Kid Rock offers insight into the scalping industry
YourDirtisMyfood
Boston Posts: 4,657
YourDirtisMyfood
Boston Posts: 4,657
Comments
Hail, Hail!!!
Even if you pay less than face for a ticket from a scalper?
No. Getting 'scalped' as in paying 300 bucks for an 80 dollar ticket.
Making the scalper take a loss is a good thing.
Also, will will almost always find a fellow fan-mate that'll get you in at a break-even.
Hail, Hail!!!
Is that better than the possibility of them eating the tickets? If you buy under face value, you are just bailing them out of a bad purchase they made..
Is that better than the possibility of them eating the tickets? If you buy under face value, you are just bailing them out of a bad purchase they made..
You're right... the best thing is to make him eat the entire ticket. But, I also understand the person that wants to get into the gig. It's the people who pay the scalpers those ridiculous prices that keeps them in business. Make them operate at a loss... they go out of business.
Hail, Hail!!!
Here... most of them are regulars. We see the same people (who obviously, don't give a shit about the band) trying to sell tickets. Different bands, different venues... same faces.
Same goes for sporting events... they don't care about the team... it's all about money.
Hail, Hail!!!
So the scalpers kind of show artists how much they can actually get for tickets, and the prices keep going up.
If artists actually sold the tickets at what they're worth, how would the concerts be? Who be attending? What would the energy be like?
I've only ever bought scalped tickets three times. The first was metallica in Toronto '98. We paid about 160 for $40 tickets to get into the pit. Which seemed alot back then, but not so much anymore. Bought some 35 dollar baseball tickets for $30 at a jays game a few days later. We were going to buy at the box office but some guy offered us some sweet ones at discount. The third was a mariners/yankees game. I think we paid about 50 for $35 tickets.
All we last minute events and it was the only way to go (or we got a discount).
I've been to alot of concerts and if I'm planning in advance I can get good seats without paying scalpers. It's when you don't plan in advance its get tough :(
I buy from scalpers if need be, no complaints. Im not driving to chicago from ct and not seeing the show because i demand a ticket for 80 bucks instead of 150.
Which is my point. If you are buying scalped tickets for twice the price... don't complain about paying twice the price.
I'm refering those individuals who pay twice the price... and turn around and complain about scalpers. If you don't like scalpers... don't feed them.
Hail, Hail!!!
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/thecheckout/clips/ (scroll down to the 'Tickets' vid)
Not working for me. What's the gist?
It says content is only viewable from within Australia.
I learned a lot from that article about the way these Stubhubs work. I could never believe it's legal for those ticket resale fuckers to buy bulk quantities of tickets not available to the general public and then resell them at astronomical prices while the guys standing outside MSG or other venues are risking arrest. I would like to play devil's advocate on that subject: http://fort-greene.thelocal.nytimes.com/2012/12/05/ticket-scalpers-shadow-barclays-center-events/
So imagine my surprise to learn that the artists or venues are in fact participating in that Stubhub crap? It makes perfect sense I just never gave it much thought before. I've never bought a scalped ticket simply because I wouldn't want to show up to a show I wanted to go to that bad without tickets, because I think if I failed to get a scalped ticket it would be the biggest disappointment. And I would never pay double face value for a ticket on Stubhub.
They should make all ticket resale illegal and force ticket companies to give refunds if people can't go. I like how in all of this the ticket service fees or whatever they're called aren't even MENTIONED because we're all so used to it that comparatively it's not even an issue.
LIVEFOOTSTEPS.ORG/USER/?USR=435
From the last paragraph in the article.
That quote pretty much illustrates the state of things....knowing full well that this particular tour was supposed to be a bit of statement on ticket prices and scalping, the scalpers were undeterred and still tried to pull their tricks. It's hilarious that some continue to maintain that all is above-board in this seedy business.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IbDFgEnNFY This is the Youtube version of the same video (not sure if it is also not available outside of Australia?) but basically says that tickets advertised on eBay etc do not account for the huge shortfall in tickets - the clip points to the fact that anti-scalping laws are being overturned in many states of the US because the laws don't work, that for stadium gigs usually only a small proportion of tickets go on sale (after removing those that go to fan clubs, promoters, Visa/Mastercard pre-sales, other sponsors, VIPs etc.) and when technology allows for several thousands of computers to be accessing Ticketmaster at the same time there will always be a shortfall. Essentially, it attributes a rise in ticket prices to these scarcity techniques of the major players like Ticketmaster for the rise in ticket prices, particularly in Australia (because we are subject to very high ticket prices plus price-gouging in the form of high fees for postage and handling and fees even for downloading and printing your own tickets).
If a scalper wants too much, I simply wait for another to come by. Maybe living on the East Coast gives me the luxury of being accustomed to a million scalpers at events...can't speak for how it is elsewhere.
'10- MSG 1-2 '11- PJ20
'12- MIA; DeLuna '13- Wrigley; Pitt; Brooklyn 1-2; Philly 1-2; Baltimore; Seattle
'14- Denver '16- Philly 1-2; MSG 2
'17- Pilgrimage Music Fest (Eddie)
'18- Fenway
Thank you so much for finding the Youtube and posting it. Is that like a regular nightly news segment? It was hilarious!
It does make sense that most of the tickets don't go on sale to the general public. But it doesn't mean we should have to compete for those with resellers. I guess they should require ticketmaster et all to disclose how many tickets are ACTUALLY being released in the general public sale.
LIVEFOOTSTEPS.ORG/USER/?USR=435
It's a weekly consumer affairs/consumer rights program - very enlightening, and encourages consumers to know and practice their rights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoCAXrSH ... creen&NR=1
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"A small way that artists have been able to control scalping is through paperless tickets, which only allows the buyers of the tickets to use them at shows and are not allowed to resell them. Smith said paperless tickets, which launched five years ago, accounts for "about 1 percent" of the tickets at Ticketmaster.
"It hasn't grown necessarily as a percentage of the total tickets that we sell, but we certainly see more artists employing it," Smith said. "When it really first started, it was kind of looked at as a tool to use across the entire seats in the arena, but it's really become a tool for the best seats in the house. Increasingly we see artists using it very, very targeted for like the top 500 seats in the house or the top 1,000 seats."
Bruce Springsteen, Keith Urban, New Kids on the Block, Radiohead, Rascal Flatts, Selena Gomez, Muse, Miley Cryus, Iron Maiden, Atoms for Peace and Eric Church are among the acts using paperless tickets.
On his "Wrecking Ball World Tour" last year, Springsteen used paperless tickets for 20 percent of the seats, and Ticketmaster said its data showed that Springsteen's decision helped reduce scalping by 75 percent. (New York is the only state where Springsteen couldn't offer paperless tickets because the state does not allow nontransferable tickets)."
For a band whose core principle for the first decade of their existence was to keep tickets in the hands of the true fans, it pisses me off they don't embrace this ticketing process. Of course it's not 100% perfect and many people who like moving and trading tickets for shows would end, but it's time for people to face the current realities of how out of control the scalping industry has become.
The idea that people should all come together and not buy tickets from scalpers is laughable. It's an unrealistic idea that will never happen. I'd love to see some of the proponents of this strategy sit outside a venue while PJ is playing because they wouldn't pay a cent over face.
A lot of the teen pop performers probably undercharge on the thought that the 14-17 year-old crowd simply can't afford $500 for floor seats, so maybe they'll charge $70 for "good" seats. Unfortunately, a lot of these performers probably have side deals with stub hub and whatnot to funnel tickets in advance. Supply and demand drives prices up and these dads are then breaking the bank to take their two daughters and a few friends to a Miley Cyrus show.
"I simply don't understand...I was on there five minutes before, credit card in hand and I got shut out." Yup, dad of Miley Cyrus fan. It's because you don't have the programs the scalpers have to buy 500 tickets per person when there's an 8 ticket per person limit.
They might get in for face, but they'd miss some of the show.
If the face is $85 and the scalper wants $300 for one of his many tickets on the morning of the show, he might get a little desperate and settle for $150 during the opening act. Opening act leaves the stage around 8:30 (say) and he might want $100 for any unsold amounts.
By the time 9:15 comes around and the first 4-5 songs have been played? Assuming there's any left, he might be willing to take a loss...after all, some money is better than unsold tickets, right? Besides, he's already made major profit on the stack he's already sold.
My friend and I got $360 tix for $160. That was 11 rows from the field at about the 30 yard line. I thought I did good...and my Dolphins won!
I've had to dump a ticket a couple of times on them when I couldn't get rid of it for face or less to anyone and I had to get inside pronto. I hated doing it, but $10 is better than zero dollars. I did give a ticket away for free once. It was the Foo Fighters accoustic show. Couldn't get rid of it. Ended up giving it to a radio station intern who was giving stuff out on the street. She was soo excited. Made my night too - seeing someone so happy.
Someone earlier said to haggle them down if you are going that route.
I tried to get last minute tickets to Neil Young at Massey Hall - not the last time he was there, but the time before that...like 5-7 years ago. Anyways they only dropped 1 pair of tix at the box office. That's it. I was 7th in line.
The scalpers outside wanted $750 a pop. I was like forget that. They refused to budge, even after the show started. They ended up eating the tix rather than going down in price. I guess they made enough leading up to the show and that evening to make up for that shortfall.
There are so many shady deals, not just between artists and the scalpers, but the venues have deals with brokers too.
I know several Leafs season ticket holders that have deals with scalpers for their seats. It's laziness more than anything else. Sell to the scalper as they are guaranteed money then go through the effort of letting it be known they have a ticket and hoping someone wants it for face. Also selling to the scalpers helps them to get a deal for other events they want to go too. "you scratch my back..." kind of thing.
It sucks but thats why brokers thrive.
It's the stories like the Foo Fighters ones that we need more of in this world. You give a ticket away to a real fan who is working for free... and you certainly made her night and maybe even her month.
The shady deals are what kills it. As far as Leafs season tickets, I'm sure if someone sold a few games at a premium, they'd easily make up what they spent on the entire season and only miss a few games they probably couldn't attend anyway.
There's a few guys down here who are well-known sports fans (the kind who dress crazy with the crazy costumes and wild hair and all that) who apparently know these scalpers on a first-name basis. They get a phone call from the scalper saying they have a front-row ticket...of course I'm sure they get a good deal while the regular fans pay extra for seats way up high. :evil:
Everyone makes out like fat cats while screwing the regular fans and the artists all play the "poor guy here, please don't steal our music" role while driving three Bentleys and two SUVs with two pools in their mansion.