Ticket Resale
florence151
Posts: 597
in The Porch
Just got 2 tickets to see Radiohead. They have a new policy that has all tickets printed with the name of the purchaser and/or attendees. Photo ID required upon entry. Looks like they are trying to stop the scalpers. Good idea. IMHO.
Hold On
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Comments
In LA, they played two nights at a 6K venue when they've easily sold out the Hollywood Bowl (18K) two nights over in the past. I saw scalpers literally walk people into the venue and then exit immediately, because they made so much selling one ticket that they could basically waste the other.
There are multiple examples of when artists restrict access to tickets which limits supply on the secondary markets, it actually drives the price way up for those that get shut out and still want to get in. Adele's tour was another big example. Most of her tickets were will call/credit card entry and demand/secondary prices were nuts even though she played 6-8 nights in bigger markets.
Recently I saw someone on Facebook comment how surprisingly easy it was for her to get floor tickets for Roger Waters, when she can never get them for PJ. I commented that it was most likely due to the Waters tix being priced more accordingly to demand. His floor tickets are way more expensive than upper levels, so people get priced out of certain seats which helps thin out demand. She agreed and said she had never thought of it that way. PJ/TOTD priced all their tickets pretty much the same across the board, no matter if you're up close in Seattle or behind the stage upper level in LA. Same price initially, but way different value. I would have gladly paid a higher face value for my TOTD Seattle tix if it meant thinning out some competition.
Artists underpricing their tickets in the first place and then under supplying tickets due to venue size is the main culprit when it comes to driving the price up in secondary markets.
The will call/credit card restrictions is a good start in theory, but you also have to make sure every fan willing to buy a ticket for whatever show that may be is able to do so at the initial point of purchase for a face value that leaves little to no excess demand. That's the challenge.