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Internal emails reveal Ticketmaster helped scalpers jack up prices, FTC says

arstechnica.com

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Re: Internal emails reveal Ticketmaster helped scalpers jack up prices, FTC says

#121

Post by jart »

bombcar wrote: post #66
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Their whole business is based on bullying, dark patterns and ripoff No. It’s based on monopoly. There are a limited number of venues that can host a modern superstar, generally no more than one per geography, and Ticketmaster made it a point to represent all of them. Which means any modern superstar and their fans must work through Ticketmaster. Which, in turn, enables this nonsense. The cause is monopoly. Not “bul…

It’s worse than that. The venue contracts with Ticketmaster to hike all the fees and shit, which then get kicked back in some percentage to the venue (and sometimes the band) and Ticketmaster takes the heat. So the 50% that goes to “Ticketmaster” may be 80% to the venue.

Ticketmaster actually kicks money back to the venue?

I thought their business model was to bankrupt venues and then buy them at auction.

Re: Internal emails reveal Ticketmaster helped scalpers jack up prices, FTC says

#122

Post by carlosjobim »

mrits wrote: post #25
KumaBear wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Solution that might be anti user friendly. Tickets are bought and assigned to a persons name at time of purchase. They can only be refunded at cost and resold at cost to buyers. Release of tickets refunded shall be reposted for resell at a random time after attempting a refund. This will however allow people to pay for bots that will purchase tickets on their behalf. But I believe a verification system can prevent th…

I’ve heard of this before, it might be Joe Rogan that does this

It's one of the most common ways to sell tickets for any kind of event. It's tried and tested for a long time.

Re: Internal emails reveal Ticketmaster helped scalpers jack up prices, FTC says

#123

Post by carlosjobim »

101008 wrote: post #33

I love going to concerts and love going to sport events. Ticketmaster is awful, but most of the ticketing platforms are. I always talked with fellow friends how we would love to start a new startup for this, for selling tickets, a fair one, etc. But of course people in the industry wouldn't want it. Really a shame, because it would be one of those cases where I'd be working on somethign that excites me so I would giv…

This startup already exists and is called Ticket Tailor. Although they have their faults, I think it will be very difficult for you to compete with them in that niche.

Re: Internal emails reveal Ticketmaster helped scalpers jack up prices, FTC says

#124

Post by carlosjobim »

rtkwe wrote: post #28
Zigurd wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't resell a plane ticket. You can get a credit or cancel the purchase depending on the airline's terms. But there is no secondary market in plane tickets. If you show up at the airport and your ID doesn't match the name on the ticket, the ticket is invalid.

Venues don't want to be checking all that at their gates plus they don't want to prevent scalping it's only really the artists and fans who are anti scalping the rest of the parties in the pipeline loooove scalpers.

Venues are already checking IDs at the gate anyway. And it takes less than one second per ticket to scan and verify tickets.

Re: Internal emails reveal Ticketmaster helped scalpers jack up prices, FTC says

#125

Post by thimabi »

prewett wrote: post #113

This not to say that Ticketmaster is not scummy (and the article elucidates some of their scumminess). But this seems like partly a consequence of "ticket stabilization". As is commonly cited on HN, rent "stabilization" distorts the market and leads to all kinds of problems, like lack of available apartments and people living where they do not want to live because it's financially infeasible/unattractive to move to w…

I for one find it much, much more fair to have the queue or the lottery systems. If it can be paired with anti-scalper measures such as truly non-transferable tickets or banning resales at a profit, even better.

But of course the problem runs deeper when we consider what you and others have been saying: it’s just too convenient for artists to reap the profits of the current system and have Ticketmaster as their scapegoat.

Re: Internal emails reveal Ticketmaster helped scalpers jack up prices, FTC says

#126

Post by reaperducer »

privatelypublic wrote: post #42
reaperducer wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no reason that event tickets couldn't be sold similarly to airline seats. Charge extra for each armrest. Charge extra for priority entry to the venue. Charge to bring in a purse. Charge to sit next to your family. Charge for adequate leg room. Earn points that become worth less and less as they accumulate.

Sounds like you haven't been to a venue in a while. Your snark is reality for everything but loyalty points.

You are correct. The last concert I saw was Genesis at Giants Stadium during the Invisible Touch tour.

Re: Internal emails reveal Ticketmaster helped scalpers jack up prices, FTC says

#127

Post by 8bitsrule »

yard2010 wrote: post #15
pavel_lishin wrote: post #6

We bought $700 tickets to see a show we really wanted to see, but ended up being unable to make it. We tried selling it on Ticketmaster, where you can in theory set your own price, or accept their "best offer". Our best offer was somewhere in the neighborhood of $150, and given that it was the night of the show, we accepted it. We paid $54 per ticket in "processing fees" when purchasing, and paid $50 in more "process…

Their whole business is based on bullying, dark patterns and ripoff, they either go out of business and become homeless or turn out to be the next president of the united states.

>Their whole business is based on bullying, dark patterns and ripoff

Much like the corporations that use private homes as gambling chips.

Much like many organizations playing on the ongoing slump of Western values.

Re: Internal emails reveal Ticketmaster helped scalpers jack up prices, FTC says

#128

Post by climb_stealth »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #108
dfxm12 wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The answer is easy. Don't buy crazy expensive tickets. I think this is a knock on effect of wealth inequality. People on here are talking about buying $700 tickets. My first thought is that the price sounds insane, but my second thought is to recognize that some folks have way more disposable income than I do. So $700 might be just another night out for someone else...

It's me! I bought $700 tickets! It's very rare for us to go to something so expensive, but it was two bands that we both really wanted to see, and we're genuinely not sure if we'll ever have the chance to see them again. Don't think of this as "regular concert spending"; think of this as "anniversary dinner" spending. (But, yes, we both work, and can afford to buy the $700 tickets, and eat most of the cost as well wh…

Agreed. Some of the artists I like are in their sixties nowadays. Any show may literally be the last show to see. Especially in a remote country. So I'm willing to pay about any price I can afford. Still feel bad about it, though.

Re: Internal emails reveal Ticketmaster helped scalpers jack up prices, FTC says

#129

Post by pimlottc »

prmoustache wrote: post #78
pavel_lishin wrote: post #6

We bought $700 tickets to see a show we really wanted to see, but ended up being unable to make it. We tried selling it on Ticketmaster, where you can in theory set your own price, or accept their "best offer". Our best offer was somewhere in the neighborhood of $150, and given that it was the night of the show, we accepted it. We paid $54 per ticket in "processing fees" when purchasing, and paid $50 in more "process…

What kind of show sell $700 tickets? Does that include an escort?

Sadly that is not uncommon these days at all.

For major arena shows, face price floor seats can easily run $500+, going up to $1000+ for the first rows. Even lower level bowl seats can run you that much for front row.

And that's if you managed to get scalpers to them during the original sale. Resale can commonly range as high as 200% - 500% of face price.

For example, for Nine Inch Nails' recent arena tour, face price for pit tickets (GA floor) were around $150-$200, depending on the city. But they were nearly impossible to get, so most fans ended up having getting them on resale, where prices of $300 - $400 dollars were common. You can wait for tickets to drop the day of the show but that doesn't always happen. I know someone who ended up paying $800 for a pit ticket on the day of the show after they shot up to over $1200 at one point.

It is frankly completely out of control.

Re: Internal emails reveal Ticketmaster helped scalpers jack up prices, FTC says

#130

Post by zem »

KumaBear wrote: post #112
smelendez wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem for seated events is variations on, four people buy tickets together, seats ABCD, and the people in seats B and D drop out. They have friends who would buy the empty seats, but instead end up with a stranger in between them. Or two people buy seats together, one can’t make it, and now the other person is stuck sitting with a stranger. And they have a friend who also wants to go who is also sitting alone.…

You can swap whose name is assigned on tickets you own. But you cannot change the names of anyone. It’s the only way to prevent scalping. It’s not costumer friendly but it’s also anti-scalper

yeah but also what percentage of fans get burnt by the inflexibility once and then get permanently soured on the band and venue, because now every time they think about them there's a terrible experience to remember
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