Ticketmaster “Premium Ticket” SCAM

SHZA said:

pjl44 said:

SHZA said:

I think some of you are looking at this from the perspective of a savvy consumer who has experience with TM shenanigans and has done the research to understand that the only premium feature of premium seating is the price. To the average consumer who doesn't know that, it would be reasonable for that person to expect that they are getting something more than they would get if they purchased standard tickets. Just because not everyone is deceived doesn't mean it's not deceptive. 

hairgrowth2001 said:

Is it the artists making the money or ticketmaster? I think for big arena and stadium shows the artists are receiving a guarantee. I assumed that the premium prices are going to tickemaster. 

The artists "own" the tickets so they are getting the money. But because TM's fees are based on a percentage of the price, TM gets much higher fees on the premium sales.

 

I don't think it's reasonable to buy a ticket and think "oh boy I can't wait to see what else I get for $800," not look into what else you get for $800, and then get upset that you only got a concert ticket for $800

During the checkout process with the clock ticking it can be tough to tell what's included. I almost got duped during the Oasis sale last week. The first thing I carted seemed like the standard GA ticket and was about $400. I almost bought it because once it was in the cart the full description wasn't available, and if I had taken the time to read through the fine print on the map page someone else would have carted it. I ultimately passed and went back and got the real standard price which was about $250.

By "more" I'm just saying that the seats themselves aren't even "better" than standard. There's no way to know during an initial sale that standard seats in the same row or better will be released for $500 less. The Platinum buyer paid $800 and the person in the row in front of them was only charged $300 for the identical (actually better) product. I struggle to see how that's not a scam.

pjhawks said:

njhaley1 said:

pjhawks said:

MikeDigs said:

pjl44 said:

SHZA said:

I think some of you are looking at this from the perspective of a savvy consumer who has experience with TM shenanigans and has done the research to understand that the only premium feature of premium seating is the price. To the average consumer who doesn't know that, it would be reasonable for that person to expect that they are getting something more than they would get if they purchased standard tickets. Just because not everyone is deceived doesn't mean it's not deceptive. 

hairgrowth2001 said:

Is it the artists making the money or ticketmaster? I think for big arena and stadium shows the artists are receiving a guarantee. I assumed that the premium prices are going to tickemaster. 

The artists "own" the tickets so they are getting the money. But because TM's fees are based on a percentage of the price, TM gets much higher fees on the premium sales.

 

I don't think it's reasonable to buy a ticket and think "oh boy I can't wait to see what else I get for $800," not look into what else you get for $800, and then get upset that you only got a concert ticket for $800

Interesting take since you used the same price that I paid, but then you described a completely different situation, as I never thought that.  Really weird, since I already described my issue.  I knew I bought a concert ticket, and I knew where the seat was located.  With a "Premium" tag I was surprised how shitty the seats actually were, and that our view was blocked.

I DO think it's reasonable to expect that a concert ticket, listed with a "Premium" tag, would at the very least, come with unobstructed views of the stage. 

The scam of premium pricing is not being able to resell for less than the price you paid. I understand not letting people scalp for more, but not being able to undersell seems like a total fu move.

It's to discourage them from buying them unless they are very certain they or a "representative" will be at the show.

The hope is that speculators who can't unload them face a higher price than they would under typical situations. 

 ok, not being able to transfer tickets AND not undersell for cost is a scam.  life happens sometimes, and sticking people with premium tickets because something intervened months later and not letting them transfer or sell for less is an fu move.  and I am on board with the non-transfer part of that.  to me that works to minimize scalping. 

Get_Right said:

ZoSoTim said:

As someone without an unlimited bank account I hate the premium pricing but I can also see why it’s used. Why should scalpers make more money off ticket sales than the actual artists?

This. TM is controlling the sale of every single ticket by algorithm and capturing the secondary market revenue. The best seats never get released to the public, and as we have seen, not even released to the 10C. TM is using technology to squeeze the most dollars out of all the best, and sometimes mediocre, seats. Why should Stubhub, Seatgeek et. al. make MILLIONS off a band without having any connection to the band? That is why prices are higher and dynamic pricing exists. That is TM's value proposition to the artists and it is a win win for the artists and TM. I can't blame a band for saying yes when they deserve that revenue more than the resellers. Good for Robert Smith, but he is leaving big money on the table and feeding revenue to the secondary market. The bigger issue is the lack of competition for TM and the fact that they can charge any prices and fees they like without recourse. It is a textbook monopoly and that is how and why consumers are getting screwed.

kmcmanus said:

They came right out and said that they opted into it to get more 10C tickets. You can feel however you want about whether you agree with their choice but they never claimed they were forced, it was a compromise 

SHZA said:

pjl44 said:

SHZA said:

pjl44 said:

SHZA said:

I think some of you are looking at this from the perspective of a savvy consumer who has experience with TM shenanigans and has done the research to understand that the only premium feature of premium seating is the price. To the average consumer who doesn't know that, it would be reasonable for that person to expect that they are getting something more than they would get if they purchased standard tickets. Just because not everyone is deceived doesn't mean it's not deceptive. 

hairgrowth2001 said:

Is it the artists making the money or ticketmaster? I think for big arena and stadium shows the artists are receiving a guarantee. I assumed that the premium prices are going to tickemaster. 

The artists "own" the tickets so they are getting the money. But because TM's fees are based on a percentage of the price, TM gets much higher fees on the premium sales.

 

I don't think it's reasonable to buy a ticket and think "oh boy I can't wait to see what else I get for $800," not look into what else you get for $800, and then get upset that you only got a concert ticket for $800

During the checkout process with the clock ticking it can be tough to tell what's included. I almost got duped during the Oasis sale last week. The first thing I carted seemed like the standard GA ticket and was about $400. I almost bought it because once it was in the cart the full description wasn't available, and if I had taken the time to read through the fine print on the map page someone else would have carted it. I ultimately passed and went back and got the real standard price which was about $250.

By "more" I'm just saying that the seats themselves aren't even "better" than standard. There's no way to know during an initial sale that standard seats in the same row or better will be released for $500 less. The Platinum buyer paid $800 and the person in the row in front of them was only charged $300 for the identical (actually better) product. I struggle to see how that's not a scam.

How many times have you been on an airplane and the person in front of you paid more or less? Was someone scammed there?

No scam, because the airline told me I was in the "economy" section. If the airline sold a bunch of tickets as "Platinum class," but when you get to the airport you're in the fifth row of economy next to a lavatory and sandwiched between two people who paid a third of the price for "standard economy" tickets that the airline released the day before the flight, that would be a scam. That's basically what TM is doing with platinum/premium.