Ticket ripoff!

[Julian, Alleged Computer F**kface]

Cat's Cardle uses etix.com which costs $1/ticket, but there aren't really tickets, just massive will call lists/print outs.

[distance]

Originally posted by BoomBoom:
  Ticket broker. It's a supply-demand issue with them. Here it's just a ripoff. No matter how many tickets are left, you have to pay $3.25 for postage/will-call on top of the other $4 fee.

i would never give money to a ticket broker.
 
 if you really want to avoid having to pay fees or ridiculous prices, make yourself friend with the band and get guestlisted.  then you could complain about something like drink prices.

[distance]

Originally posted by [username edited by p.c. moderator]:
  Cat's Cardle uses etix.com which costs $1/ticket, but there aren't really tickets, just massive will call lists/print outs.

and the line takes forever to move there sometimes too.
 i like having actual ticket stubs also.

[BoomBoom]

I've been going to concerts for a long time. And I remember a time when supposed "alernative" clubs like the 9:30 cared about their customers and did everything they could to save them a few bucks. I'm just fed up. $3.25 for postage? C'mon.

[distance]

Originally posted by [username edited by p.c. moderator]:
 If I have to ride the metro for 45 minutes each way to buy the ticket, I'm out probably $2 for the metro plus 1.5 hours of my life. 1.5 multiplied by what I make in an hour comes out far more then $7. Certainly if I was going to the 9:30 Club in the near future for another reason, I'd buy my tickets then if it wasn't going to sell out. But to make a special trip to avoid $7? Foolish. (Particularly for those of us - gasp! - who don't live in DC and it would be 2 hours each way plus gas! Think how much less our costs are compared to a tank of gas and 4 hours of our life times whatever quantifiable value you wish to attribute to our time).
 [/QB]

if i only had to ride the metro for 45 minutes to get tickets at the box office, i would be pretty happy.  i do have to drive 2 hours each way to get tickets so i only am able to buy tickets at the box office when i'm already up there for something.
 
 i go ahead and pay the fees.  it's not really an option for me if i want to go to certain shows.

[Julian, Alleged Computer F**kface]

Originally posted by BoomBoom:
  Again, I go back to my first point: a stamp costs 37 cents, a lot less for bulk mailers. Tickets.com is charging $3.25 for mailing or will call.  

NO! This is where you're mistaken. Tickets.com DOES NOT charge $3.25 for mailing you the tickets or for holding them at will call. That 3.25 is part of the "CONVENIENCE fee". That's $3.25 is the cost for the CONVENIENCE of you not having to come to the venue like I've outlined. This is why it's called the "CONVENIENCE fee" not the "COST OF MAILING IT TO YOU fee."

[Julian, Alleged Computer F**kface]

Originally posted by distance:
  and the line takes forever to move there sometimes too.
 i like having actual ticket stubs also.

Oh, I agree on both points, just adding that to the conversation.

[eros]

monopoly: NOUN: 1. Exclusive control by one group of the means of producing or selling a commodity or service
 
 If Seth thought tickets.com was charging excessive fees and it was hurting his business he would switch back to ticketmaster (which I believe has happened before).
 
 Now, if tickets.com and ticketmaster got together and agreed to keep their prices high then you have illegal price fixing.  Call your congressman!  Call 60 Minutes!

[kosmo vinyl]

It also should be pointed out there are alternatives to tickets.com & the box office.  bands often presell tickets via their own ticketing agency with fees sometimes, lower, equal or higher than tickets.com.  The amount of the handling fee can be argued to death...
 
 there are also tickets.com outlets one can go to... don't think the additional handling fee is applied there.
 
  http://www.tickets.com/b2b/maryland_virginia_outlets.html

[BoomBoom]

I'm not aware of artists getting a cut of those ticket fees, but I may be mistaken. Here's an anecdote: A few years back Billy Bragg played a show at the Smithsonian and the fees charged by TicketMaster doubled the face value of the ticket -- and it was a show honoring Woody Guthrie, no less. I sent a query to Bragg's Web site, not expecting a reply. But I did get one and it claimed they have no control over those fees and don't see a dime from them. The predatory mentality that drives this is the same one that causes record companies to charge twice as much for CDs as they did for vinyl when it's actually cheaper to make a CD. Then they wonder why people pirate like crazy.

[bearman🐻]

Distance hit the nail on the head. Why should I spend ridiculous money to see bands that I saw a while back in smaller venues for far less money? I'm convinced that as long as there are people on a limited budget who enjoy good music, there will always be "alternative" rock. How can one justify spending hundreds of dollars for a 2-hour show, when you can go to a small club with fewer people to enjoy a band playing for 15 bucks? There are plenty of decent bands that play for even less dough, you just have to find the ones that suit your taste. It's not like going to see U2, but at least it's a way to still enjoy concerts without breaking the bank.
 
 I will also stick up for the 9:30 and say their $1 ticket charge is quite reasonable...compared to $3.50 that the Birchmere charges.

[markie]

Originally posted by [username edited by p.c. moderator]:
   

Originally posted by BoomBoom:
  Again, I go back to my first point: a stamp costs 37 cents, a lot less for bulk mailers. Tickets.com is charging $3.25 for mailing or will call.  

NO! This is where you're mistaken. Tickets.com DOES NOT charge $3.25 for mailing you the tickets or for holding them at will call. That 3.25 is part of the "CONVENIENCE fee". That's $3.25 is the cost for the CONVENIENCE of you not having to come to the venue like I've outlined. This is why it's called the "CONVENIENCE fee" not the "COST OF MAILING IT TO YOU fee." [/b]

You are a moron. They charge a convenience fee, then they add a $3.25 mailing fee which they charge you even if you Will Call tickets.
 
 Very Bright YOu ARe NOT.

[Julian, Alleged Computer F**kface]

Originally posted by MTB-Markie:
  They charge a convenience fee, then they add a $3.25 mailing fee which they charge you even if you Will Call tickets.
 

It's all part of the same blanket as far as I'm concerned. If you get it mailed, it's part of the convenience of not having to be at the box office. If you get it at the venue via willcall, same thing plus the costs of them running a box office. Would it make you feel better if they just called all $7.50 a convenience fee?
 
 Anyway you want to slice it, the buyer has a choice, and for those of us who take advantage of the service provided by ticketing agents, it's almost always cheaper then the alternative, all things considered.
 
 To complain about ticket fees is sort of like going into a restaurant and complaining they aren't selling food at cost. No shit.

[kosmo vinyl]

Besides tickets.com now has a shopping cart feature for 9:30 shows.  I've got tickets for Thrice and SFA in my cart with a single handling fee of $3.25 for the entire order, plus individual shows fee of course.  In the past you had to pay the handling fee for each show.

[BoomBoom]

How do you  know they're not colluding? Congress did hold "hearings" on this once, and they were a charade -- basically a lot of excuse making for TicketMaster, a major campaign contributor. As for "convenience" charges vs. mailing, I just went through the steps for buying a ticket to Super Furry Animals. Base price: $15. "Service charge": $4.50. "Your tickets will be mailed to you": $3.25. In plain English, that's $3.25 for something that costs them 37 cents or less. Otherwise, they need to find a different way to say it. If they want to have a markup for mailing, fine; that's the way it works. But $3.25?