Concert ticket rant

Posted by: Redmires on 08 November 2013

I don't go to many large concerts these days. I'd much rather watch gigs in small pubs and clubs. However, my daughter wants to see Elton John next year so I told her I would get a couple of tickets this morning when they went on sale. The official EJ site points you to ticketmaster but I also went to the venue site which points you to Seetickets or ticketmaster. Here's a comparison of the two ....

 

Seetickets - 2 tickets in block AA5 (closest to the stage) = £180

 

ticketmaster - 2 tickets in block AA5 - none available

 

However, ticketmaster tells me that tickets are available on their other site "Getmein" FROM £176 PER TICKET

 

How on earth do they get away with it ?????

 

Is it legalised robbery or am I just becoming a grumpy old man.

 

 

 

Posted on: 08 November 2013 by Steve J

And all to see a guy who can't sing anymore. Even more galling. 

 

I don't bother to go to large venues anymore. It's just not worth it.

Posted on: 08 November 2013 by mutterback

+1 on legalized robbery. They need to be regulated.  Not that the artists really need $100/seat, but its crazy that they don't even get revenue from inflated prices on the secondary market. Though, one could say the same about the Twitter IPO, which I'm sure no one there is crying about.

Posted on: 08 November 2013 by winkyincanada

Secondary ticket market is fine by me. If artists want a bigger share, then they should just put their prices up in the primary market. That's more risky for them, though.

 

The secondary marketeers take on risk that they can't re-sell (if they take ownership of the tickets) or simply work on a commission (if they are consignment sellers). It is just the way it works. If you think the people working this market are making extraordinary profits, then the answer is to get a piece of it.

 

The only regulation I would support is to ensure that secondary marketeers aren't a closed shop who get preferential treatment in the allocation of primary tickets as a result of corrupt relationships with the promoters and Ticketek.

 

The bigger issue in my mind is the allocation of corporate tickets. Here, already well-paid executives and their guests get to hang out on their customers' dime. Nice if you can get a piece of it, but frustrating for those on the "outside".

 

The secondary market is pretty much the only way I can get good tickets to popular events, in part due to corporate allocation of most of the prime tickets. I accept that I will pay the going rate, which may be unrelated to the nominal price.

Posted on: 09 November 2013 by pumpkinhead

The main issue I have with purchasing tickets is that a lot of them go on sale at 9 or 10 am on a Friday morning when most people who can afford them are at work.   If the tickets went on sale on an evening or weekend us real music fans would stand a better chance of beating the touts and profiteers.

Posted on: 09 November 2013 by FangfossFlyer

Yeah, I agree!

Posted on: 09 November 2013 by Mick P
Redmires
 
The reason why they charge £176.00 is because they can. If thousands of mugs are gullible enough to stomp up that kind of money, then you cannot blame the organisers for taking advantage of it.
 
It is a simple case of supply and demand. If no one offered to buy the tickets, the price would drop overnight.
 
The only people who cause the price to rise are the mugs who buy the tickets.
 
The answer is simple, don't be a mug and don't buy the ticket. Next week some poor tout will be crying his heart out offering them for a fiver.
 
Regards
 
Mick
 
 
Originally Posted by Redmires:

I don't go to many large concerts these days. I'd much rather watch gigs in small pubs and clubs. However, my daughter wants to see Elton John next year so I told her I would get a couple of tickets this morning when they went on sale. The official EJ site points you to ticketmaster but I also went to the venue site which points you to Seetickets or ticketmaster. Here's a comparison of the two ....

 

Seetickets - 2 tickets in block AA5 (closest to the stage) = £180

 

ticketmaster - 2 tickets in block AA5 - none available

 

However, ticketmaster tells me that tickets are available on their other site "Getmein" FROM £176 PER TICKET

 

How on earth do they get away with it ?????

 

Is it legalised robbery or am I just becoming a grumpy old man.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: 12 November 2013 by maze

We went to see EJ at the nia in Birmingham a couple of years back, poor ticket sales led us to purchase the tickets as a two for one price, which I recal we paid around £40 for two good seats. 

I think concerts are poor value these days, when you factor in parking charges at some venues it's just not a enjoyable experience any longer.

When I look back at old ticket Stubbs from the 70 and 80's most ticket prices i was paying for major artists of the day ranged from £2.50 to no more the £8.00 .

Marvin Gaye at Birmingham odeon 1980 @  £4.50 unbelievable now.

theres not many concerts you can attend for two under £100, having said that I am going to see Roy Wood/the Proclaimers next month, Symphony Hall Brum £52 for two incl booking fee.

Posted on: 13 November 2013 by Redmires

I know what you mean about ticket prices. One does tend to compare prices with concerts attended in 70's & 80's. I remember buying Live Aid tickets (1985),which were £25 when the average ticket price was around a tenner. I think it was worth it though.

 

My main gripe in the original post was that Ticketmaster had no tickets left near the front, but the Letmein site (which ticketmaster also run) has them at double the price. They get double commission, fees etc by selling the same product twice. I remember BBC Watchdog exposing this dodgy practice a couple of years ago but obviously to no effect.