5 ms·

We bought $700 tickets to see a show we really wanted to see, but ended up being unable to make it. We tried selling it on Ticketmaster, where you can in theor

We bought $700 tickets to see a show we really wanted to see, but ended up being unable to make it. We tried selling it on Ticketmaster, where you can in theory set your own price, or accept their "best offer". Our best offer was somewhere in the neighborhood of $150, and given that it was the night of the show, we accepted it. We paid $54 per ticket in "processing fees" when purchasing, and paid $50 in more "processing fees" when selling. I'm sure the eventual buyers of our tickets probably had to pony up something like that as well. If I had a magic button that made everyone above a certain level working there destitute and homeless, I'd probably break my finger pushing it.

yard2010 1y ago
Their whole business is based on bullying, dark patterns and ripoff, they either go out of business and become homeless or turn out to be the next president of the united states.
- JumpCrisscross 1y ago
  > Their whole business is based on bullying, dark patterns and ripoff No. It’s based on monopoly. There are a limited number of venues that can host a modern superstar, generally no more than one per geography, and Ticketmaster made it a point to represent all of them. Which means any modern superstar and their fans must work through Ticketmaster. Which, in turn, enables this nonsense. The cause is monopoly. Not “bullying, dark patterns and ripoff;” those are effects.
  - bombcar 1y ago
    It’s worse than that. The venue contracts with Ticketmaster to hike all the fees and shit, which then get kicked back in some percentage to the venue (and sometimes the band) and Ticketmaster takes the heat. So the 50% that goes to “Ticketmaster” may be 80% to the venue.
    - MengerSponge 1y ago
      They're a liability sink. It's good business!
    - jart 1y ago
      Ticketmaster actually kicks money back to the venue? I thought their business model was to bankrupt venues and then buy them at auction.
  - analog31 1y ago
    It's also a weird kind of monopoly, in that the good itself has no meaningful elasticity. When people talk about ticket prices, I always tell them: "Come hear my band for 15 bucks at the door, and free street parking." But of course I know that it's not a comparable experience.
  - lokar 1y ago
    And even more clever: they leverage their control of the big acts and venues to force everyone else into line. So even a mid sized venue can’t cross them because they can retaliate
- will4274 1y ago
  > turn out to be the next president of the united states From the site guidelines: > Eschew flamebait. Avoid generic tangents. Omit internet tropes.
- 8bitsrule 1y ago
  >Their whole business is based on bullying, dark patterns and ripoff Much like the corporations that use private homes as gambling chips. Much like many organizations playing on the ongoing slump of Western values.
KumaBear 1y ago
Solution that might be anti user friendly. Tickets are bought and assigned to a persons name at time of purchase. They can only be refunded at cost and resold at cost to buyers. Release of tickets refunded shall be reposted for resell at a random time after attempting a refund. This will however allow people to pay for bots that will purchase tickets on their behalf. But I believe a verification system can prevent that from happening if one would like. But the incentives aren’t there to do so.
- mrits 1y ago
  I’ve heard of this before, it might be Joe Rogan that does this
  - carlosjobim 1y ago
    It's one of the most common ways to sell tickets for any kind of event. It's tried and tested for a long time.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- smelendez 1y ago
  The problem for seated events is variations on, four people buy tickets together, seats ABCD, and the people in seats B and D drop out. They have friends who would buy the empty seats, but instead end up with a stranger in between them. Or two people buy seats together, one can’t make it, and now the other person is stuck sitting with a stranger. And they have a friend who also wants to go who is also sitting alone. The venue might still sell out but it’s a worse experience for everyone. Even groups who all get in together get annoyed by people trying to swap seats or cram in the aisles to be with their friends. Venue staff are stuck dealing with crowd control issues.
  - WalterBright 1y ago
    > but instead end up with a stranger in between them Offer the stranger $20 to swap seats.
thousand_nights 1y ago
i experienced the opposite of this, bought tickets for a band i didn't really want to see, and ended up selling it on ticketmaster for a profit shortly before the concert i felt like i accidentally made money on some esoteric stock market
prmoustache 1y ago
What kind of show sell $700 tickets? Does that include an escort?
- drewbeck 1y ago
  So many big shows these days, unfortunately. Not every ticket will be that much, but many of the best seats will.
  - JohnFen 1y ago
    That genuinely blows my mind. I can't even begin to imagine how a show could be so incredible as to be worth that much, but I guess that just means I'm not the target market.
- Loughla 1y ago
  I was stunned by the prices of shows these days. The closest venue used to be $200 for up close, EXPENSIVE seats. Now they're $350 for open lawn. This is only 5 years apart, and the only difference is they use Ticketmaster instead of selling themselves.
  - pants2 1y ago
    That's why I haven't been to a Ticketmaster-run show in years. Went to one crappy show that I paid $400 for and felt completely ripped off, haven't been back. There are plenty of local concerts and events that are like $15 cover and significantly more fun.
- rolandog 1y ago
  I know! Greedflation is out of control. That used to be the cost of decently prized intercontinental plane tickets 6 years ago (not the cheapest!).
  - varenc 1y ago
    Greed is sort of the root of capitalism? Every entity working in their economic best interest. IMHO the problem here is Ticketmaster's monopoly status and the total lack of competition, which otherwise is the only thing applying downward pressure on prices in capitalism.
eleumik 1y ago
[flagged]

yard2010 1y ago

Their whole business is based on bullying, dark patterns and ripoff, they either go out of business and become homeless or turn out to be the next president of the united states.

JumpCrisscross 1y ago
> Their whole business is based on bullying, dark patterns and ripoff No. It’s based on monopoly. There are a limited number of venues that can host a modern superstar, generally no more than one per geography, and Ticketmaster made it a point to represent all of them. Which means any modern superstar and their fans must work through Ticketmaster. Which, in turn, enables this nonsense. The cause is monopoly. Not “bullying, dark patterns and ripoff;” those are effects.
- bombcar 1y ago
  It’s worse than that. The venue contracts with Ticketmaster to hike all the fees and shit, which then get kicked back in some percentage to the venue (and sometimes the band) and Ticketmaster takes the heat. So the 50% that goes to “Ticketmaster” may be 80% to the venue.
  - MengerSponge 1y ago
    They're a liability sink. It's good business!
  - jart 1y ago
    Ticketmaster actually kicks money back to the venue? I thought their business model was to bankrupt venues and then buy them at auction.
- analog31 1y ago
  It's also a weird kind of monopoly, in that the good itself has no meaningful elasticity. When people talk about ticket prices, I always tell them: "Come hear my band for 15 bucks at the door, and free street parking." But of course I know that it's not a comparable experience.
- lokar 1y ago
  And even more clever: they leverage their control of the big acts and venues to force everyone else into line. So even a mid sized venue can’t cross them because they can retaliate
will4274 1y ago
> turn out to be the next president of the united states From the site guidelines: > Eschew flamebait. Avoid generic tangents. Omit internet tropes.
8bitsrule 1y ago
>Their whole business is based on bullying, dark patterns and ripoff Much like the corporations that use private homes as gambling chips. Much like many organizations playing on the ongoing slump of Western values.

KumaBear 1y ago

Solution that might be anti user friendly. Tickets are bought and assigned to a persons name at time of purchase. They can only be refunded at cost and resold at cost to buyers. Release of tickets refunded shall be reposted for resell at a random time after attempting a refund. This will however allow people to pay for bots that will purchase tickets on their behalf. But I believe a verification system can prevent that from happening if one would like. But the incentives aren’t there to do so.

mrits 1y ago
I’ve heard of this before, it might be Joe Rogan that does this
- carlosjobim 1y ago
  It's one of the most common ways to sell tickets for any kind of event. It's tried and tested for a long time.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
smelendez 1y ago
The problem for seated events is variations on, four people buy tickets together, seats ABCD, and the people in seats B and D drop out. They have friends who would buy the empty seats, but instead end up with a stranger in between them. Or two people buy seats together, one can’t make it, and now the other person is stuck sitting with a stranger. And they have a friend who also wants to go who is also sitting alone. The venue might still sell out but it’s a worse experience for everyone. Even groups who all get in together get annoyed by people trying to swap seats or cram in the aisles to be with their friends. Venue staff are stuck dealing with crowd control issues.
- WalterBright 1y ago
  > but instead end up with a stranger in between them Offer the stranger $20 to swap seats.

thousand_nights 1y ago

i experienced the opposite of this, bought tickets for a band i didn't really want to see, and ended up selling it on ticketmaster for a profit shortly before the concert i felt like i accidentally made money on some esoteric stock market

prmoustache 1y ago

What kind of show sell $700 tickets? Does that include an escort?

drewbeck 1y ago
So many big shows these days, unfortunately. Not every ticket will be that much, but many of the best seats will.
- JohnFen 1y ago
  That genuinely blows my mind. I can't even begin to imagine how a show could be so incredible as to be worth that much, but I guess that just means I'm not the target market.
Loughla 1y ago
I was stunned by the prices of shows these days. The closest venue used to be $200 for up close, EXPENSIVE seats. Now they're $350 for open lawn. This is only 5 years apart, and the only difference is they use Ticketmaster instead of selling themselves.
- pants2 1y ago
  That's why I haven't been to a Ticketmaster-run show in years. Went to one crappy show that I paid $400 for and felt completely ripped off, haven't been back. There are plenty of local concerts and events that are like $15 cover and significantly more fun.
rolandog 1y ago
I know! Greedflation is out of control. That used to be the cost of decently prized intercontinental plane tickets 6 years ago (not the cheapest!).
- varenc 1y ago
  Greed is sort of the root of capitalism? Every entity working in their economic best interest. IMHO the problem here is Ticketmaster's monopoly status and the total lack of competition, which otherwise is the only thing applying downward pressure on prices in capitalism.

eleumik 1y ago

[flagged]