Ticketmaster Resale: A Rant (Hamilton)

[QueenAnne822]

Posted: 1/27/16 at 10:48am

So... is it only me that thinks ticketmaster resale is one of the WORST things to evolve? Especially with the Hamilton nuttiness? I know they are trying to "tap in" to the discount/resale market, but they literally have done the EXACT thing they said they were trying to avoid. They have created a platform where it is EASY for people to make $$$ scalping tickets. It's like long term betting... "I (scalper) will buy a huge block of Hamilton tickets, and most likely sell most of them. If a ticket goes unsold, no big, as long as I am UP overall".... it's terrible! The thing is THERE ARE TICKETS TO HAMILTON.... but people are holding onto huge blocks of them, waiting to unload them etc. This program is not doing at all what its stated intent is "can't go- sell your ticket!". I looked on Craigslist and there are WHOLE online "stores" dedicated to Ham resale. It's so so so dumb. It's one thing if you are offshoot, or a different website, but, dear Ticketmaster YOU ARE THE OFFICIAL SELLER! I expect this behavior from sketchy websites or sketchy individuals, but not from the official trusted name. It's like an abuse of privilege. I don't know if there is any way to petition TM to get rid of this feature OR to suspend in high demand cases. Or even just limit the # of ticket you can resell! It's super frustrating. Hamilton is a beautiful piece of art that many people just want to experience, and be "in the room where it happens". It's so annoying that TM has created this disaster and refuses to take responsibility or make adjustments.

For the record, I HAVE seen Hamilton. I just would like to see some ticketing reform. I believe that these experience should be shared with as many people as possible. Yes, $$$ should be made, but by the people that worked, invested, and believed in the show, not by some lame internet troll looking to make some extra cash off other people's gift to the world. Let's start a revolution! Ticketmaster- PLEASE FIGURE OUT YOUR RESALE POLICIES. 

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 1/27/16 at 10:50am

I'm actually confused what you're angry about. Capitalism? Ticketmaster makes a huge amount of money from these resales. Why would they get rid of it?

[QueenAnne822]

Posted: 1/27/16 at 10:51am

It's not capitalism to work the system, to work the loophole, and in doing so created an even smaller possibility of experience. 

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 1/27/16 at 10:52am

Oh yes it is.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 1/27/16 at 10:52am

Yes it is. It's supply and demand. It's not a loophole.

[Kad]

Posted: 1/27/16 at 10:53am

I think that's absolutely what capitalism is.

To be clear: there's no loophole being exploited. The law specifically allows this.

Updated On: 1/27/16 at 10:53 AM

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 1/27/16 at 10:56am

Your first mistake was thinking that Ticketmaster is some kind of charitable organization. If you've ever tried to get tickets for a high profile event as soon as they go on sale you know it's next to impossible. Plus the fees they charge are astronomical. You're barking up the wrong tree if you expect TM to do the "right" thing.

[QueenAnne822]

Posted: 1/27/16 at 10:58am

LOL.... I can't believe that everyone is on the side of the scalpers (who are enabled to do so by TM)

[JM226]

Posted: 1/27/16 at 10:58am

your rant doesn't compute for a few reasons:

1.) free market dictates everything. if there is a demand for $800 HAMILTON tickets, there will be a supply or source. no one can be faulted for that.

2.) YOU DONT HAVE ACCESS TO HAMILTON'S AGREEMENT WITH TICKETMASTER. I will go out on a limb and safely assume that the producers are making a small percentage on those resale tickets... so they win twice -- when the ticket is initially purchased and then when it is resold. so some of the money actually is going back into the pockets of those who invested in and created the show

3.) you can rant and whine and complain all you like but entertainment is a luxury. not a right or necessity. there is no minimum accessibility that is required and there shouldn't be. that simple. 

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 1/27/16 at 10:58am

We're not on anyone's "side", we're just explaining basic economics to you.

Updated On: 1/27/16 at 10:58 AM

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 1/27/16 at 11:00am

JM226 gets it.

[JM226]

Posted: 1/27/16 at 11:00am

there is no one to thank or blame. this is free market capitalism and supply & demand economics at its finest. nothing more..nothing less. once people stop paying $800 for HAMILTON tickets, the scalpers will drop their price. 

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 1/27/16 at 11:01am

No one is on the side of scalpers.  No one is on the side of Ticketmaster.  Why, Pearl Jam even tried hard to wipe out the Ticketmaster monopoly but could get no traction on it.  The entire ticket sales process is a scam.  It's also a class action suit waiting to happen.  Tickets should go on sale until they're sold out or until the day of the show.  But no.  Pre-sales and VIP sales and packages.  Codes and fan clubs and on and on.

 

What I think is surprising most of us is that this is news to you.

Updated On: 1/27/16 at 11:01 AM

[Cupid Boy2]

Posted: 1/27/16 at 11:03am

I think it's commendable that Ticketmaster has created a service for its customers to unload unneeded tickets to others who can rest assured that what they're buying is authentic. I've used the resale feature twice for two concerts, and I was so appreciative of how simple it is. Eliminating that functionality entirely would not stop scalping from happening elsewhere. If it's going to happen, at least this is a way to prevent people from blowing their money on counterfeit tickets.

Updated On: 1/27/16 at 11:03 AM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 1/27/16 at 11:20am

But you're not convincing yourself that Ticketmaster did so out of the goodness of its heart or even for your convenience, are you?  I mean, you pay a separate "convenience fee" to them already.

[Capeguy]

Posted: 1/27/16 at 11:24am

I really doubt that the majority of resale tickets are individuals. I've been playing around with the site and it seems that the same seats are available for every date I checked, at inflated prices. $350 for a partial view -- really???? This is just too coincidental. It seems that Ticketmaster is buying  the tickets as soon as they are released and reselling them at these ridiculous prices. I have seen Hamilton and would like to see it again but I will NOT pay these prices based in principle (nor can I afford to). This is illegal in many states and I wish NY would outlaw it. Theater should be for everyone -- not just the 1%.

[artscallion]

Posted: 1/27/16 at 11:34am

There's plenty of cheap and free theatre out there. No one is being deprived of theatre. Maybe they can't afford the current smash Broadway hit. But just because you can't afford the Rolls Royce, doesn't equal, "cars should be for everybody"

[gypsy101]

Posted: 1/27/16 at 11:57am

aren't there like six threads about Hamilton's resale tickets?

[JM226]

Posted: 1/27/16 at 1:41pm

artscallion said: "There's plenty of cheap and free theatre out there. No one is being deprived of theatre. Maybe they can't afford the current smash Broadway hit. But just because you can't afford the Rolls Royce, doesn't equal, "cars should be for everybody"

 

"

yes yes yes yes and.... uh... YES. thank you for saying this, artscallion 

[Theater_Nerd]

Posted: 1/27/16 at 1:49pm

FindingNamo said: "Tickets should go on sale until they're sold out or until the day of the show.  But no.  Pre-sales and VIP sales and packages.  Codes and fan clubs and on and on."

 

I agree with this but in this imperfect world it's never going to happen.

 

JM226 said:

your rant doesn't compute for a few reasons:

"1.) free market dictates everything. if there is a demand for $800 HAMILTON tickets, there will be a supply or source. no one can be faulted for that.

 

2.) YOU DONT HAVE ACCESS TO HAMILTON'S AGREEMENT WITH TICKETMASTER. I will go out on a limb and safely assume that the producers are making a small percentage on those resale tickets... so they win twice -- when the ticket is initially purchased and then when it is resold. so some of the money actually is going back into the pockets of those who invested in and created the show

 

3.) you can rant and whine and complain all you like but entertainment is a luxury. not a right or necessity. there is no minimum accessibility that is required and there shouldn't be. that simple."

 

 

That's it in a nutshell basically.

 

 

Updated On: 1/27/16 at 01:49 PM

[haterobics]

Posted: 1/27/16 at 2:16pm

There is no perfect system.

 

On its recent tour, U2 did Credit Card Access to shows (except for NY, where it is illegal), which was meant to link tickets to a user's credit card so they couldn't be transferred, and there were just as many headaches with people who bought extra tickets and couldn't sell them, people who wanted to go to multiple dates being shut out of fan club sales because of the two-ticket limit, people who bought them as gifts for friends/family and couldn't use them, and on and on...

 

I'm currently on a job hunt, but if I'm not employed by April, I'll head down to SC to a beach rental I own. I bought two Pearl Jam tickets through their fan club to their SC date for when I'll be down there, which is also non-refundable, non-transferable and they put the fan club closer to the stage before even selling tickets elsewhere, and if I get a job up here and have to skip it, I just eat the money.

 

Everyone with a show listed on Ticketmaster opts-in to offering resale, so the Hamilton producers had to do that. Which makes sense. If they didn't, all of that same exact money would just be going to StubHub, where all of the $800+ tickets were sold when Hamilton was Off-broadway last year...

[NJ_BroadwayGirl]

Posted: 1/27/16 at 2:23pm

If there's going to be a big resale market, at least with Ticketmaster it's one you can trust. With the number of fake tickets being sold I would be very wary of StubHub sales. If you choose to buy resale at least you know that on Ticketmastet you will never be sold a fake. 

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 1/27/16 at 2:56pm

I don't even know where to begin correcting the OP first. After having used both Ticketmaster Resale and Stubhub over the years for various things, they are both reliable. On Stubhub, if I sell a fake Hamilton ticket for 800 bucks and the seller calls with an issue, the seller gets the refund and I get charged the same price I sold the ticket for. Thereby giving the seller no incentive to lie. 

 

Ticketmster's Resale service even goes a step further. You can only sell on it after you have bought your tickets on Ticketmaster. And, when you get them, it doesn't say the name of the seller on the PDF you get from them, nor does it have any price on it. It does say, however, in big black bold writing that this is a ticket master resale ticket. Thereby making it impossible to resell it again for more money or to scalp outside the venue. 

[Julie Yard]

Posted: 1/27/16 at 9:51pm

Hey Islander Fan.... I'm sorry if this is a dim bulb question, but I'm curious. Why couldn't you resell your ticketmaster resale ticket? I've never bought these tix, but why would the "resale ticket" stamp prevent someone purchasing it from you outside the venue? You could be selling at a loss....

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 1/27/16 at 10:15pm

This is nothing new. Back when A Chorus Line was HOT my uncle said there would be guys out front selling $20 tickets for $80-$100 and people paid it, my uncle included. Same for Funny Girl. This is just the new technology version of that.