Hey Seth

[fatskippy]

hey seth,

you have a problem, and it's called ticketfly.

you might be tempted to throw your hands in the air and say "whatever, the tickets were sold eventually".  that's the same attitude that nissan/jiffy lube operators have... and note that it has caught up with them. 

MPP is a major-league venue hosting major-league acts.  let's not bring down the experience what an embarrassingly sub-standard ticketing system.

so what would you have done

Not use a website that can't handle the demand for the venue?  Or once it was proven that it can't, get rid of it immediately?  It's nice that you want to take on ticketmaster, but it's coming at the expense of fans.  How many collective hours of productivity were lost during the Phish sale?  10,000+?  Let ticketfly improve their server capacity, but until then quit using that site.  The fees on ticketfly seem to be largely the same as ticketmaster's anyway, so as a customer I don't see the benefit.  As a fan buying tickets, the only thing I care about is convenience, not some battle between companies.  Continuing to use a ticket provider for a large amphitheatre when the site is obviously designed to only handle clubs would be so incredibly stubborn.

[Mr.Whippy]

[/qoute]

hey seth,

you have a problem, and it's called ticketfly.

you might be tempted to throw your hands in the air and say "whatever, the tickets were sold eventually".  that's the same attitude that nissan/jiffy lube operators have... and note that it has caught up with them. 

MPP is a major-league venue hosting major-league acts.  let's not bring down the experience what an embarrassingly sub-standard ticketing system.

so what would you have done

I don't know if this would work, but here is an idea.  For Merriweather shows and really high demand things at 9:30 that also overwhelm their system (like Spoon), what about going old school and selling tix in person at the club box office?

You could possibly have the first hour or two be in-person ticket sales only and then open it up to online after the major crunch has been filled in person. 

I know this would upset people that are not local and can't get there for the in-person sale, but it would probalby make more people happy than it would upset given that most 9:30 and Merriweather show goers are probably local.

This system seems like it would reward effort.  People who really want good seats can put in the effort to get them instead of being subjected to the random chance of the currently TF system or that of ticketmaster where everyone is trying online simultaneously.

This system doesn't address scalping, but it at least makes it harder for scalpers because if they want to scalp really good seats, they will have to put the effort in to get them.  The current system is even worse for scalping because scalpers do not have to put in any extra effort, they just try to get lucky with the largely random ticket distribution. 

With this system, scalpers would actaully be adding value because they would be putting in the effort for people that are unwilling or unable to do it themselves.  In the current system scalpers add no value because they are just the ones that got lucky with the random ticket distribution, they didn't have to put in any extra effort. 

So at least this system would improve the whole scalping thing a bit.  If you wanted to get rid of it, you could make the in-person sales paperless ticketing.

Anyways, just an idea. 

[ggw]

How many collective hours of productivity were lost during the Phish sale?  10,000+? 

Sometimes the jokes write themselves.....

[Jaguar]

How many collective hours of productivity were lost during the Phish sale?  10,000+? 

Sometimes the jokes write themselves.....

Exactly!

Of all of the crap thrown around in here, that's the one that really screams, 'I'm a self-important professional surfer who expects instantaneous gratification of all my whims...PRONTO!'.

You're lucky your boss allows (intentionally or otherwise) internet access during that exact time frame so you can tend to your personal business, usually at the employer's expense I might remind you. A large number of workers don't even have that luxury. Suck it up and be happy for some of those delays that might actually help you get that coveted ticket when you get a chance later on. In fact, I kind of like these delays solely so those who aren't afforded such professional luxuries might actually have a chance in obtaining high demand tickets.

[StoneTheCrow]

So at least this system would improve the whole scalping thing a bit.

Disagree completely.

[fatskippy]

you guys are right, it's totally fine if this amateur website continues to waste all of our time.

[hutch]

I say give them a chance....One snafu is no reason to go back to TM...

I mean think about it if they go back to TM Seth is giving his money to LN...I know he does that currently with some shows  but the goal must be -ultimately- not to feed the hand that bites you.

Also, weren't tickets available later when the snafu was cleared up? Its not as if the show sold out in 3 minutes and you couldn't get a ticket!

[runwhiteyrun06]

Also the convenience fees weren't high at all. I can easily forgive Friday's SNAFU since ticketfly doesn't charge convenience fees that begin to get ridiculously high.

[sweetcell]

seth, i'll answer your "what would you have done" question tomorrow. 

in the meantime:

- asking a venue operator or promoter to take responsibility for wasted productivity is pointless and, as others have pointed out, juvenile.
- going back to in-person sales wouldn't help much and would cause way more inconvenience than good.  online ticketing systems are awesome when they work... so let's get this one to work.
- yes, sometimes the jokes do write themselves

Also the convenience fees weren't high at all. I can easily forgive Friday's SNAFU since ticketfly doesn't charge convenience fees that begin to get ridiculously high.

disagreed.  i'd rather pay $10 more and have a platform that gives me a fair shake at getting tickets, vs. a cheap solution that crashes and leaves me hanging for an hour.

[DotTheEyes]

I had no problem buying my Broken Bells tickets on Saturday.  Site didn't crash or anything. 

These Phish-ticket-buying-nightmare stories are a bit scary; I hope at least part of the "problem" has been solved by the time a hot show at MPP I want to go to comes around.

I have no big problem with Ticketfly myself, though.  It's always seemed a nice, user-friendly alternative to the Live Nation/Ticketmaster goliath.  *shrugs*

[Seth Hurwitz]

we're gonna get this thing right, but it might take a few stumbles

the fact that someone couldn't get Phish tickets during the first 40 minutes is not a reason to stop trying

btw...in case nobody noticed...the Merriweather Ticketfly fees are a flat $7 per ticket regardless of ticket price...$4 per order handling...no other charges unless you want them overnighted...we absorb credit card fees, which is probably what people didn't realize was jacking up the price at check-out

this is a huge drop from what it used to be

930 is different because we weren't able to make the same kind of deal that we could with the huge volume that Merriweather does

[Mr.Whippy]

So at least this system would improve the whole scalping thing a bit.

Disagree completely.

Maybe this isn't worth bringing up because it doesn't sound like in-person ticketing is being considered, but how would selling the most high demand tix in person not improve the scalping problem?

I think a big part of what drives the scalping issue is that online ticketing has made it so easy for people to be scalpers.  It takes no effort, you just log in right at the moment of the onsale and try to get lucky.  A huge amount of the Phish traffic that made the system crash was scalpers.  If you don't believe me, check out CL, Ebay, stubhub, etc.  If the best tix were sold in person, scalpers would actually have to work to get them.    How could that not improve the situation?

[betao]

Because they would probably still "work" in order to get them.

[Mr.Whippy]

Because they would probably still "work" in order to get them.

Yes, some might continue to work to get them, but isn't that an improvement over the current system where it takes scalpers virtually no work to get premium tix? 

You have to think that making people actually put in hours of effort to get tix would curb some of the e-bay and craigslist scalpers.

I'm old enough to remember getting tix for shows before the internet and it was much easier to consistently get good seats then if you were willing to wait in line.  These days it is just purely random as to whether your order will get through or not for good tix, even with an efficient system like ticketmaster.   

[runwhiteyrun06]

This is probably a stupid question, but for big name shows why couldn't ticket providers print the buyer's name on the ticket and then label any extra tickets they buy as guest? When you enter the venue, you have to show ID showing it is actually you and then if you buy any extra tickets label them as guest tickets? It wouldn't solve everything, but scalpers would be more reluctant to buy a ticket if they know one of their tickets can only be used on themselves.