Petition re Tickmaster Rip Off

PiE wrote:

But to seriously believe that tickets could be sold in an auction-type way? I know Ticketmaster are a right shower, but that's just never gonna happen.

Already happening in the States.

My mistake, Ticketmaster US just have a ticket exchange service. They should be introducing auctions soon enough.

I have heard of some bands (such as Nine Inch Nails) who have done auctions for premium entry/seats, though I believe most of the proceeds went to charity.

That TicketExchange thing actually looks like quite a good idea to me. It will help stop people getting dodgy tickets from dodgy folk. The auction thing is a bit cynical... but it will never be the standard way of selling tickets. Touts are always gonna get the good tickets and sell them for gross profit, at least with the 'auction' a percentage does go to the artists, however small it may be. I'd still rather not pay some ratbag tout that kinda money for a ticket... not that I'd ever be stupid enough to pay hundreds for one anyway. And if you ask me, anyone who is willing to pay that money deserves to be ripped off.

Exactly. The only money they get from a ticket sale is their own fees. They get none from the actual ticket price.

The charges are not 'extra'.
There used to be just one price and that was it.
Then somebody caused a big hullabaloo about wanting to know how the price broke down.
So they did.
Now everybody thinks it's all extra. But it's not.

If you go into a record shop (for example), and buy a CD with cash, you pay a credit card charge. It is built into the price.
When you buy a concert ticket at a Ticketmaster outlet, you pay a credit card charge when you pay buy credit card, and you don't when you don't. You have the option.

The €2/€2.25 that you pay at an outlet is an agency fee. The outlet is an agent of Ticketmaster, and is not Ticketmaster itself. The 'Service Charge' does not go into the pocket of the person who serves you. It goes to Ticketmaster and some of it goes to the agent. The outlet in St. Stephen's Green S.C. does not charge this for most events.

Soundcellar may have a smaller service charge, but Soundcellar do not have access to all of the tickets. They are given a smaller allocation.

The outlets and the phone/internet bookings have access to all of the tickets, and all sell from the same batch. So when something sells out in 5 minutes, and you have been queueing, it is because they are being snapped up all over the place from different outlets, and the phone/internet bookings.

The price is set by the artist's management and the promoters. Ticketmaster add a little bit on top of that, and you are given the OPTION of whether to pay a credit card charge or not.

Hope this helps to clear some things up.

rubadub wrote:

I never knew this, how much is the difference in price? is it a % or standard fee.

It varies somewhat, not sure exactly what it is, something like:
€1.50 per ticket for tickets <€80
and then it goes up to about €2/€3 or more for tickets that cost more than €150.

Something like that, I can't really remember.

And there's no charge on Laser.
(this is in the outlets in Stephen's Green, Jervis SC etc. not sure about shops like Celtic Note)

Colonel Sanders wrote:

the above is true in a record shop etc but not online Online you are quoted a €6.35 'service charge'. If you use laser you still pay the full €6.35. In shops you pay extra if paying with visa/mastercard but not online. How can they justify this?

I'm not sure if I understand the question.
I don't know how the online bookings work to be honest, just the outlets.
I've never bought a ticket online.