Concert ticket sales and "legal" scalping.

[McMXi]

It's been many years since I attended a concert to see any big name artists but Mumford & Sons are performing in Bozeman, MT on June 4th so I figured I'd look and see if there are any tickets still available. When did ticket scalping become legal? The prices are in the hundreds of dollars and all the tickets are listed as "resale".

You can say all you want about a free market, but surely it's just wrong to buy tickets to concerts at $50 to $100 per seat with the sole intention of reselling them at a significant profit? These $50 tickets are selling for $400 or more and the artist sees none of that profit. Ticketmaster and Stubhub seem to be making a killing off this practice, not to mention the seller of the ticket who is making money from the work of others. They're basically selling someone else's work for a profit.

I've bought every CD/album that Mumford & Sons has made and created MP3 files from them so that I can have the music on my phone which is pefectly legal. That's how I support an artist whose music I like. I would like to support Mumford & Sons by attending the concert, but I refuse to put $50 in their pocket and $500 into the pocket of Ticketmaster and some douchebag ticket scalper.

 

[Bee-Positive]

I got 4 inside tickets to the Dobbie Brother opening for Santana in July for $122 a piece through Ticket Master. I still think it's unreasonable but not $400/each unreasonable. The way Saratoga Performing Arts (SPAC) is set up you can't by tickets for certain concerts without going through Ticket Master.

I thought there were rules about buying bulk tickets and reselling them? Maybe it's state by state.

 

[PoTreeBoy]

If you re-buy, in case the event is cancelled, you could lose a bundle on lost refunds.

 

[NCL4701]

We haven’t been to a concert in about 30 years, but we’re going to one in August. Ticket sale link on the artist’s tour website went to Ticketmaster where prices ranged from $150 to $600. I called the box office at the venue and asked if we could buy tickets directly from them. They said we could if we came to the box office in person but they couldn’t sell online or over the phone. Prices ranged from $50 to $75. We drove the 25 minutes to the box office and got a pair of $60 seats.

They’re electronic tickets. Have to pull them up on a cell phone to present at time of the concert. No paper tickets accepted. I’m no expert in this matter. I do know the world is becoming weirder by the minute.

 

[Bee-Positive]

We haven’t been to a concert in about 30 years, but we’re going to one in August. Ticket sale link on the artist’s tour website went to Ticketmaster where prices ranged from $150 to $600. I called the box office at the venue and asked if we could buy tickets directly from them. They said we could if we came to the box office in person but they couldn’t sell online or over the phone. Prices ranged from $50 to $75. We drove the 25 minutes to the box office and got a pair of $60 seats.

They’re electronic tickets. Have to pull them up on a cell phone to present at time of the concert. No paper tickets accepted. I’m no expert in this matter. I do know the world is becoming weirder by the minute.

NOW YOU TELL ME!
I'll have to try that next time, a 60 minute round trip to save a couple hundred = no-brainer.

 

[NCL4701]

As I thought about this some, couple more weird things.

The electronic tickets I bought in person at the venue’s physical box office for less than Ticketmaster online: the way I access them is via “My Tickets” on my Ticketmaster app.

And one of the links on my Ticketmaster app home page is “Sell”. So I guess I don’t have to be a seasoned scalper to resell my tickets. No clue how that works. Have never done it.

 

[aaluck]

Ticket "bastard" has been doing this for years. Here is another kicker, they can set the price of your resell and they make money on that as well. It is a monopoly and should be destroyed. I know there is talk about doing something but nothing ever gets done...go figure.

Haven't been to a concert in 15 years but I am going to see Rush and discovered this when we ended up with more tickets than we needed. I cannot imagine how much they made on TS.

 

[McMXi]

Yeah, no wonder ....

"The U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation Entertainment and Ticketmaster on May 23, 2024, alleging that they illegally monopolized the live event market and engaged in anti-competitive practices. A recent jury found that Ticketmaster had overcharged customers, which could lead to significant changes in the ticketing industry."

My objection is that the money isn't going to the artists. This is like YouTube who allows the theft and redistribution of videos with only minimal changes. This is criminal but there is so much money being made by these corporations that they don't care.

I think it's wrong for an individual to buy tickets to events with the sole intent of reselling them at a profit. This simply shouldn't be allowed and it used to be illegal. You could be arrested outside a concert venue if you were "scalping" tickets.

I bought tickets to a concert in Oakland, CA in 2011 that was on my birthday, and ended up buying one pair as a back up and another pair in the 3rd row and almost dead center to the stage. I gave the other two tickets to a young couple who were trying to buy tickets at the ticket window an hour before the concert. There were only a few tickets left and those were in the nosebleed section and my extra tickets were really good seats. The couple sent me and my date drinks during the concert which was a nice thing to do.

 

[aaluck]

My objection is that the money isn't going to the artists.

I agree. What gets me is they control the prices (monopoly). For example we are trying to sell our extra tickets for UNDER the face value, so we don't take a bath--I'm too embarrassed to say what they cost. HOWEVER, Ticket bastard adjusts the "buyer fees" ie. the money they make, upward to keep the end price where THEY want it. The higher they keep it the more they make on every resell. So every time we lower the price, say $100.00 each, they adjust the "buyer's fees" up by $80, so the actual price to buy them only decreased by $20.00.

Right now the fee they are charging us to resell the tickets is $189.43 EACH. Again this is added to our below face value price. Oh, and to add insult to injury they are willing to buy them back for A QUARTER of what we paid, so they can resell them again at face value, plus fees.

Needless to say I will never go to an event where I have to get the tickets from them.

 

[skeets]

Been to one concert, kenny rogers I told the OL never again

 

[Workerbee]

Like Skeets says. I figured out a long time ago to try to avoid venues or activities that screw people over. Some you cant though, like medical establishments, or various others that come to mind. Those places make ticketmaster look like rank amateurs in the art of theft.

 

[Scm]

Digital IDs will fix all of this. The people will beg for it. You will request a ticket and they** will determine if you should get one. They** will check your social media to make sure your are not posting "alternative views". They** will check you mental health score. They** will check to see if you own weapons. They** will make sure you are up to date on your "chemical alterations". They** will tell you the approved methods to get there. They** will then deduct from your UBI.

**AI agents

 

[skeets]

And all of the above to buy a pizza over the phone

 

[Scm]

And all of the above to buy a pizza over the phone

19 years ago this was crazy talk

 

[Orangeglow]

I,ve always had the discipline to say no if I felt I wasn,t getting enough value for the asking price.
I see some folks pay ridiculous prices for some sporting event tickets, cause they have to watch it live and up close. Not caring to be part of huge crowds also helps me make my no brainer decision. Just imagine IF NOBODY BOUGHT TICKETS TO SOME OF THESE EVENTS BECAUSE THE PRICES ARE STUPID HIGH. How long would it tale for ticket prices to become reasonable once again ?

 

[BX23S-1]

Very first and last concert i went to was Peter Frampton, in 1977. I figured out back then, it wasn`t for me.
I don`t like being arms length reach from any humans i don`t know, much less being in a crowd of them.

The ticket price we paid for Frampton back then was $9.50 each, the performance was 100% spot on.

 

[Poohbear]

last month I saw Bob Dylan in Tyler and bought the tickets directly from the UT Tyler box office. Ive never had to go thru a 3rd party reseller for the events there.

 

[BX23S-1]

last month I saw Bob Dylan in Tyler and bought the tickets directly from the UT Tyler box office. Ive never had to go thru a 3rd party reseller for the events there.

So i`m guessing the tickets were free then is why?

 

[Poohbear]

So i`m guessing the tickets were free then is why?

What part of " bought" did you not understand?