Turns out they were secretly in cahoots with scalpers...it's almost surprising:
Turns out they were secretly in cahoots with scalpers...it's almost surprising:
not surprised at all.
I had a weekend gig with a scalper once in 2007. Didn't bother me at the time since the tickets in question were for a Gwen Stefani/Akon show in Studio City. Anyway, dude had some of us young guys get up at all hours and buy up tickets with his business visa cards as soon as they went on sale for will call under our names. Gave us his car for the weekend, prepaid cards for food, and $200 cash each. Was a pretty sweet way to get an expense paid surfing trip for about two hours effort on our part. Don't know if it was legal but he couldn't have been the only dude cashing in.
I'm pretty sure my BIL just got a job here recently doing something like this although i dont think it's through ticketmaster. He's not out there doing the scalping but something on the logistics side, something with ticket costs per number of tickets they buy to scalp per how much they can make off of it, or something like that, he's basically a computer wizard so i dont know a lot of what he does ever
It has always seemed obvious to me that they were screwing the system. I haven't been to a concert in years, mostly because of them.
As evil as that is...I still think that's only the tip of the iceberg of how evil Ticketmaster is.
If the scalper can buy tickets on line and sell them at a profit then the tickets were not at the right price from the beginning.
Supply and Demand. Free Market. What's wrong with doing this? Profits are what keep all of us supplied with cars, etc.
I have never understood what is wrong for a willing seller to find a willing buyer, and make the transaction at an agreed upon price, for event tickets.
jharry3 said:If the scalper can buy tickets on line and sell them at a profit then the tickets were not at the right price from the beginning.
Supply and Demand. Free Market. What's wrong with doing this? Profits are what keep all of us supplied with cars, etc.
I have never understood what is wrong for a willing seller to find a willing buyer, and make the transaction at an agreed upon price, for event tickets.
It's a screwed up situation in which artists don't want their shows to be a luxury for the ultra-rich, so they want them intentionally priced below demand. Venues want to pretend they're following the artist's wishes but they just want their seats sold, and quickly, and a scalper's money is as good as an attendee's but it comes a lot faster. So venues are quietly happy with scalpers, even if the place is half-empty and the scalpers end up holding the bag (as has been happening more and more recently). So the venues skimp on simple measures to prevent scalping and look the other way while artists and potential attendees fume.
In this arrangement, the venues (and scummy online vendors like Ticketmaster) and sometimes the scalpers win, and everybody else loses.
I paid $75 a ticket and drove six hours to see a band no one but me cares about. About 20 minutes before the show there were guys unloading tickets for $5.
The kicker is, this was supposed to be a “one last show” deal. 3 months later they played in ATL.
Made the same mistake a few years later when HUM played a reunion show in Grand Rapids. That trip cost me about 2 grand. A few months later...ATLANTA.
So yeah. I’ll be goddamned if I’m flying cross country to see Jawbreaker...though all my friends are begging me to so Jawbreaker will come to Atlanta.
Remember when Pearl Jam tried to fight the BS? The closest venue to Chicago that wasn't in bed with the bastard was in Ohio. It didn't work out well.
This seems like how they've always operated. I used to go to a lot of shows and I'd camp out at a little record store and be first or second in line when the tickets for the Jones Beach concerts would go on sale and at least one of the shows I wanted tickets for would be sold out.
In reply to Wally :
Yep, camping out next to the student union at UM College Park was an infrequent but entertaining way to get tix.
Garth Brooks used an interesting and profitable way to screw scalpers on his last tour. Sell tickets til the show is sold out, start selling for another, and another. He played Saskatoon, I think, seven shows over four days.
I liked the idea so much I thought about going, but, well, it was Garth Brooks.
Just the other day my wife asked me where the store was I bought some pants and I told her right down from where Flipside Records was - and Ticketmaster was located inside?
In reply to Streetwiseguy :
He did that for years. He did 4 shows in Ames back in late 90's and they all sold out in no time flat so he added another date. Rarely on his tours did he ever do just one show in a location.
AngryCorvair said:not surprised at all.
From a business standpoint, it makes sense. Scummy sense, but sense none the less.
I thought you were going to say they started a bank or an insurance provider.
jharry3 said:If the scalper can buy tickets on line and sell them at a profit then the tickets were not at the right price from the beginning.
Supply and Demand. Free Market. What's wrong with doing this? Profits are what keep all of us supplied with cars, etc.
I have never understood what is wrong for a willing seller to find a willing buyer, and make the transaction at an agreed upon price, for event tickets.
Mostly because normal people don't get a chance at tickets to big shows. When Tool was coming to Tulsa a couple of years ago 15,000 seats sold out in 2 minutes because of all the bot accounts, later the tickets were all online again at 3-5x the price.
TOOL is one of my favorite bands, but even I can't justify $600+ for two tickets to a rock show.
Yeah, my complaint is that Ticketmaster charges "convenience" fees that are more than the artist probably pockets from the show, while providing very little actual value. I think the venues get a cut of the fees; there's no reason they can't run their own ticketing site and make a bundle while charging less, so that's the only answer I can think of. I wish there was a solution. The conspiring with the scalpers is just the E36 M3 cherry on the E36 M3 sundae.
z31maniac said:jharry3 said:If the scalper can buy tickets on line and sell them at a profit then the tickets were not at the right price from the beginning.
Supply and Demand. Free Market. What's wrong with doing this? Profits are what keep all of us supplied with cars, etc.
I have never understood what is wrong for a willing seller to find a willing buyer, and make the transaction at an agreed upon price, for event tickets.
Mostly because normal people don't get a chance at tickets to big shows. When Tool was coming to Tulsa a couple of years ago 15,000 seats sold out in 2 minutes because of all the bot accounts, later the tickets were all online again at 3-5x the price.
TOOL is one of my favorite bands, but even I can't justify $600+ for two tickets to a rock show.
Hear hear!
You'll need to log in to post.
