats in locations like VIP suites, or tickets that need to be resold after a canceled initial sale.The next question is whether ticket brokers will go for it.Possibly limiting its appeal to professional resellers and casual fans alike, TM+ allows concert promoters and teams to prevent tickets being resold for less than face value, so as not to undermine their perceived value.At a ticket-brokers conference in Las Vegas last month executives from Live Nation's new Ticketmaster Resale division gave a slide show presentation to several hundred professional resellers in a bid to get them to use TM+. The executives offered enticements such as eliminating software fees for brokers who signed up in the next 60 days, and trumpeted the system's ease, efficiency and transparency.But many brokers scoffed, complaining that the move would give Live Nation unfair pricing control.Several brokers also expressed trepidation about "showing their hands" to a company that doesn't disclose the tickets that artists and promoters hold in reserve for VIPs, corporate sponsors and the like. Such "holdbacks" are a bone of contention in the industry, because they make it nearly impossible for fans and resellers alike to find prime seats at face value."Is Ticketmaster now going to put up all the seats they've been holding back?" asked a broker, as the crowd erupted in applause. "What the consumer really wants is to see the tickets that might not be released in the very beginning."Live Nation says Ticketmaster doesn't control its clients' inventory. Said Julia Vander Ploeg, general manager of Ticketmaster Resale, to the brokers: "That's not us." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disembodied Spirit Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Heh. It's interesting how many people want to believe it's all a big conspiracy, a corporate sham. Of course that could be true. But to me, it's far more likely that Rush is simply more popular than ever, and with the whispered notions that it might be their last tour, coupled with their increasing popularity even in their last era, I think it's just a matter of more people, casual fan and Rush nerd, wanting to go see Rush. Is it not possible that Rush is at their highest demand, their peak, even now? I think so. :) But sure, yeah, ticket brokers are bad, duh. Still, that doesn't explain how the heck SOME people actually have VIP gold tickets and pit seats for face value. :) I'm sorry...and I mean this in the nicest way I can, but this all sounds very delusional. If you truly believe that there is no shady stuff going on with TM, LN, etc...then I don't really know what to tell you. But in the end, it doesn't matter that they are more popular than ever (which I obviously agree they absolutely are). This whole thing goes well beyond Rush. Personally, I've been buying tickets for various concerts, sporting events, etc. through TM for years now...and I've seen the same thing for all of them. This is not only about Rush...they just happen to be the example we're all talking about here (of course). I've said this before...a person is on TM for 10am SHARP...Public on-sale time, and yet, cannot find ANY tickets. No Floor, No Lower Bowl, and not even any Upper Bowl. Does this make any sense whatsoever? As "popular" as they are, I highly doubt Rush sells out 15,000 tickets within seconds of release. Sorry...don't buy it. 'Platinum Seats'...is this not essentially legalized scalping? Pretty sure it is. They take all the top seats...then put them on this "Platinum" page and charge a premium price for them...BEFORE anyone ever gets the chance to purchase them at face value. Another common theme I've seen a lot...and I find it funny because it has happened to me multiple times in the past (again...not just for Rush, but other shows). I have tickets for some pretty good seats (at least the best at that time)...start going through the checkout process, where it proceeds to "crash", and those tickets are gone. (Sure...you could likely argue that "it's the Internet", and "tons of people purchasing at the same time", so "it crashes". But it's interesting that every single example I've heard of this happening is when the people had their best seats by far.) Again...I'm sure you think I sound like I'm complaining about conspiracy. But there are way too many factors that point to ridiculous and shady garbage happening with TM. Like I said...in the end, I'm just going with the flow. I opted to purchase two upper bowl tickets for a show, and intend to enjoy the show. Would I have preferred to sit down on the Floors? Absolutely. But money is a factor, sadly. Throwing down a mortgage payment on a concert...even for the greatest band of all-time, is too difficult for this fan. In no way am I saying the state of affairs in the ticket industry is acceptable as it's evolved. However, I have been one of those folks who's landed premium seats right at 10 am on the general sale, and I'm also one of the folks who didn't get offered jack diddly, even in the upper bowl nosebleeds. It's a total crapshoot. It depends on the scarcity of the artist at hand and demand, once again. High profile shows will overload TM's ridiculously slow and antiquated servers, for sure. Do I think TM is monopolizing the ticket industry by buying subsidiaries like TicketsNow and setting aside premium seating to mark up Platinum prices at 750 a pop? Of course I do. But I also think you'll have little difficulty getting seats on TM or LN for low profile artists and tours. Premium product - premium price. My point this whole time has been noting posters' apparent frustrations in what they seemingly believe to be a recently manifested difficulty. In my 30 plus years of ticket buying, I do not remember a time when it was easy to get good seats, and when good seats were offered, more often than not they cost more than not as good seats. A floor seat on the Coliseum floor in 1988 was more expensive than a third level terrace seat. One had to pick and choose according to budget and preference. So what seems to be the main sticking points for a lot of folks is that (1) they'd like equal opportunity access to ANY level of ticketing, and (2) they'd like the premium levels to be priced with fair business practices in mind. Does that sound like reality to anyone? Because it's just not, LOL. For any business. Not just Ticketmaster. Haha, I'm not defending the ticket agencies and their various outlets in how they distribute seats at a ridiculous markup. Don't get me wrong. But it isn't a new practice, I've been subject to it for 30 plus years, with varying rates of inflation. I think about the times I lucked out, though. Catching a pit seat on general sale face value. Scoring a couple VIP packages through the mess that is 10 am super fan presales. Landing a meet and greet where only 30 were offered and 20 thousand folks were trying to get all 30 at the same time. And so on and so forth. It just isn't that surprising to me, because I've been dealing with the pitfalls of ensuring concert attendance for a long time. Are prices higher? Yup. So is milk. Bread. (currently not gasoline for some odd and suspicious reason :) ) Organic foods. Produce. Sunglasses. Health care. Quality sound systems. Cars. In the end, what we're really lamenting is that our 'nerd' band is more popular than ever. And that results in two things when it comes to attendance. 1. More people are going to take those opportunities you may have had open to yourself when you were making sure you would get tickets to the TFE or VT tours. :) and 2. The ticket companies, upon realizing or estimating demand, are going to adjust prices accordingly. I'm not condoning the practice. But I'm not surprised. It's been this way for as long as I can remember. And those of you that protest and claim it used to be easier, TM didn't have such a lock, well, sure, of course internet subsidiaries like StubHub and TicketsNow didn't exist a while back, but then again, neither did your internet-wide access to all sources of tickets. And back then, rest assured, there were plenty of scalpers and runners who worked for a guy who scooped up a lot of premium seating and did it the old fashioned way. I know because I used to have to use those guys to get in the damn door. :) And again, if you're remembering a lot of times when you got premium seats with ease, or without much hassle or cost, you probably are a lucky person. Me, I'm about split down the middle in my ticketing history. Sometimes I got lucky. Sometimes I had to pass. Sometimes I found a way to pay. Perhaps I've been more unlucky in general sales than many of you.I'm thinking about Mike Damone, from Fast Times at Ridgmont High......for the Van Halen tickets. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7AymEzZXCk Per Mike Damone: Don't Like the Price?DON'T BUY THEM!!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bard Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Heh. It's interesting how many people want to believe it's all a big conspiracy, a corporate sham. Of course that could be true. But to me, it's far more likely that Rush is simply more popular than ever, and with the whispered notions that it might be their last tour, coupled with their increasing popularity even in their last era, I think it's just a matter of more people, casual fan and Rush nerd, wanting to go see Rush. Is it not possible that Rush is at their highest demand, their peak, even now? I think so. :) But sure, yeah, ticket brokers are bad, duh. Still, that doesn't explain how the heck SOME people actually have VIP gold tickets and pit seats for face value. :) I'm sorry...and I mean this in the nicest way I can, but this all sounds very delusional. If you truly believe that there is no shady stuff going on with TM, LN, etc...then I don't really know what to tell you. But in the end, it doesn't matter that they are more popular than ever (which I obviously agree they absolutely are). This whole thing goes well beyond Rush. Personally, I've been buying tickets for various concerts, sporting events, etc. through TM for years now...and I've seen the same thing for all of them. This is not only about Rush...they just happen to be the example we're all talking about here (of course). I've said this before...a person is on TM for 10am SHARP...Public on-sale time, and yet, cannot find ANY tickets. No Floor, No Lower Bowl, and not even any Upper Bowl. Does this make any sense whatsoever? As "popular" as they are, I highly doubt Rush sells out 15,000 tickets within seconds of release. Sorry...don't buy it. 'Platinum Seats'...is this not essentially legalized scalping? Pretty sure it is. They take all the top seats...then put them on this "Platinum" page and charge a premium price for them...BEFORE anyone ever gets the chance to purchase them at face value. Another common theme I've seen a lot...and I find it funny because it has happened to me multiple times in the past (again...not just for Rush, but other shows). I have tickets for some pretty good seats (at least the best at that time)...start going through the checkout process, where it proceeds to "crash", and those tickets are gone. (Sure...you could likely argue that "it's the Internet", and "tons of people purchasing at the same time", so "it crashes". But it's interesting that every single example I've heard of this happening is when the people had their best seats by far.) Again...I'm sure you think I sound like I'm complaining about conspiracy. But there are way too many factors that point to ridiculous and shady garbage happening with TM. Like I said...in the end, I'm just going with the flow. I opted to purchase two upper bowl tickets for a show, and intend to enjoy the show. Would I have preferred to sit down on the Floors? Absolutely. But money is a factor, sadly. Throwing down a mortgage payment on a concert...even for the greatest band of all-time, is too difficult for this fan. In no way am I saying the state of affairs in the ticket industry is acceptable as it's evolved. However, I have been one of those folks who's landed premium seats right at 10 am on the general sale, and I'm also one of the folks who didn't get offered jack diddly, even in the upper bowl nosebleeds. It's a total crapshoot. It depends on the scarcity of the artist at hand and demand, once again. High profile shows will overload TM's ridiculously slow and antiquated servers, for sure. Do I think TM is monopolizing the ticket industry by buying subsidiaries like TicketsNow and setting aside premium seating to mark up Platinum prices at 750 a pop? Of course I do. But I also think you'll have little difficulty getting seats on TM or LN for low profile artists and tours. Premium product - premium price. My point this whole time has been noting posters' apparent frustrations in what they seemingly believe to be a recently manifested difficulty. In my 30 plus years of ticket buying, I do not remember a time when it was easy to get good seats, and when good seats were offered, more often than not they cost more than not as good seats. A floor seat on the Coliseum floor in 1988 was more expensive than a third level terrace seat. One had to pick and choose according to budget and preference. So what seems to be the main sticking points for a lot of folks is that (1) they'd like equal opportunity access to ANY level of ticketing, and (2) they'd like the premium levels to be priced with fair business practices in mind. Does that sound like reality to anyone? Because it's just not, LOL. For any business. Not just Ticketmaster. Haha, I'm not defending the ticket agencies and their various outlets in how they distribute seats at a ridiculous markup. Don't get me wrong. But it isn't a new practice, I've been subject to it for 30 plus years, with varying rates of inflation. I think about the times I lucked out, though. Catching a pit seat on general sale face value. Scoring a couple VIP packages through the mess that is 10 am super fan presales. Landing a meet and greet where only 30 were offered and 20 thousand folks were trying to get all 30 at the same time. And so on and so forth. It just isn't that surprising to me, because I've been dealing with the pitfalls of ensuring concert attendance for a long time. Are prices higher? Yup. So is milk. Bread. (currently not gasoline for some odd and suspicious reason :) ) Organic foods. Produce. Sunglasses. Health care. Quality sound systems. Cars. In the end, what we're really lamenting is that our 'nerd' band is more popular than ever. And that results in two things when it comes to attendance. 1. More people are going to take those opportunities you may have had open to yourself when you were making sure you would get tickets to the TFE or VT tours. :) and 2. The ticket companies, upon realizing or estimating demand, are going to adjust prices accordingly. I'm not condoning the practice. But I'm not surprised. It's been this way for as long as I can remember. And those of you that protest and claim it used to be easier, TM didn't have such a lock, well, sure, of course internet subsidiaries like StubHub and TicketsNow didn't exist a while back, but then again, neither did your internet-wide access to all sources of tickets. And back then, rest assured, there were plenty of scalpers and runners who worked for a guy who scooped up a lot of premium seating and did it the old fashioned way. I know because I used to have to use those guys to get in the damn door. :) And again, if you're remembering a lot of times when you got premium seats with ease, or without much hassle or cost, you probably are a lucky person. Me, I'm about split down the middle in my ticketing history. Sometimes I got lucky. Sometimes I had to pass. Sometimes I found a way to pay. Perhaps I've been more unlucky in general sales than many of you.I'm thinking about Mike Damone, from Fast Times at Ridgmont High......for the Van Halen tickets. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7AymEzZXCk Per Mike Damone: Don't Like the Price?DON'T BUY THEM!!! LOL. See, what some folks seem to be saying, is that resale vendors ought to offer their wares at reasonable prices. Well, sure, I'd like that Bentley to be 10k instead of 100k. I'd like that autographed Eddie Van Halen guitar to be 1k, not 25k. I'd like that first edition signed Hemingway to be a buck, not five hundred bucks. What is reasonable, and what is reality in a free market, are two different things. I'm just talkin' about how it's been a reality long before TM was a monopoly, long before there was an internet to bitch on. Nothing's much different except inflation and the cost of living. Welcome to the 21st century. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disembodied Spirit Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Article written yesterday:Madison Square Garden, which last year completed a three-year, $1 billion renovation of “the World’s Most Famous Arena,” provides a window into this phenomenon. Prices increased, but the number of new seating and club options exploded.Before the face-lift, the Knicks had 10 tiers of tickets priced from $30 to $3,000. Now, they have 29 price points between $49 and $3,700.Rangers fans can buy 27 levels of tickets, up from 14 before. The cheapest ticket fell $5 to $32, while the most expensive ticket rose $175, to $1,300. Somewhere someone is paying $3700 per ticket to watch the WORST team play professional basketball.When they only need to sell 80 tickets at that price, there is a market. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/10/business/arenas-hit-status-into-the-cheap-seats.html?_r=0 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtpoet Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Love this debate. I'm going to honest and say I haven't read every passage. It is a free market. Supply and demand. If someone is willing to pay a price then that's the market value of that ticket. However, my biggest concern are tickets being offered on the secondary market BEFORE they are actually offered on the open market. For example, upper tier, cheap seats were all over StubHub days before the general sale. I don't mean a few select seats that were being offered by season tuck holders of sporting events, but every section in the upper tier had seats available. So it's one thing if I can go to that butcher at 10am and compete with the secondary market for the same tickets. It's another to see those steaks I want being offered by the secondary market days before the steaks go on sale. There's a reason why there are laws in NJ (and I imagine other states) that allow gas stations to set their price once a day. There's a reason why there are laws to prevent the gouging of prices in times of emergencies. Why? Because the lawmakers who set the rules for the free market recognize that a free market can swing dangerously in favor of the supplier. Now these are concert tickets and not life necessities like food or fuel. However, where one falls on this issue depends on how far a free market is allowed to be that; free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tuna44 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Though it's not Ticketmaster (Philly shows aret ticketed by Comcast/Spectacor), I just pulled up available pairs of lower bowl tickets in Section 115, rows between 12 - 14, side stage (even with the front of the stage), Geddy's side. For the past week since the tickets initially went on sale, there were no tickets to be had anywhere through the box office (unless you went the premium seat route). Yet surprisingly, I can get great seats today! That is the thing that gets me most fired up about how tickets are sold/handled today. I'm still gonna wait till the day of the show to get that great single floor seat from the box office though. I did that for CA tour, got 11th row floor center. No reason to think I can't do it again, especially as a single! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now