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| From | "Michael Bennett" <mrhonorama@hotmail.com> |
| Subject | Re: Ticketmaster has entered the world of the scalpers |
| Date | Mon, 01 Sep 2003 10:30:54 -0500 |
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Insofar as the basic concept of supply-and-demand setting the cost of a
ticket, I don't find anything inherently wrong with the idea of letting the
market dictate the price of tickets. Of course, it probably won't often
work that way in reverse. For example, since The Sex Pistols show this
weekend here in Chicago did not sell out at $47 a pop, this would not lead
to, as it got closer to the day of the show, Ticketmaster would drop the
price to $30. That's probably illegal anyway.
However, some states do have a law against the seller of tickets charging
more than face value (even thought ticket brokering is legit). Currently a
Cook County judge is mulling over a ruling in a class action lawsuit against
the Chicago Cubs, who set up a shell corporation to sell top tickets for
Cubs games. Should the Cubs lose, it is highly likely that the Illinois
Attorney General will prosecute the team.
What is more interesting to me is the new 'print-your-own-ticket' scam. For
those who haven't done this through Fandango or on-line services like Ticket
Web, you can buy your tickets online and then print out your ticket, which
has a bar code that is scanned at the door. I often will buy movie tickets
through Fandango, since a $1 service charge per ticket is worth it. I'm
getting a bit more peeved that Ticket Web and Music Today have boosted what
they charge -- used to be a buck or two, now creeping over $3.
Ticketmaster, with its usual drooling greed goes further. It costs $2.50
for the print-your-own-ticket -- on top of their usual service fees. Last
week I ordered a $5 upper deck box seat for the White Sox-Red Sox game and
decided to get the print-a-ticket instead of having a will call ticket.
After clicking that option, all the other fees were added in -- $13.18
total. Still cheaper than full price, but $8.18 in fees and taxes? If
6,000 people took advantage of this web deal (Upper deck seats $5 and
bleacher seats $10), then Ticket Master grosses $48,000 in service fees and
nets at least $30,000, I would guess.
How Ticket Bastard has avoided getting hammered in anti-trust is beyond me.
Mike Bennett
NP: The Comsat Angels -- SLEEP NO MORE
Record reviews and more at http://fufkin.com
>From: "Ira Rosen" <irosen@ixtelecom.com>
>Reply-To: audities@smoe.org
>To: <audities@smoe.org>
>Subject: Ticketmaster has entered the world of the scalpers
>Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 08:45:00 -0400
>
>I guess it was only a matter of time before ticketmaster found a way
>around
>those silly fixed pricing schemes that always limited their profits:
>
>http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/01/technology/01TICK.html?ex=1062993600&en=16
>048ce77a000608&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE
>
>It also might get around those pesky laws regarding the face value and
>mark-up limits.
>
>I mean - why should only criminals be able to charge whatever they want for
>tickets?
>
>Ira
>
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