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

Having the majority of your tickets restricted from transfer drives up the prices.  It kills the supply side of the secondary market.  The handful of scalpers that know their way around the restrictions have a field day selling tickets for a ton of money without much competition from fans or other scalpers.  You can't fairly compare pricing on the secondary market if you are looking at transfer restricted events vs non restricted events.  Its not an apples to apples comparison. 

I would expect tickets at places like MSG don't' drop too much.  It's an Arena in an area of 10's of millions of people.  It's always going to be high demand. and you don't usually see ticket prices drop for the really high demand shows too much.

On the polar opposite, I'm looking at Vancouver and a giant wad of the platinum tickets are in the rear sections of the lower bowl.   I don't really feel they're going to sell all of those at 500 to 700/ticket.  I suppose it's a positive. A lot of the closer tickets went to 10c (not all, but a fair amount).   

I also think it's not great how TM withholds inventory.   You never know how many tickets they haven't put on sale, and people make decisions to pay based on it looking like it's limited.

I'm actually surprised in Vancouver they're showing all those tickets for sale at the back. I figured they'd trickle them out to look more in demand.

Lerxst1992 said:

Eddieredder said:

Lerxst1992 said:

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. 

Taylor is the only artist with higher broker prices. Even the Stones have lower prices than PJ NE,  and they a much larger fanbase. 

Tiered pricing would restrict demand to specific pricing, which would create a fairer market and reduce the extreme upward pressure on prices that Pearl Jam’s unique ticketing policy has. It’s also clear selling 5000 legacy tickets in prime locations for a fraction of FMV has an upward pressure on any tickets that hit the open market including PJPREMIUM 

They just released more PJ Premium at MSG, for about $100 more than they were on Friday. They are creating desperation in the market. Instead of releasing the 10% of premium tickets at once, they artificially limit supply to boost premium prices.

the entire process of how they price tickets puts upward pressure on the 90% of fans wanting tickets to the NE indoor shows that did not win the lottery. A tiered price system would give fans a chance to spend 180, 250, 350, 450 etc for the 90% who lose the lottery.

Go to the supermarket now and all they have to eat is one loaf of bread. How much would that be priced at?

right now the choice for New Yorkers is $180 or $1000, and PJs policies drive up the $1000. It’s the worst ticketing policy in rock, by a mile.

 

 

Stones retail prices dwarf PJs base price, and they are playing stadiums. 

The demand for the remaining tix after fan club, + multiple other alottments would be the same IMO. Its still 2k-4k tix available to the public. That number doesn't change. Tiered pricing doesn't change the appetite of those who want to go. Tiered pricing doesn't change the fact that only 10-20% of the capacity is available. Those would sell out regardless.

The price of bread would be the retail price. The guy selling out of the back of his car in the parking lot would still be priced at a premium. 

I totally agree with you about releasing premium in tiers. That does create demand. Pretty sure that isn't a band request. Thats a TM thing.

Your choice right now for New Yorkers is $180 f2f, premium, or 3rd party reseller. If there were tiered pricing (which would still sell out), and no premium. Then your options would be $180 f2f and 3rd party reseller. A quick check of Stubhub shows that it isn't as black and white as $180 or $1000. There are plenty of listings in between. 

Its an alogorithm. If the demand remains the same the pricing wouldn't change.

I ask again. Are you saying you want higher priced fan club tix? Are you saying you want more in the secondary market?

Higher base prices could absolutely change things. It could also be the same. But then that opens a completely different can of worms.

jimjam1982 said:

PJ_Soul said:

lastexitlondon said:

JPPJ84 said:

These prices may be the norm in the US. As loads of other people have pointed out, you can’t compare the US to Europe so I still think tickets are overpriced here.
 I also paid 10$ for an ice cream in NYC that would’ve cost me 3€ in Germany so there’s that.

Agreed. Totally correct Americans can't seem to grasp this. I hope the shows don't sell . 

I think they grasp it - they aren't stupid. What I think is more going on is that America is probably the most brutally capitalistic country in the world (no offense meant), so the citizens therefore tend to be more accepting of or used to this kind of thing.

Yup - capitalism = good. Make more money go to more pearl jam shows. It maths out.

That being said it appears they overpriced for Europe based on GDP and average incomes in those countries...however...

Problem is the cost of doing the tour overseas might be more in line with US costs or even higher due to international insurance/travel.. so ...what if the choice is PJ at high prices or PJ never goes to EU again?  What would you choose?

The solution would be for the band to play more shows, but they play the bare minimum. 

lastexitlondon said:

PJ_Soul said:

lastexitlondon said:

JPPJ84 said:

These prices may be the norm in the US. As loads of other people have pointed out, you can’t compare the US to Europe so I still think tickets are overpriced here.
 I also paid 10$ for an ice cream in NYC that would’ve cost me 3€ in Germany so there’s that.

Agreed. Totally correct Americans can't seem to grasp this. I hope the shows don't sell . 

I think they grasp it - they aren't stupid. What I think is more going on is that America is probably the most brutally capitalistic country in the world (no offense meant), so the citizens therefore tend to be more accepting of or used to this kind of thing.

Yeah Im not calling anyone stupid at all.  It's just not the same here. 

COVID allowed companies to jack up their prices during the window when there were shortages, and of course once prices go up, they aren’t coming back down.  

iOnlyownMymind said:

jimjam1982 said:

PJ_Soul said:

lastexitlondon said:

JPPJ84 said:

These prices may be the norm in the US. As loads of other people have pointed out, you can’t compare the US to Europe so I still think tickets are overpriced here.
 I also paid 10$ for an ice cream in NYC that would’ve cost me 3€ in Germany so there’s that.

Agreed. Totally correct Americans can't seem to grasp this. I hope the shows don't sell . 

I think they grasp it - they aren't stupid. What I think is more going on is that America is probably the most brutally capitalistic country in the world (no offense meant), so the citizens therefore tend to be more accepting of or used to this kind of thing.

Yup - capitalism = good. Make more money go to more pearl jam shows. It maths out.

That being said it appears they overpriced for Europe based on GDP and average incomes in those countries...however...

Problem is the cost of doing the tour overseas might be more in line with US costs or even higher due to international insurance/travel.. so ...what if the choice is PJ at high prices or PJ never goes to EU again?  What would you choose?

The solution would be for the band to play more shows, but they play the bare minimum. 

They play too few shows spread very far apart. This is definately part of the problem with the ticket costs.

JimmyV said:

P-Town-P-Jam-Fan said:

Lerxst1992 said:

P-Town-P-Jam-Fan said:

Having the majority of your tickets restricted from transfer drives up the prices.  It kills the supply side of the secondary market.  The handful of scalpers that know their way around the restrictions have a field day selling tickets for a ton of money without much competition from fans or other scalpers.  You can't fairly compare pricing on the secondary market if you are looking at transfer restricted events vs non restricted events.  It’s not an apples to apples comparison. 

Many of their ticketing decisions drive up prices. Rewarding senior fans is a good thing (although it does shut out newer fans from the seating process), but selling those prime tickets at a huge discount drives up prices of tickets hitting the “open market” , as does the transfer restriction. 

Keeping tickets artificially low priced (as they’ve told us) and then releasing 10% and letting “market rate” set prices (although their agent limits supply so it is the exact opposite of market rate) it’s a manipulated rate.

Theres a reason their tickets on TM and broker sites are far and behind everyone’s prices not named Taylor. Their policies drive up prices hitting the “market.”

and are they ever going to explain why so many in the lottery did so well for the NE indoor shows? Doubtful. 

 

I don't disagree with any of this.  Phish just announced another summer tour, 3 shows at Mansfield, 3 shows at Deer creek, 3 shows at Alpine Valley, etc.  Ticket pricing way cheaper, it can be done..

I wish I could get into Phish. Love the way they tour. The music just doesn't grab me.

Great music (Trey is an amazing guitarist) ruined by silly/ridiculous lyrics for me. They are quite the touring act though, for sure....

TM has been holding back tickets in the NYC market since the 90s. The number of "holds" for NYC shows has always been much more than people believe. Back then it was a backdoor hustle to provide resellers/scalpers with tickets. Now, thanks to technology, it is much more transparent. It is a blatant fleecing of the consumer. And the high prices for MSG are nothing new. 2010 was the first and only time I bought through stubhub for Pearl Jam at MSG and the cheapest single the day before the show was $500 for a single seat in the 200s at the back of the arena (not rear view but all the way straight back). So 14 years later it is not surprising that same ticket might be $800. And as I said, there is no free market involved it is TM's monopoly that is causing the current pricing situation. If TM is charging $1,000, then stubhub can easily ask $800. Yes the band is complicit, but it is hard for a band to say no to more money.

If you want to know whose fans have it rough, go take a look at Andrea Bocelli tickets. I was thinking I would get a pair for my parents, but I don't love them that much.