Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Seating/Pricing Thread — Page 69

WayTooBroadway said: "Again, that’s business. Flex/scale pricing (or whatever they call it) is not unique to CURSED CHILD or BOYS IN THE BAND. What I meant earlier... these are not “discounts” but just “price changes.” We know that producers have done this previously for (anticipated) hot ticket shows.

The same case goes for airlines. The seat next to you or behind you is probably more expensive.
"

Exactly. But people seem to ignore the possible ignorance of the producers' initial pricing scheme, and the requirement to purchase both parts. The show is, quite frankly, overpriced. What people may be willing to pay as a premium seat is doubled for this show, because it requires two performances. Tickets to the London production are pretty much half of what is being charged on Broadway (for premium seating, at any rate). Add to that the requirement to see both parts (try buying a ticket to one part; it is not easy or convenient), and also the fact that you don't get to pick your seats (or even section) and it's a harder sell. No doubt the refund policy was eliminated because of this. So now the producers are playing with prices, trying to sell the unsold seats by reducing the price. They really need to do a market adjustment on the ticket prices.

Dynamic pricing is one thing, but selling prime/premium seats at $20-40 per part is much different. It looks like that "fire sale" might be over, but, while it was happening, it sure did make some people angry. Don't get me wrong, I thought it was awesome, and I took advantage of it, but it definitely made some people's disillusionment as a result of the all-over-the-place pricing even worse.

Updated On: 5/22/18 at 09:12 PM

Exactly, this is a concentrated group of a specific type of ticket buyer which is fairly slim in the overall Broadway audience- especially as stated- with a ton of first time theatre goers for this specific production.
The majority of people buy a theatre ticket and never look back.

Also did a TON of premium tickets really go on sale for $20/$40? I saw a lot of balcony seats and very rear orchestra, which tend to skew this price anyway, but I'm thrilled if others got real steals of prime seats.

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/the-price-is-really-right-dynamic-ticketing-could-transform-the-way-we-pay-to-see-live-events-8215701.html

The link above really explains the ticketing situation that we could be observing, and there several articles discussing it from the UK, so it seems to be more common there at this point. I would expect to see more of this in New York. It makes sense, the technology is there, and it seems to bring a profit in the end

I also agree that there does seem to be the addition of the large swath affordable seats - which can clearly be released anytime and perhaps change locations and release times based on house availability. As long as they stay in the ratio of 300 seats, they can really place these wherever they need.

And perhaps the staggering is still to deter scalpers. With no "on sale" time and unexpected releases of tickets that takes less financial investment, it still takes more work to try to find the deals if they are staggered.

All this to say that very few people will take the time to figure this out, but that it isn't about rewarding or punishing ticket buyer but simply trying to maximize profit. That might mean a deal at some times and an uptick at others. I would also expect that all this could change at the drop of the hat with the addition of a Tony or two or simply settling into the run and seeing what pricing seems to be the right mix to sell the most seats for the most money.

But again, it's a business, and they have 65(?) million to earn back before they make a profit!

Still loving this thread, and am thankful for everyone who is willing to share their observations and alert (hopefully) true audience members to a seat in their preferred budget or price point!!

Updated On: 5/22/18 at 10:22 PM

broadwaynerdnewbie said: "Boys in the band producers brought the tickets and putthem on stubhub that is screwed up if true."

We'll never know for certain if it's true without concrete evidence but I have seen other Bway musicals have hundreds of tickets on Stubhub for weeks but 24-48 hours before the performance they suddenly mysteriously decrease to 30-50 tickets. I understand there is a high-end market for NYC ticket brokers (normally tourists who stay at top hotels or businesses with $$$ to spend to entertain clients) but I just find it fascinating.

See for yourself. Pick a few Bway musicals and just observe their ticket inventory on Stubhub. The other day I was looking at the Donna Summer musical. It had 200 tickets on stubhub 48 hours before the show but 24 hours before the show there were only 30 tickets on stubhub.

There is a reason so many tickets disappear. It obviously isn't true for all tickets, but when I try and list a ticket, it lists the sale end date as the day before the show. I don't think it is some big conspiracy theory, it just ends most sales the day before. Maybe there's an option to put it back up or some other way, but I don't think it is the producers pulling 200 tickets.

Well I was putting my Harry Potter ticket that I was trying to sell on here up on there and once I did, it said the sale end date was 6/26 and the show is on 6/27. Not sure why.

hermionejuliet said:

"Also did a TON of premium tickets really go on sale for $20/$40? I saw a lot of balcony seats and very rear orchestra, which tend to skew this price anyway, but I'm thrilled if others got real steals of prime seats."

Starting on May 1, and continuing for about 10 days, really amazing seats kept popping up randomly for $20-40, some at the last minute, some the day before, and others even further in advance. I could be mistaken, but I think the last day I saw them for was 5/16, and those showed up pretty far in advance. I sat in orchestra AA for $20 per part, and I saw seats in pretty much every row in the front orchestra for $40 per part, as well as many others in rows K - T, and quite a few in the front of the dress circle. The last day I saw one of these seats show up was 5/10, when orchestra H 9 was $20 per part a couple of hours before the show, and I was able to pass it along to a friend. So, yeah, it was pretty cool!

Updated On: 5/22/18 at 11:24 PM

CT2NYC said: "hermionejuliet said:

"Also did a TON of premium tickets really go on sale for $20/$40? I saw a lot of balcony seats and very rear orchestra, which tend to skew this price anyway, but I'm thrilled if others got real steals of prime seats."

Starting on May 1, and continuing for about 10 days, really amazing seats kept popping up randomly for $20-40, some at the last minute, some the day before, and others even further in advance. I could be mistaken, but I think the last day I saw them for was 5/16, and those showed up pretty far in advance.I sat in orchestra AA for $20 per part, and I saw seats in pretty much every row in the front orchestra for $40 per part, as well as many others in rows K - T. The last day I saw one of these seats show up was 5/10, when orchestra H 9 was $20 per part a couple of hours before the show, and I was able to pass it along to a friend. So, yeah, it was pretty cool!"

Ah, ok. I thought you were talking about Monday's release which seemed to basically released the same couple of seats for every day for the summer. That's great that there are still random drops like that.

That makes sense if they are using dynamic pricing and can scatter the affordable seats around and get rid of singles. I know the price change frustrates some, but as said it gives everyone a chance to see the show AND the majority of tickets don't end up on StubHub - works for me!

Dress circle B 107 is on Ticketmaster right now for today's show, $40 per part. I'll hold it for someone from the board. Hopefully someone out there is interested! Let me know!

CT2NYC said: "Dress circle B 107 is on Ticketmaster right now for today's show, $40 per part. I'll hold it for someone from the board.Hopefully someone out there is interested!Let me know!"

Alright guys, I gotta run! Releasing this seat now, so if anyone is interested, head over to Ticketmaster!

Looking for a pair for both parts Sun June 3. Looking for Dress Circle or Orchestra if possible. If anyone has a pair they are looking to sell let me know. And willing to cover any ticketing fees you paid :)

how much and where?