Ticketmaster is colluding with ticket scalpers and taking a cut, undercover report finds

[morosco]

Posted: 9/20/18 at 10:55am

Ticketmaster is now accused of running what looks like an underground ticket scalping project that may be driving up prices and costing consumers millions. An investigation by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the Toronto Star claims the box office giant is helping scalpers buy tickets and resell them with a secret program.

Ticketmaster is colluding with ticket scalpers

[SomethingPeculiar]

Posted: 9/20/18 at 11:03am

Is this different than Ticketmaster's existing resale platform?

[Huss417]

Posted: 9/20/18 at 11:11am

How long have a lot of us known this was happening? Tickets go on sale and their back on the Ticketmaster resale in minutes. Curious what will be done.

[Lot666]

Posted: 9/20/18 at 11:24am

I really loathe Ticketmaster and wish Broadway would stop using them. Telecharge may have a buggy website, but they are far more ethical (and helpful) in my experience.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 9/20/18 at 11:30am

I’m shocked. SHOCKED!!!!

[haterobics]

Posted: 9/20/18 at 11:45am

Who needed an undercover report to sort this out?

[atuomala]

Posted: 9/20/18 at 11:55am

I feel like this undercover job could’ve been accomplished with a quick Google search. Everyone knows that Ticketmaster is shady.

[JennH]

Posted: 9/20/18 at 12:05pm

Pardon me while I try to hide my shock...*sarcasm*

[ArtMan]

Posted: 9/20/18 at 3:15pm

And what will happen is there will be another class action suit and a crappy joke of a settlement for the consumer.

[jwf300]

Posted: 9/20/18 at 3:19pm

This isn't really new news. Freakonomics did a great podcast on the live ticketing industry and spoke about Broadway quite a bit. It's also part of Ticketmaster's business model to take the brunt of the negative sentiment from high ticket prices to protect the artists.

http://freakonomics.com/podcast/live-event-ticket-market-screwed/

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 9/20/18 at 3:27pm

How is this any of sort of surprise. I've known of theatre owners that use TM that offer the producers a cut of their own reseller tickets to entice them to book the show in their theatre. You don't think Lin isn't getting a cut of Hammy's reseller ticketing?

[morosco]

Posted: 9/20/18 at 3:55pm

In its statement Thursday, Ticketmaster, which is owned by the live entertainment conglomerate Live Nation, says it does “not condone the statements made by the employee” who provided that information about TradeDesk. While it confirms that TradeDesk is a professional reseller product allowing resellers to “validate and distribute tickets to multiple marketplaces,” it says its seller code of conduct “specifically prohibits” the behaviors described in the investigation.

Ticketmaster Calls Mass-Scalping Report ‘Categorically Untrue’

[sabrelady]

Posted: 9/20/18 at 11:07pm

https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2018/09/20/ticketmaster-responds-to-starcbc-investigation-vows-to-root-out-mass-scalpers.html

 

Quel drole quel amuse. plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

 

[SharksVsJets]

Posted: 9/21/18 at 12:32am

https://www.thebeaverton.com/2018/09/public-beheading-of-ticketmaster-execs-already-sold-out/

[JennH]

Posted: 9/21/18 at 1:44pm

Speaking of all this, I decided to play around with Ticketmaster just now, because there's a concert next year out on Long Island I'm currently hoping to see. ALL tickets for it are 45$ and the service fee was 10.50...I nearly gagged because I didn't remember seeing what I consider such high service fees! Processing fee was obviously still the same. 

I decided from there to check a few Broadway shows and what their service fees were...almost every.single.one had cheaper service fees and as we all know by now, Broadway shows tickets are MUCH more expensive than 45 unless they're charging way less for some reason or you win the show's lottery...is there a rhyme or reason to this borderline highway robbery?? I honestly was kinda pissed about it.

[ArtMan]

Posted: 9/21/18 at 3:25pm

JennH, I bought a ticket to Cher last week for a concert in Florida.  The ticket was $85 and Ticketmaster charged an additional $25 for their fees.  

[JennH]

Posted: 9/21/18 at 5:15pm

ArtMan said: "JennH, I bought a ticket to Cher last week for a concert in Florida. The ticket was $85 and Ticketmaster charged an additional $25 for their fees."



Wow....seriously what?? What even are the service fees servicing? Same with processing...what's to process? 

[Lot666]

Posted: 9/24/18 at 11:54am

JennH said: "What even are the service fees servicing? Same with processing...what's to process?"

Nothing and nothing. It's just another opportunity to jack up the profit margin, similar to those nebulous fees on the purchase agreement for a car (Dealer Fee, Processing Fee, blah blah blah).

[haterobics]

Posted: 9/24/18 at 12:54pm

JennH said: "What even are theservice fees servicing? Same with processing...what's to process?"

Well, they used to bundle it all together and people complained, to this was meant to show you that Cher is getting $85, and they get the extra fees. Some of the fees are percentage based, so that will go up or down dependent if you buy a $30 or $500 ticket.

On some level, there have to be some fees, since Ticketmaster does have a pretty complicated website to maintain, and they aren't running a charity. But it is completely misguided how much they do charge for some shows.

I also don't get why going to the box office (where I literally make someone else perform my transaction for me) is often free. But if I do it at home with no help then I have to pay extra?!

[bwaylyric]

Posted: 9/24/18 at 1:00pm

haterobics said: "JennH said: "

I also don't get why going to the box office (where I literally make someone else perform my transaction for me) is often free. But if I do it at home with no help then I have to pay extra?!"

Convenience comes at a price.  Mostly ends up being a huge inconvenience though.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 9/24/18 at 1:14pm

That's because TM/TC is a SERVICE.  You pay for a service - which is: not going to the box office, which most of us cannot to with any regularity.

[Patty3]

Posted: 9/24/18 at 8:40pm

Not surprised about this article - only that someone is finally investigating. 

I went to a Jimmy Buffett show several years ago. I found 5th row, standard price seats a few months before the date. There were several rows of great seats so I told a bunch of friends. A few weeks later everyone who bought those tickets received an e-mail from TM saying that they "inadvertently" put those tickets on sale and that they needed to swap our seats for "comparable" seats (last few rows of the pavilion). I decided to just get a refund. I checked Tickets Now and some other reseller sights and was not surprised to see mine and my friends tickets for sale on those websites for triple the price or more. I forwarded my original confirmation and TM emails to the Better Business Bureau. I got a response a few week later saying that TM could basically do what the wanted including take back something they had sold me. Someone who also bought those seats and got the same email had a friend of a friend who's wife worked for the AG of New Jersey. We forwarded all our correspondence to him. Never heard where that went. There was a happy ending though. Several of us who got refunds kept watching the TM website for that show and several excellent regular price seats showed up a few days before the concert. I bought tickets in the 2nd row (an upgrade from my original  5th row seats). I didn't feel comfortable though until I arrived at the venue and had the tickets in my hand.

Updated On: 9/24/18 at 08:40 PM

[RippedMan]

Posted: 9/25/18 at 12:48am

It's annoying to me only because there's no way to really combat it. I mean, you want to see the show, you have to go through them pretty much.

[Lot666]

Posted: 9/25/18 at 8:10am

Patty3 said: "everyone who bought those tickets received an e-mail from TM saying that they"inadvertently" put those tickets on sale and that they needed to swap our seats for "comparable" seats (last few rows of the pavilion). I decided to just get a refund.I checked Tickets Now and some other reseller sights and was not surprised to see mine and my friends tickets for sale on those websites for triple the price or more."

Wow. They are the lowest of the low.

When 1984 opened on Broadway, I bought an incredibly cheap front/center orchestra ticket directly from the show's website. Within minutes, the price of the remaining seats in the vicinity went up dramatically. Clearly, someone had made a mistake, but the box office honored my purchase. That's called integrity, and Ticketmaster has none.

[Kad]

Posted: 9/25/18 at 4:34pm

dramamama611 said: "That's because TM/TC is a SERVICE. You pay for a service - which is: not going to the box office, which most of us cannot to with any regularity."

But it's not like there's any other option. You either live within a reasonable distance from the box office and can go, or you don't. The vast majority of people don't have that access, and it is impossible to buy directly from the box office otherwise. TM/TC more or less have a stranglehold on ticket sales.