Ticket prices. This is not for you (the fans).

Get_Right said:

Do not hate the players, hate the game. It is Ticketmaster's monopoly that is ultimately hurting consumers. You cannot blame the band for accepting more money when others are making money off their gigs.  And do not mention the Cure as they are an outlier.

But this is not the Pearl Jam ticket game. It is the Pearl Jam ticket monopoly. They're selling about 5,000 tickets per show for significant discounts. These premium locations are guaranteed for a certain segment of the fan base, which limits the supply for all of the other fans. That's what drives up prices for the unfortunate people who are not lucky enough to win the various lotteries.

And this policy also limits Supply because lottery winners can now maximize the number of shows they are winning which also pushes up prices up on broker sites which in turn pushes up PJ premium prices

charlesyoung39 said:

I really wish people would stop blaming the band for the cost of goods and services in 2024. I’d be willing to bet that they are not making much more profit per show than what they were 10 or more years ago. It takes significant infrastructure to put on a tour that travels the world, and these prices actually compares favorably to many other concert experiences. 

No way. Stop making excuses for incredibly wealthy people.

Name me one other good or service that went from the equivalent of $20 in 1993 (or even $40 in 2003) to $185 today. I'll wait.
$185 is like the BARGAIN price IF you're lucky. The Premium Scam nonsense that their management signs off for (does the band even know what these tickets cost?) is insulting to be honest. 10% of the seats held to "offset the increasing cost of touring." RIght. The $185 price doesn't offset it enough? 

What makes it even worse, if that is possible, is the section I sat in 4 rows behind the pit at Wrigley in 2016 for $94 is now being sold for $1700. I have a screenshot but don't know how to post it. Nothing went up 17 times in cost since 2016, it's just a disease and they're all GREEN. And that was when I checked Wrigley tickets on Sunday. I wasn't allowed in on Friday at the onsale, I bet they were even more, since we've seen the dynamic prices drop $100 or so since the Friday onslaught. Add to this that I put in for ONE concert whole tour and only got "unfulfilled," Vegas 1... I was able to get tickets barely on Friday that don't suck all the way in the 200s/back of the arena (could have saved ten bucks at a bargain of $175 lol)... they're limited view side stage but down low so hoping for the best. Seriously, who of you out there just has $3400 to take your honey to a show for a couple hours (not even 3 hours anymore, yeah I went there)? That's over a month's pay for me & I've been in the same career for over 20 years now. Is every Pearl Jam fan in the top 1% income bracket, along with the band? Or ya'll just maxing out credit cards and gonna declare bankruptcy before the next tour? 

You guys have to fix this. This isn't the Pearl Jam I grew up with. We truly are in Rolling Stones territory now. Robert Smith is the new concert hero for the 21st Century. Talk to him and see how he did it, because he sure tours a lot less than Pearl Jam but HE told ticketmaster what to do if they wanted a Cure tour. STOP BLAMING TICKETMASTER, you apologists. Ticketmaster sucks, but you're signing off on it and saying you are ok ripping off the fans like a scalper while also charging insane prices for the "bargain" seats AND Ten Club (if we should be so lucky to actually get them after paying dues for 30 years). 

Not saying this will be my last show this year, but I can't imagine going to too many more when the next tour is an additonal 50% and the tour after that is 50% more than that, etc etc. FIX IT PLEASE.

Lerxst1992 said:

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JD87070 said:

Lerxst1992 said:

Eddieredder said:

"Pearl Jam has ticket policies that limit supply and increase demand. It is obvious their ticket policies drive up prices on the broker sites, which drove up PJPrem."

 Thats totally fair. But what would you propose as a solution? Its clearly pretty complicated.

I guarantee having tix be $250 each (or more) with no premium wouldn't be welcomed with open arms. Nor would $500 pit tix. Tiered pricing = more profit on cheaper seats. Its complicated. 

I think you quoted me there lol. I put out a list earlier of all top acts per seat geek, and the PJ prices exceeded everyone else. The only artist I could find recently with higher broker prices is Taylor. She’s a little bit more popular , no?


All the following impacts broker prices which then is justification for increases to PJ premium. This is market manipulation, not market value

When PJ decides that half the venue (floor and lower levels) will sell for face, but way below fair value, that drives up prices by reducing supply and increases the need for PJ PREM.


When PJ decides that seniors are guaranteed (as a block unit, members will vary) 80% discount off fair value on prime seat locations for an unlimited number of shows, that drives up demand, since the band (and buyers of upper level seats) are subsidizing the purchase. Seniors will put in for many more shows with these “significantly discounted tickets” which then drives down supply, which drives up prices 

PJ decided for NY and Philly to not offer rear stage seating (Seattle did have tickets available) at the verified  onsale time, significantly hurting fans with verified codes.

for some reason, many fans apparently scored tickets for three or four NE indoor shows. Based on PJ Premium prices, the odds per show seems to be about ten percent, so hitting all four is about one in ten thousand. Some have offered that there was a single draw based in the new rules, so a good lottery number gets fans an unlimited deluge of tickets, taking supply away from everyone else.


there’s more problems with their unique system, I’ll stop there…


…
ok, to your question, what to do…

the closest seats are the ones that should have premium prices. Face value of many more tickets should be somewhat commensurate with actual value. There’s a reason every other band does it differently 

so how so we take care of seniors? Perhaps limit the “80% off” premium tickets to one set per tour. 

Have the lottery results limited to winning one show until all entries have at least one winning show if possible. Once that happens, then allow for multiple winners. Some in high demand markets will not win but their chances will be greatly increased 

have tier pricing, sell tickets like all the other acts do 300…250…200…150…100; each category is a bucket in the lottery. This forces fans to place a dollar value on the experience, which is a million times fairer than the current disaster 

Try to match where you want to play and figure out who wants to see you more than anyone else. That’s where the majority of shows should be.stop expecting fans to fly to places you like, and in some cases taunt them with hundreds of unsold tickets.


release all the premium tickets at once. What they do now by releasing a few at a time is creating desperation and manipulation in the market place. They told us ten percent will be PJPrem, so be fair and release them all at once. Let a true market decide the price. If they sit unsold for days,DROP THE PRICES.  They Told us these would be sold at market prices so if they don’t sell for a few days, drop the prices, 

Perhaps have a second chance silent auction for those who completely lost the lottery. Put out a list of the same locations that are PJ Premium, and instead of manipulating fans, let them  bid on specific ticket locations 

Some good points here, but one thing you’re overlooking is, the only shows where resale is allowed is MSG and Wrigley, everywhere else on this tour is F2F only. So since the resellers are limited on their options for this tour, the tickets they can get their hands on are priced as such. That has nothing to do with the band.
And as far as where they play, as much as i would love for them to vary their touring more, they’ve earned the right over the decades to play where they want. As much as it sucks for those of us in markets they don’t visit, that’s the reality.

. Check out Vivid seats, there are plenty of broker tickets out there . The band maximizes a guaranteed 80% discount for a certain segment of its fan base for the best seats. This drives up prices for those of us who are never entitled to this huge discount.

 There is a reason their tickets on the secondary Market are so expensive, more expensive than any artist other than Taylor swift. Yes in past years they didn't tour as much and we  attributed the high resale prices to that, but this year they're playing plenty of dates and the broker prices are worse than ever. And there are plenty tickets for Philadelphia Baltimore and Fenway on the broker sites.

These prices have everything to do with decisions the band makes about its tickets.

also not matching Supply with demand when choosing a tour itinerary, that also drives up prices. They must make seven or eight decisions about their tour and their ticket policies, all of which drive up prices for the Unfortunate Souls that don't win a 10% chance lottery

I am not saying whether or not it's their right, I'm just commenting on the policies and decisions and the impact those have on prices

Sure. But having tiered pricing doesn't change the demand. It might just change the profit from the reseller. If they can resell a $175 ticket for $1000 at MSG, they can certainly sell a $50-100 ticket for the same. If a pit ticket retails for $500-600 and they sell out.....why wouldn't you be able to resell for $1000+? 

Having higher prices could easily equal higher premium and resale. See Taylor Swift. 

Are you saying you want higher prices for fan club/base retail tix?

I also don't have the answers for any of this. But I can see it both ways. 

What was the name of the ticketing agency that PJ used in the mid-90s during their battle with TM?  It was those big bumper sticker sized tickets and I feel it was an agency through Pennsylvania.

Lerxst1992 said:

show previous quotes

JD87070 said:

Lerxst1992 said:

Eddieredder said:

"Pearl Jam has ticket policies that limit supply and increase demand. It is obvious their ticket policies drive up prices on the broker sites, which drove up PJPrem."

 Thats totally fair. But what would you propose as a solution? Its clearly pretty complicated.

I guarantee having tix be $250 each (or more) with no premium wouldn't be welcomed with open arms. Nor would $500 pit tix. Tiered pricing = more profit on cheaper seats. Its complicated. 

I think you quoted me there lol. I put out a list earlier of all top acts per seat geek, and the PJ prices exceeded everyone else. The only artist I could find recently with higher broker prices is Taylor. She’s a little bit more popular , no?


All the following impacts broker prices which then is justification for increases to PJ premium. This is market manipulation, not market value

When PJ decides that half the venue (floor and lower levels) will sell for face, but way below fair value, that drives up prices by reducing supply and increases the need for PJ PREM.


When PJ decides that seniors are guaranteed (as a block unit, members will vary) 80% discount off fair value on prime seat locations for an unlimited number of shows, that drives up demand, since the band (and buyers of upper level seats) are subsidizing the purchase. Seniors will put in for many more shows with these “significantly discounted tickets” which then drives down supply, which drives up prices 

PJ decided for NY and Philly to not offer rear stage seating (Seattle did have tickets available) at the verified  onsale time, significantly hurting fans with verified codes.

for some reason, many fans apparently scored tickets for three or four NE indoor shows. Based on PJ Premium prices, the odds per show seems to be about ten percent, so hitting all four is about one in ten thousand. Some have offered that there was a single draw based in the new rules, so a good lottery number gets fans an unlimited deluge of tickets, taking supply away from everyone else.


there’s more problems with their unique system, I’ll stop there…


…
ok, to your question, what to do…

the closest seats are the ones that should have premium prices. Face value of many more tickets should be somewhat commensurate with actual value. There’s a reason every other band does it differently 

so how so we take care of seniors? Perhaps limit the “80% off” premium tickets to one set per tour. 

Have the lottery results limited to winning one show until all entries have at least one winning show if possible. Once that happens, then allow for multiple winners. Some in high demand markets will not win but their chances will be greatly increased 

have tier pricing, sell tickets like all the other acts do 300…250…200…150…100; each category is a bucket in the lottery. This forces fans to place a dollar value on the experience, which is a million times fairer than the current disaster 

Try to match where you want to play and figure out who wants to see you more than anyone else. That’s where the majority of shows should be.stop expecting fans to fly to places you like, and in some cases taunt them with hundreds of unsold tickets.


release all the premium tickets at once. What they do now by releasing a few at a time is creating desperation and manipulation in the market place. They told us ten percent will be PJPrem, so be fair and release them all at once. Let a true market decide the price. If they sit unsold for days,DROP THE PRICES.  They Told us these would be sold at market prices so if they don’t sell for a few days, drop the prices, 

Perhaps have a second chance silent auction for those who completely lost the lottery. Put out a list of the same locations that are PJ Premium, and instead of manipulating fans, let them  bid on specific ticket locations 

Some good points here, but one thing you’re overlooking is, the only shows where resale is allowed is MSG and Wrigley, everywhere else on this tour is F2F only. So since the resellers are limited on their options for this tour, the tickets they can get their hands on are priced as such. That has nothing to do with the band.
And as far as where they play, as much as i would love for them to vary their touring more, they’ve earned the right over the decades to play where they want. As much as it sucks for those of us in markets they don’t visit, that’s the reality.

. Check out Vivid seats, there are plenty of broker tickets out there . The band maximizes a guaranteed 80% discount for a certain segment of its fan base for the best seats. This drives up prices for those of us who are never entitled to this huge discount.

 There is a reason their tickets on the secondary Market are so expensive, more expensive than any artist other than Taylor swift. Yes in past years they didn't tour as much and we  attributed the high resale prices to that, but this year they're playing plenty of dates and the broker prices are worse than ever. And there are plenty tickets for Philadelphia Baltimore and Fenway on the broker sites.

These prices have everything to do with decisions the band makes about its tickets.

also not matching Supply with demand when choosing a tour itinerary, that also drives up prices. They must make seven or eight decisions about their tour and their ticket policies, all of which drive up prices for the Unfortunate Souls that don't win a 10% chance lottery

I am not saying whether or not it's their right, I'm just commenting on the policies and decisions and the impact those have on prices

They may be playing more dates this year than last, but a lot of it is 2 shows in one large city. The Midwest gets 2 shows, both in Chicago. Then look at 2014. There's St. Louis, Cincy, Lincoln, Nebraska, Detroit, Milwaukee, Moline, Woodlawn, Minnesota. And that's mild compared to early 2000 tours. 

The writing on the wall has been clear the last decade or more — the band tours very little and so if you want to see them and see them a lot, you have to travel and so it's a mad scramble to get tickets. We're now also dealing with more casual fans. Was stuck in the 300 sec last year for United Center, and the ppl around me maybe knew 4 songs and they were all the hits. 

PJ_Soul said:

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Tim Simmons said:

Yeah, I just got a National/War On Drugs ticket for $150, so we can relax about where PJ priced them (non dynamic of course)

There were also $62 tickets available, and up from that. 

GA tickets to see The National at a larger outdoor event at Crystal Palace in London the week after Pearl Jam are £70 including fees. It’s £65 including fees to see them at Castlefield bowl in Manchester. 

They will have good seats and GA tickets for sale at "standard" prices by show time. This is obvious.

rw160510 said:

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PJ_Soul said:

Tim Simmons said:

Yeah, I just got a National/War On Drugs ticket for $150, so we can relax about where PJ priced them (non dynamic of course)

There were also $62 tickets available, and up from that. 

GA tickets to see The National at a larger outdoor event at Crystal Palace in London the week after Pearl Jam are £70 including fees. It’s £65 including fees to see them at Castlefield bowl in Manchester. 

Yeah, I just got a lower level row 13 seat, directly facing the stage, for $87 CAD. Now that is reasonable. Thanks The National and The War on Drugs, for allowing me to afford your show, lol.

The prices max me out at 2 or 3 shows. The still looming threat of cancellations max me out at driving distance for said shows. It ain't 2006 anymore. I stand in awe of people traversing the country or multiple continents at this point.

pjl44 said:

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MD190661 said:

I actually think it's insane that people will pay $200 or more for crap seats for these bands listed in this thread. I can understand paying a premium for very good seats. Otherwise I'd rather go see a jazz show for $30.

Arenas on up are the domain of more casual concert goers. If you only go to a couple shows a year you're not scrutinizing whether that ticket should be $80 or $180. A band catches your eye and you make plans.

Quite a few people in my life where I see this play out. Most recent example being Incubus. I was like man I'm not paying $160 to see Incubus and my cousin and sister were both like I don't know I want to see Incubus.

That's a good point. I think most or a lot of people just buy whatever ticket they can at the price available or can afford. Lots of the cheapest seats at arena and stadium shows sell out first. So $125 to be the last few of a stadium to see a band like the Rolling Stones sound like a good deal to the casual concert goer. I think it's a rip off and an insult. But I've seen a thousand concerts over the past 40+ years and little FOMO for any act, including PJ. I'd never pay $175 to sit in the upper deck of any arena to see any band. Maybe $75, but that's about it. But I am fine paying close to $200 to be in the pit for PJ in a few months. These days that's a concert bargain, even though I rare shell out that much to see concerts. $100 is pretty much my limit before thinking really hard about how much I want to go.