My vent of the day - ticketmaster fees

[DaveNV]

Also kind of like resort fees. As the OP noted, the ticket price was discounted, but not the fees. Same thing at resorts: this allows them to claim "50% DISCOUNT" without actually discounting that much.

Also, I wonder if Ticketmaster kicks back any of that fee to anyone, and whether they pay a fee to the concert organizer to be the ticket agency. It's kind of strange that no one else has started a competing business. It's so scalable, you could easily start with a regional presence and gradually expand.

Live Nation was a competitor, until Ticketmaster bought them. So they essentially have a monopoly now.

Dave

 

[pedro47]

Generally, tickets purchased onsite don't have extra fees attached. Ticketmaster levies these outrageous fees because they can, pure and simple. It's pure greed.

Dave

In other words it is pure profit for TM.

 

[DaveNV]

In other words it is pure profit for TM.

Yep. Things are done electronically, and instantly. No human is involved, so no labor is being paid to do the work. They send tickets to your email address, and you have to present your printed-at-home-by-you tickets, or your phone, for them to scan in. No paper tickets are printed by TM at all. So where do all those stupid fees come in? It's extortion and ridiculous.

Dave

 

[wackymother]

Food for Thought a restaurant in Williamsburg, Virginia are suggesting you pay in cash or they will be charging you a service fee for using a credit card.

That's different. Restaurants by us do that too, but if they are clear about what they are doing, I am okay with it. They are trying to avoid paying credit card fees. Usually the upcharge is about 3 percent. And no restaurant has a monopoly the way Ticketmaster does--you can always go to the restaurant down the street.

 

[am1]

And they charge fees on both sides. We buy season tickets for SDSU basketball. Sometimes if we can't go we want to sell our tickets. There is a substantial fee for the sale that comes out of our proceeds plus the buyer also pays fees. Ridiculous.

Maybe sell them on stub hub or outside the arena or eBay etc. The point is worry about the incoming money.

 

[Ken555]

That's different. Restaurants by us do that too, but if they are clear about what they are doing, I am okay with it. They are trying to avoid paying credit card fees. Usually the upcharge is about 3 percent. And no restaurant has a monopoly the way Ticketmaster does--you can always go to the restaurant down the street.

Restaurants don’t pay more than 1.5% unless they have no idea how to run a business, so if they’re charging customers 3% they’re making a profit on it…


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[dago]

Restaurants don’t pay more than 1.5% unless they have no idea how to run a business, so if they’re charging customers 3% they’re making a profit on it…


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So what if they are. as @wackymother said you can always go to the restaurant down the street.

 

[Brett]

Generally, tickets purchased onsite don't have extra fees attached. Ticketmaster levies these outrageous fees because they can, pure and simple. It's pure greed.

Dave

Maybe in the future it will be a little less "pure greed"

Ticketmaster parent sued over alleged monopoly​

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/bu...r-sued-department-justice-monopoly-rcna153645

 

[callwill]

Wait until they discover the fee fee.

 

[dioxide45]

Maybe in the future it will be a little less "pure greed"

Ticketmaster parent sued over alleged monopoly​

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/bu...r-sued-department-justice-monopoly-rcna153645

So they separate Live Nation from Ticketmaster. I don't see how this makes the fees go away. I seem to remember paying ticket fees long before the two became one.

 

[Brett]

So they separate Live Nation from Ticketmaster. I don't see how this makes the fees go away. I seem to remember paying ticket fees long before the two became one.

maybe suing the parent and separating the child will make fees go away

 

[dioxide45]

maybe sue the parent and the separate child will make the fees go away

View attachment 93391

But the fees were there before they ever merged. So I don't see how separating them will get rid of the fees. I see bigger benefits to this for performers and venues.

 

[Brett]

But the fees were there before they ever merged. So I don't see how separating them will get rid of the fees. I see bigger benefits to this for performers and venues.

Maybe it helps the performer and concert venue. I don't know what Ticketmaster fees were 14 years ago but having a monopoly probably doesn't help consumers

 

[dioxide45]

Maybe it helps the performer and concert venue. I don't know what Ticketmaster fees were 14 years ago but having a monopoly probably doesn't help consumers

Ticketmaster has always lacked any real competition in the ticketing marketplace. Live Nation doesn't and didn't sell tickets previously so this isn't going to increase ticketing competition. Now this could help to allow another ticketing company to start up as currently Live Nation requires venues to sell tickets through Ticketmaster but are there any other reliable companies out there that can sell the tickets instead?

 

[Brett]

Ticketmaster has always lacked any real competition in the ticketing marketplace. Live Nation doesn't and didn't sell tickets previously so this isn't going to increase ticketing competition. Now this could help to allow another ticketing company to start up as currently Live Nation requires venues to sell tickets through Ticketmaster but are there any other reliable companies out there that can sell the tickets instead?

Dunno
I'm not a big concert goer but on the news they mentioned the lawsuit and the difference in ticket prices for same performer in different countries

 

[easyrider]

I like Ticketmaster better than many other ticket sites. The last two sets of tickets I bought are peer to peer where you need an app. Both times I had to speak to a rep to figure out where our tickets were. With Ticketmaster our tickets are emailed and its instant.

I'm not a fan of overpaying for tickets. We might go to a few concerts every year and the extra fees aren't a problem but they are kind of annoying.

Bill

 

[dioxide45]

Dunno
I'm not a big concert goer but on the news they mentioned the lawsuit and the difference in ticket prices for same performer in different countries

I think we can't rely on the news 100%. From what I understand ticket and certain fees in other countries are regulated and limited through legislation. Just like credit card merchant fees and prescription drug prices outside the USA. So it isn't necessarily comparing apples to apples. I don't doubt the current combined company doesn't increase prices but there are other factors feeding high ticket prices. Demand for a finite amount of tickets is one of them. This is proven by how much tickets sell for on the secondary market. People are willing to pay high prices, so why not charge higher prices. Is demand the same for concerts in other parts of the world?

A fix for this could be to limit or restrict the secondary market for tickets. Even with so called "verified fans" scemes, tickets still somehow make it onto the resale marketplaces. They could move to a system where, like airlines, the persons ticket has their name on it and only that person can use it. Performers don't like this because they then can't brag about how fast their shows sold out, mostly to ticket scalpers. So we have problems across the board with entertainment and tickets.

 

[emeryjre]

I can only imagine what the cost of the infrastructure is to run an operation like Ticketmaster
We would all love to have software that works as well as Ticketmaster does for our Timeshare companies
I have never studied their corporate filings or cost structure, but I can only imagine they pay a bundle to maintain their servers and software

 

[claraj]

I try to go to the box office to buy tickets if I can to avoid these fees. I agree, the fees are outrageous.

 

[jorcus]

Ticketmaster has always lacked any real competition in the ticketing marketplace. Live Nation doesn't and didn't sell tickets previously so this isn't going to increase ticketing competition. Now this could help to allow another ticketing company to start up as currently Live Nation requires venues to sell tickets through Ticketmaster but are there any other reliable companies out there that can sell the tickets instead?

There are a number of smaller venue players in the space. Eventbrite is one of the more well known ones. Promotors who use this range from small one off events that might have a dozen people to just about anything else Ticketmaster does not control. I have been to events with 4 to 6 thousand people that were using Eventbrite ticketing platforms.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

I try to go to the box office to buy tickets if I can to avoid these fees. I agree, the fees are outrageous.

Sometimes the box office will charge fees as well, that just depends on the venue. If the event is popular, like a big name concert you are likely to get locked out of the good seats by time the box office is selling tickets...

 

[WinniWoman]

I live right down the road from one of the best concert venues in the country and have yet to go. Why?

Because the prices to sit under the pavilion and closer to the stage are outrageous. I refuse to get the cheaper lawn seats where it could also rain and I’m too old for that. Plus the seats are so far away why should I watch a screen? I can stay home and watch tv.

Then there’s the issue of trying to get out of the parking lot. I hear it can take 2 hours to get out for what should be a 10 minute ride back to my home.

Last year for my birthday I purchased 2 tickets to see my fav country singer plus 2 cover bands in Hampton Beach casino. ( an hour and a half away) $35 each. Standing only, but due to my back issue we were able to get folding chairs in the ADA section near the stage. Got a holiday inn room nearby since the concert ended at midnight. Breakfast included.

 

[callwill]

I try to go to the box office to buy tickets if I can to avoid these fees. I agree, the fees are outrageous.

Some of the box offices charge some- not all- of those fees. For me, living about 40 minutes from such venues means that the fees are likley similar to the expanse of driving and in some case parking to avoid those fees. I had a favorite outdoor venue that was over an hour away. When their concert series were announced i bought tix to every concert i wanted to see there, plus a few extras. Made one trip to get them all at once in person until they started charging for people to come and pick them up. My interest has waned as the acts are no longer the era i am interested in seeing...

 

[Brett]

I think we can't rely on the news 100%. From what I understand ticket and certain fees in other countries are regulated and limited through legislation. Just like credit card merchant fees and prescription drug prices outside the USA. So it isn't necessarily comparing apples to apples. I don't doubt the current combined company doesn't increase prices but there are other factors feeding high ticket prices. Demand for a finite amount of tickets is one of them. This is proven by how much tickets sell for on the secondary market. People are willing to pay high prices, so why not charge higher prices. Is demand the same for concerts in other parts of the world?

A fix for this could be to limit or restrict the secondary market for tickets. Even with so called "verified fans" scemes, tickets still somehow make it onto the resale marketplaces. They could move to a system where, like airlines, the persons ticket has their name on it and only that person can use it. Performers don't like this because they then can't brag about how fast their shows sold out, mostly to ticket scalpers. So we have problems across the board with entertainment and tickets.

"The suit also highlights differences between the concert business in the United States, where venues tend to have exclusive deals with ticketing companies, and elsewhere in the world, where venues have “open” deals allowing competition between those selling tickets."


"LiveNation/ Ticketmaster's sprawling empire dominates the industry by locking venues into exclusive ticketing contracts, pressuring artists to use its services and threatening its rivals with financial retribution. "


"Ticketmaster / LiveNation has 80 percent of primary ticketing at major concert venues."

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/23/technology/ticketmaster-live-nation-lawsuit-antitrust.html

 

[Sandi Bo]

I live right down the road from one of the best concert venues in the country and have yet to go. Why?

Because the prices to sit under the pavilion and closer to the stage are outrageous. I refuse to get the cheaper lawn seats where it could also rain and I’m too old for that. Plus the seats are so far away why should I watch a screen? I can stay home and watch tv.

Then there’s the issue of trying to get out of the parking lot. I hear it can take 2 hours to get out for what should be a 10 minute ride back to my home.

Last year for my birthday I purchased 2 tickets to see my fav country singer plus 2 cover bands in Hampton Beach casino. ( an hour and a half away) $35 each. Standing only, but due to my back issue we were able to get folding chairs in the ADA section near the stage. Got a holiday inn room nearby since the concert ended at midnight. Breakfast included.

Just had to shout out (love) the Hampton Beach Casino. Literally my stomping grounds as a kid ("we" had a house on Boars Head - wish my parents had not sold that). Do you go to Wally's for twin lobsters on Tuesday's? We try to whenever we're back.

And argh on the ticket prices. Nebraska baseball team is playing in the Big10 Tournament (here is Omaha). It's a big deal (if you are from Nebraska). Yesterday my daughter paid $75 a ticket for today's game (we passed). This morning they opened up more seats -- $16! Yay for us - total price for our tickets - $30 ($14 in fees)!! Who gets all that - ticket master? What a shame it's not going to the University. And where did those seats come from? Someone sold them to TM this morning? The stadiium hasn't been close to being full.

When you can book Taylor Swift for $100 in Portugal - but $2000 in Miami -- who gets that $1,900. All to ticket master and their fees, fold in reselling? Like I could buy a ticket for $100 (if I would be so lucky to get in their queue when they go on sale - then resell on TM and they get their cut (and I get mine))? I really don't know, I'm guessing. Unreal. How can they stop it in other countries and here in the US we let it get so crazy? I hope the lawsuit filed gets some relief to this insanity. The end result for us is we don't go much to concerts (or even would not have gone to today's BB game if the ticket prices didn't "go down" (even though there are shady fees in thte mix).