Pre Sale Tickets - Is it a total and utter front

Travisthedog

For third party sellers to get in early so they have plenty sell later on?

The last three gigs I've tried to get tickets for have followed the same pattern

1. Sign up for presale

2. Sit at computer ready for presale

3 Ticketmaster site crashes immediately that the presale goes live and then uncrashes when the presale tickets are all sold.

4.Tickets then turn up elsewhere like get me in, StereoBoard and Viagogo at hugely inflated prices

Really really really fucking angry about this

Jalapeno

Yep, that's about it.

guitarfishbay

Yeah there is shady stuff going down in some cases.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/may/15/shady-world-of-the-ticket-touts

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38131028

shaunyshaun1234

Travisthedog said:

For third party sellers to get in early so they have plenty sell later on?

The last three gigs I've tried to get tickets for have followed the same pattern

1. Sign up for presale

2. Sit at computer ready for presale

3 Ticketmaster site crashes immediately that the presale goes live and then uncrashes when the presale tickets are all sold.

4.Tickets then turn up elsewhere like get me in, StereoBoard and Viagogo at hugely inflated prices

Really really really fucking angry about this

Within seconds of selling out!! It's magic! 

4114Effects

Yep. Bought a Bruno Mars album so I could get access to special presale. Wanted to take the missus for her birthday. Logged on to the site in plenty of time, bang on 9am there's somehow not a single ticket available! Must be some automatic software hoovering up tickets somehow.

mellowsun

fwiw Get Me In is owned by Ticketmaster

The best way to fight this is simply not buy tickets for the big acts. If everyone stopped, then the system would have to change. Of course it won't happen so the problem will continue.  Along with the resulting problem that a 'sold out' gig hardly has any audience because all the tickets were on resale sites at twice the original price.

Travisthedog

mellowsun said:

fwiw Get Me In is owned by Ticketmaster

Exactly!

UnclePsychosis

Sadly until the public stop paying more than face value for tickets this will just keep happening.

ICBM

mellowsun said:

The best way to fight this is simply not buy tickets for the big acts. If everyone stopped, then the system would have to change. Of course it won't happen so the problem will continue.  Along with the resulting problem that a 'sold out' gig hardly has any audience because all the tickets were on resale sites at twice the original price.

This.

guitarfishbay

I flat out refuse to buy on reselling sites. I've missed gigs I really wanted to go to on principle that literally 1 minute after I failed to get any they were on resale sites at a markup.

I do feel there should be a resale ban window of multiple days, to stop the 5 minute flip occurrence.  I think people are hyped up when they fail to get tickets and think "oh well, it's only a few quid extra".  Make them wait a week and they'll be less excited to buy the tickets at a markup, I think anyway.  It would probably slowly manage the practice... I think an outright ban on re-selling for a profit would be very hard to make work.  There are cases when people genuinely can't go so need to re-sell, but they don't find that out the split second they book.

ElectroDan

I have never bought a ticket from a re-seller and I won't be doing it.
It should be illegal to do what Ticket Master do with Get me in.

UnclePsychosis

Keep an eye on Gumtree and ebay in the weeks before the gig and you'll probably get one at face value anyway. 

shaunyshaun1234

ElectroDan said:

I have never bought a ticket from a re-seller and I won't be doing it.
It should be illegal to do what Ticket Master do with Get me in.

Surely it's a conflict of interest type scenario? I would imagine it makes them (Ticketmaster) more money to sell them at triple the face value! 

It's utter Bullshit! 

FreddieVanHalen

If I can't easily get tickets for a fair price I don't bother going to the gig.

I would rather go and support other gigs and music scenes than be ripped off by ticketmaster wankers.

starwarsnosebleed

Recently had the same situation with Little Mix tickets for my daughter.
A few of her friends managed to get presale tickets and wanted to go as a end of school thing in July.
went online 9am, sold out.

The mrs couldnt bear to tell her she couldnt go, so we had to fork out £220 for 2 tickets!!

ElectroDan

FreddieVanHalen said:

If I can't easily get tickets for a fair price I don't bother going to the gig.

I would rather go and support other gigs and music scenes than be ripped off by ticketmaster wankers.

I do that. I thought it was something of a one man stand, but I'm glad to hear others are doing it too.

duotone

Yep.

Heard something on the radio about boxing tickets and tickets for "Eddie Hearns promotions" continuously appearing for events he has promoted on a certain retail site.  Can't remember which one it was now, but definitely fishy!

duotone

Me too.

Missed out on Conor Oberst tickets that were face value £32 and now going for £90+ on certain sites. They can keep them as far as I am concerned. 

ElectroDan said:

FreddieVanHalen said:

If I can't easily get tickets for a fair price I don't bother going to the gig.

I would rather go and support other gigs and music scenes than be ripped off by ticketmaster wankers.

I do that. I thought it was something of a one man stand, but I'm glad to hear others are doing it too.

RocknRollDave

+1 for the only way to stop this is to not buy the tickets. Alas, it means missing out on gigs but I'm damned if I'm paying £200+ to see U2 when the DVD will be about twelve quid.

hotpot

The one reason I stopped going to gigs, I detest these parasites who's only intention is to gouge the true fans. I'm not being ripped off by these bastards at any price, bunch o terwats the lot of em.

FreddieVanHalen

RocknRollDave said:

+1 for the only way to stop this is to not buy the tickets. Alas, it means missing out on gigs but I'm damned if I'm paying £200+ to see U2 when the DVD will be about twelve quid.

This is another good point - you have to sit so far away from the band at some of these gigs you just end up watching it on the screen anyway.

I can recreate the experience at home by chucking 60 quid in the bin, squinting at the telly and throwing another fiver in the bin every time I drink warm a warm lager out of a plastic cup :-)