Louis CK selling tickets to latest tour exclusively on his site • Hacker News Board

Re: Louis CK selling tickets to latest tour exclusively on his site

#61

Post by MartinCron » Tue, Jun 26, 2012, 1:47 AM UTC

guelo wrote: post #52

It's pretty weird how popular music and comedy acts resist setting ticket prices at market clearing levels. If you're selling tickets at a flat rate and a sellout happens in a few minutes that means your tickets were too cheap. Shortages in a market are bad and can be solved with higher prices. Acts that leave surplus on the table are mostly benefiting scalpers not the fans, and it is also part of the reason Ticketma…

More and more acts are charging market rates for tickets. I went to buy tickets for the traveling "Book of Mormon" production in Seattle and I had a pretty rude sticker shock.

Better the production get it than the scalpers, I guess, but I can't justify that much on the play when I haven't even finished the book yet.

Re: Louis CK selling tickets to latest tour exclusively on his site

#62

Post by Jamiecon » Tue, Jun 26, 2012, 1:50 AM UTC

brian_cloutier wrote: post #54

Jamiecon wrote: post #43

Retroactively cancelling tickets is a non-starter. Labour intensive and prone to embarrassing false positives. There are two simple, proven ways to avoid ticket re-sale. The first is to use "print at home" tickets. People are unwilling to repurchase these as there is no guarantee that they won't be sold multiple times. The second is to use a registration system and personalised tickets, ideally with a photo provided…

If you try to purchase a ticket you are warned > We reserve the right to change the method of delivery to Will Call (pick-up at the box office) at any time after purchase. If we make this change the ticket(s) may be picked up within 2 hours of the show’s start time and a photo ID and the charge card used for the purchase will be required to claim the ticket. This is the same as your "use a registration system and per…

He's a successful and no doubt intelligent person - I'm sure he's thought it through and taken advice. As a live entertainment fan I hope he succeeds - just adding my thoughts.

Collection at box office can be quite chaotic in volume and, in the UK at least, there are often license restrictions as to how many tickets can be issued that way.

Another common problem is that people buy on a parent or friend's card who doesn't attend, or that the card expires before the show and is discarded.

Re: Louis CK selling tickets to latest tour exclusively on his site

#63

Post by moe » Tue, Jun 26, 2012, 1:53 AM UTC

tjic wrote: post #58

guelo wrote: post #52

It's pretty weird how popular music and comedy acts resist setting ticket prices at market clearing levels. If you're selling tickets at a flat rate and a sellout happens in a few minutes that means your tickets were too cheap. Shortages in a market are bad and can be solved with higher prices. Acts that leave surplus on the table are mostly benefiting scalpers not the fans, and it is also part of the reason Ticketma…

In general, I 100% agree with you that prices should rise or fall until markets clear, but there is a counter argument that I believe is correct in some cases: Fans are a complex system, and the people who might turn out for dozens and dozens of shows over years, create buzz, convert friends to your cause, etc. may not have the funds to pay for tickets priced at the margin. Thus, it might be a mistake to charge marke…

the people who might turn out for dozens and dozens of shows over years, create buzz, convert friends to your cause, etc. may not have the funds to pay for tickets priced at the margin

Maybe that could be solved with a loyalty system?

E.g. tickets could get a discount weighted according to how many tickets you've previously bought for that act.

Of course the discount should only apply for one ticket (or a small number) to prevent the scalpers from taking advantage.

Re: Louis CK selling tickets to latest tour exclusively on his site

#64

Post by antidoh » Tue, Jun 26, 2012, 1:59 AM UTC

guelo wrote: post #52

It's pretty weird how popular music and comedy acts resist setting ticket prices at market clearing levels. If you're selling tickets at a flat rate and a sellout happens in a few minutes that means your tickets were too cheap. Shortages in a market are bad and can be solved with higher prices. Acts that leave surplus on the table are mostly benefiting scalpers not the fans, and it is also part of the reason Ticketma…

"If you're selling tickets at a flat rate and a sellout happens in a few minutes that means your tickets were too cheap."

Not necessarily. I see nothing wrong with attempting to control the entire end to end experience, including ticket price. If he's selling at $45 because that's what he wants, there's nothing wrong with that.

Or should cancer or diabetes pills be $1000 per pill because the manufacturer will find enough people to pay? There are other legitimate factors in pricing besides maximizing profit.

Re: Louis CK selling tickets to latest tour exclusively on his site

#65

Post by antidoh » Tue, Jun 26, 2012, 2:03 AM UTC

forrestthewoods wrote: post #22

I fully understand the hatred of scalpers but I also kinda like knowing they're an option. I've bought a few overpriced tickets to events I really wanted to attend. I like that I can attend most events I'm interested in so long as I'm willing to pay for it. Is it worth $150 for a $50 ticket? Not usually, but sometimes.

On the other hand, if we didn't have scalpers, we might have ... some tickets still available. And then you could attend an event and not pay 3X rate.

Re: Louis CK selling tickets to latest tour exclusively on his site

#66

Post by jeffool » Tue, Jun 26, 2012, 2:03 AM UTC

guelo wrote: post #52

It's pretty weird how popular music and comedy acts resist setting ticket prices at market clearing levels. If you're selling tickets at a flat rate and a sellout happens in a few minutes that means your tickets were too cheap. Shortages in a market are bad and can be solved with higher prices. Acts that leave surplus on the table are mostly benefiting scalpers not the fans, and it is also part of the reason Ticketma…

I'm not saying tiered pricing is bad, or that expensive tickets are bad. I as a fan may not like it, but, I get it. I can grok that. It's one thing to trade in goodwill for money. To insinuate fans should be happy about it, or that this simply solves the problem? That's simply crazy talk.

You're not "solving" the problem of shortages, you're just deciding to make it a "cost" problem for fans. And that has its own set of fan-related problems (namely burn) that, if you can't solve, are bigger than "we can't justify renting a venue for another showing, sorry everyone."

Re: Louis CK selling tickets to latest tour exclusively on his site

#67

Post by jeffool » Tue, Jun 26, 2012, 2:04 AM UTC

tjic wrote: post #59

jeffool wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm one of those people who enjoyed reading the long emails. It's easy to believe HE wrote them, and there's an appeal to that. But I find it hilarious that, after that long email, he mentions they'll be sending a TL;DR version later. I have to wonder if that was humor, or just a legitimate "ah well" moment. I can't tell, and that makes it better.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Archibald_Spooner One recorded incident had Spooner write a note asking for a fellow lecturer at New College to see him immediately about a matter. The note had a postscript informing the lecturer that the matter had been resolved and he no longer needed to see him.

ahah, thank you for that! Beautiful!

Re: Louis CK selling tickets to latest tour exclusively on his site

#68

Post by prawn » Tue, Jun 26, 2012, 2:11 AM UTC

guelo wrote: post #52

It's pretty weird how popular music and comedy acts resist setting ticket prices at market clearing levels. If you're selling tickets at a flat rate and a sellout happens in a few minutes that means your tickets were too cheap. Shortages in a market are bad and can be solved with higher prices. Acts that leave surplus on the table are mostly benefiting scalpers not the fans, and it is also part of the reason Ticketma…

I have always wondered about a market for an auction platform that serves events/similar. After the success of the restaurant Alinea in Chicago, the owner's next project (Next) actually sells tickets to eat there:

'Whether Mr. Achatz’s fans will be similarly loyal remains to be seen. Next will have a highly unusual online-only booking system that sells nonrefundable tickets, rather than accepting reservations. Once a seat for Paris 1906 is bought on line, if the baby sitter cancels or the girlfriend doesn’t feel like going out, it can’t be canceled. It can, however, be sold, scalped or bartered. “We are very interested to see what that secondary market might bring,” said Mr. Kokonas, who devised the system.'

Restaurants that oversell inventory could use a similar tactic but with an auction platform for some of their seats to allow people a chance with last-chance bookings if they're willing to pay. I know I would definitely have considered it when I was heading to Chicago and couldn't get a booking weeks in advance.

Re: Louis CK selling tickets to latest tour exclusively on his site

#69

Post by tptacek » Tue, Jun 26, 2012, 2:11 AM UTC

antidoh wrote: post #64

guelo wrote: post #52

It's pretty weird how popular music and comedy acts resist setting ticket prices at market clearing levels. If you're selling tickets at a flat rate and a sellout happens in a few minutes that means your tickets were too cheap. Shortages in a market are bad and can be solved with higher prices. Acts that leave surplus on the table are mostly benefiting scalpers not the fans, and it is also part of the reason Ticketma…

"If you're selling tickets at a flat rate and a sellout happens in a few minutes that means your tickets were too cheap." Not necessarily. I see nothing wrong with attempting to control the entire end to end experience, including ticket price. If he's selling at $45 because that's what he wants, there's nothing wrong with that. Or should cancer or diabetes pills be $1000 per pill because the manufacturer will find en…

But it's inefficient: at an artificially low price (let's stipulate that's what $45 is for Louis C.K.), the show attracts more buyers, a larger proportion of whom aren't dedicated fans. Meanwhile, dedicated fans (not heartless rich people) might be perfectly happy to pay $46, $48, or $54 dollars; they can't, though, because they've been locked out by a flood of superficial fans.

This is to say nothing of the deadweight loss of the inevitable efforts, much of which will be successful, to game the system.

Ostensibly, Louis C.K. wants to keep prices low in service to his fans. But to be totally responsive to the desires of his fans and improve his financial outcome, he should recognize that his shows are going to sell out, his tickets are therefore a scarce good, and some kind of auction mechanism is needed to figure out the right price for a ticket.

Re: Louis CK selling tickets to latest tour exclusively on his site

#70

Post by tptacek » Tue, Jun 26, 2012, 2:17 AM UTC

prawn wrote: post #68

guelo wrote: post #52

It's pretty weird how popular music and comedy acts resist setting ticket prices at market clearing levels. If you're selling tickets at a flat rate and a sellout happens in a few minutes that means your tickets were too cheap. Shortages in a market are bad and can be solved with higher prices. Acts that leave surplus on the table are mostly benefiting scalpers not the fans, and it is also part of the reason Ticketma…

I have always wondered about a market for an auction platform that serves events/similar. After the success of the restaurant Alinea in Chicago, the owner's next project (Next) actually sells tickets to eat there: 'Whether Mr. Achatz’s fans will be similarly loyal remains to be seen. Next will have a highly unusual online-only booking system that sells nonrefundable tickets, rather than accepting reservations. Once a…

The Next ticketing system is a good idea for Achatz because it eliminates an obstacle to purchasing tickets: the near total uncertainty as to when you might get a table. A seating for 4 people at Alinea might require a month or two advance notice; a prime date perhaps even more. So it's a win to be able to look at a website and see when you might be able to get a table --- or, with the new Sicily menu, quickly discover that there are no seatings to be had.

Incidentally, if you're hoping for last minute seatings, there's always the strategy of just calling them at the last minute or even just showing up to see if they've had cancellations. I've gotten lucky at least once.