Has anybody not bought a concert ticket because of high Ticketmaster fees?

quasi

Man, I just tried to buy Ladytron tickets for the Henry Fonda in LA and here is the breakdown:

Ticket Base Price: $23.00
Building Facility: $2.00
Convenience: $8.25
Processing Fee: $5.10

Total - $38.25!

That's $15.25 over the face value! That's a 66% additional fee on the face. Ridiculous. I know we've gone over this a thousand times but that is just plain wrong.

Now, I'm unsure if I even want to go. You can't buy tickets at the theatre either. I just can't give in to this highway robbery but Ladytron is one of my favorite bands.

Has anybody NOT gone to the show because they didn't want to pay these horrible fees. I guess most people love their bands so much they'll pay it but damn.

blackredyellow

Unfortunately, it hardly ever stops people... if it did, then maybe there would be some changes in how much they charge. People will pay extra for the convenience.

It's one of those things like the price of gas... we complain about it, but not enough to really change our habits.

quasi

"It's one of those things like the price of gas... we complain about it, but not enough to really change our habits."

Yeah, that's true. Plus, going to concerts is not a necessity of life.

I also try to look at the total price of the ticket and determine if the band is worth it regardless of face value/fees. Or, I pretend the ticket price was $35 and the with fees $38 or something like that just to mentally get away from those fees.

upina2001

i know, michael buble tickets were OUTRAGIOUSLY EXSPENSIVE!!!

Pauk

It stopped me buying Springsteen, and made me think twice about getting Neil Young tickets (although they were sold out by the time I got to them anyway). I'm prepared to pay £50-60 for a legend, but bumped to £75 with booking fees is ridiculous!

I'm glad I live close to the city now and can buy from the box office. Save so much money now I dont have to pay travel or booking fees! Saves on average £15-20 a show, so I must save a good £250+ a year! crazy

Vedderist

It really is too bad, I know there are tons of people to be paid, but $30 to get to the venue, $100 for tickets if you don't want nose bleed ($200) if you actually want to "see" the band, $10 for a drink while you are there and $50 for a t-shirt, for what now seems to be 1 hr of live music.

Unfortunatley, that means, I only go all out for Pearl Jam and miss everyone else I would LOVE to see live!

South of Seattle

quasi wrote:

Man, I just tried to buy Ladytron tickets for the Henry Fonda in LA and here is the breakdown:

Ticket Base Price: $23.00
Building Facility: $2.00
Convenience: $8.25
Processing Fee: $5.10

Total - $38.25!

That's $15.25 over the face value! That's a 66% additional fee on the face. Ridiculous. I know we've gone over this a thousand times but that is just plain wrong.

Now, I'm unsure if I even want to go. You can't buy tickets at the theatre either. I just can't give in to this highway robbery but Ladytron is one of my favorite bands.

Has anybody NOT gone to the show because they didn't want to pay these horrible fees. I guess most people love their bands so much they'll pay it but damn.

If you order with a CC and have them mailed it's usually a few more bucks as well :(

angryyoungman

quasi wrote:

Man, I just tried to buy Ladytron tickets for the Henry Fonda in LA and here is the breakdown:

Ticket Base Price: $23.00
Building Facility: $2.00
Convenience: $8.25
Processing Fee: $5.10

Total - $38.25!

That's $15.25 over the face value! That's a 66% additional fee on the face. Ridiculous. I know we've gone over this a thousand times but that is just plain wrong.

Now, I'm unsure if I even want to go. You can't buy tickets at the theatre either. I just can't give in to this highway robbery but Ladytron is one of my favorite bands.

Has anybody NOT gone to the show because they didn't want to pay these horrible fees. I guess most people love their bands so much they'll pay it but damn.

welcome to 1995. . .this is what pj went to bat against. . .they are a monopoly so they charge whatever they want. . .and the government does nothing about it.

FUCK TICKETMASTER

Jammin909

I was going to buy Tom Petty tickets but after seeing all the additional charges I decided to pass.

Atomic Punk

I have skipped shows because of the fees.

pjoasisrule

Jammin909 wrote:

I was going to buy Tom Petty tickets but after seeing all the additional charges I decided to pass.

Same here, I have seen him 3 times already but was like eh, the grass seats are only 30 so I will do that......30 became 50 something within just a minute

Wobbie

Yeah, sometimes if I'm "on the fence" I'll just say "fuck it" when I see what the grand total really is. It's a shame. But, like most people, I usually just cuss and click "purchase."

intodeep

I just paid for a ticket to see the Baroness

ticket price-10.00
ticketmaster fee-2.55
processing fee- $2.00


so the ticketmaster crap is almost half the price of the regular ticket.....

Complete and utter rip off.

facepollution

Not to defend ticketmaster or anything, but since they don't see any of the actual ticket money itself, I guess they do have to make their money somewhere. What I object to is how they call it a 'handling fee' as if that's something that actually costs money, it's a booking fee, their cut, nothing more, nothing less.

Gigs are getting more expensive full stop. To see Velvet Revolver at Brixton Academy it's just under £40, that's $80 to you Americans. That's before the booking fee is added on, which is about £5/$10. My point being that gigs have become a lot more expensive, and that is largely due to artists losing out on record sales.

I don't really begrudge the ticket companies making their share, they're a business, making money is what they do. I think we all get pissed off because it's music, and it's something we care about, but the reality is we probably get ripped off to a larger extent by other companies anyway. For example when I go down the pub and buy a pint of lager it costs me nearly £3, despite the fact I can get a four pack of cans of lager for about the same price in the supermarket. Even worse is a glass of coke which will cost me around £1.70, yet it costs them about 2 pence to produce. It's all relative.

PJGARDEN

I have actually started to appreciate ticketmaser a little. When I bought tickets for the Foo Fighters show in Houston I was charged a $20 processing fee. You had to buy directly from the venue. Ticketmaster didn't sell tickets to that show. I came really close to not buying them.

JSBE

it all depends. if it is a band i've never seen before and really want to go see them i'll buy regardless, but for a band i've seen a couple times if the ticket price is already a little high, i'll most likely pass (much like petty this time around like someone else had already said).

if possible, you could always go to the venue's box office and buy tickets from them with no (or very minimal) fees.

obviously this isn't a feasible option for a big show that will sell-out in hours if not minutes, but i've done it for smaller g.a. club shows.

angryyoungman

facepollution wrote:

Not to defend ticketmaster or anything, but since they don't see any of the actual ticket money itself, I guess they do have to make their money somewhere. What I object to is how they call it a 'handling fee' as if that's something that actually costs money, it's a booking fee, their cut, nothing more, nothing less.

Gigs are getting more expensive full stop. To see Velvet Revolver at Brixton Academy it's just under £40, that's $80 to you Americans. That's before the booking fee is added on, which is about £5/$10. My point being that gigs have become a lot more expensive, and that is largely due to artists losing out on record sales.

I don't really begrudge the ticket companies making their share, they're a business, making money is what they do. I think we all get pissed off because it's music, and it's something we care about, but the reality is we probably get ripped off to a larger extent by other companies anyway. For example when I go down the pub and buy a pint of lager it costs me nearly £3, despite the fact I can get a four pack of cans of lager for about the same price in the supermarket. Even worse is a glass of coke which will cost me around £1.70, yet it costs them about 2 pence to produce. It's all relative.

why is it our problem whether ticketmaster makes money or not? better yet who says there is a justifiable reason why there is a ticketmaster? and why ticketmaster has a stranglehold on basically every major venue in the country? arent there anti-trust laws (at least in this country i know there are). . .if there were other ticketing agencies i guarantee there fees wouldn't be so high. . .explain how artists losing money on record sales has got anything to do with a ticketmaster. . .its the same principle i feel about atm's, i dont see why im charged for taking out MY MONEY. . .its just people finding easy ways to steal money from us. . .its bullshit is what im trying to say. . .thats why i dont understand the fans who broke pj's balls about not touring the major venues like they did for that no code tour, the band was standing up for what was right and alot of fans gave them a hard time about it. . .probably alot of the same fans who complain about these surcharges

josevolution

quasi wrote:

Man, I just tried to buy Ladytron tickets for the Henry Fonda in LA and here is the breakdown:

Ticket Base Price: $23.00
Building Facility: $2.00
Convenience: $8.25
Processing Fee: $5.10

Total - $38.25!

That's $15.25 over the face value! That's a 66% additional fee on the face. Ridiculous. I know we've gone over this a thousand times but that is just plain wrong.

Now, I'm unsure if I even want to go. You can't buy tickets at the theatre either. I just can't give in to this highway robbery but Ladytron is one of my favorite bands.

Has anybody NOT gone to the show because they didn't want to pay these horrible fees. I guess most people love their bands so much they'll pay it but damn.

i don't think i have bought a ticket thru TM in at least 10yrs .....oh wait i did but LOLLA tickets last yr ok then before that at least 10yrs

pjtaper

I was going to buy a Black Crowes 4 pack of tickets to Red Rocks, it was $75 base for four tickets... After Ticketmonster's charges, it was around $200 for the 4 tickets...
I ended up buying 2 off craigslist, $20 each... I usually get tickets on Craigslist, as long as I know it won't sell out!

Get_Right

fees have not kept me off, as I will pay to see the bands I want

but, steep ticket prices along with the fees have kept from buying tickets
steely dan
fogerty
joe jackson
van halen
petty
waters

all artists I would love like to see, but whose ticket prices were to steep IMHO. I know they are mostly "veteran" acts, but its just out of hand to pay $100 for 90-120 minutes of music (unless, its PJ, Neil or the who of course)