a little news story more info than you normally get around here

by Anonymous

The names of cities have been removed to
protect the author. Still, it's a good read.

[05/03/01] - Why You Can't Get Tickets

Hey. I was checking out the site tonight and wanted to give you some inside info on ticket scalping.

About 10 years ago, I worked and managed a video store here in the burbs and we had a Ticketmaster. At the time we used to get tons of scalpers who would come in trying to offer me all sorts of crap for the first few pulls on the day of a show that went on sale. At the time, I was good friends with this guy who was and still is one of the biggest scalpers in the area. He set up his business so it was legit, office [out of state] so he could sell here and so forth. He has made millions and I didnt have any problems helping him do so. We had a deal where I would get him good seats the day the show went on sale and he would usually pay me a premium for my time and trouble (after all I could get fired). Sure I was guilty of pulling the best seats for him but there is a whole hell of a lot more to this story.

The main problem is not the scalpers but is Ticketmaster. Take the [local hockey venue] for example. The place holds around 16K people. It was common for only maybe 4000 to 6000 of those seats to go on sale the 1st day!!! That's it!! Nothing in the 1st 15 rows anywhere near the stage. I remember Bon Jovi going on sale back then, it sold out in 30 minutes and people were amazed. Of course only 2000 tickets were put on sale at the time so it was all just hype. Where did these tickets go? Who knows? Most went to the promoter who did with them what he wished. (Radio give aways, contests, etc) The rest went to Ticketmaster employees and friends. My scalper friend had many dealings with Ticketmaster people who would sell him tickets on the side just as I was doing. These people were high up in the corporate offices and then they would come to my store and investigate me for pulling tickets. Talk about being hypocritical!!

It's a total joke. The entire ticket sales process is a joke. Its all about regulating the supply and demand. They know the demand is high, so they hold more seats in their pockets to make more money from the scalpers. It's a shame cause the only person who suffers is John Q. Public. He cant get a decent seat without paying a premium price. Sure the laws of economics apply but its tilted towards the seller. Until the folks at Ticketmaster are flushed out, I'm afraid that nothing can be done.

Anybody who wants to get decent tickets knows that the best way to get tickets is to wait til the day or so before the show to pick up stuff they dump back in the system. I've gotten 2nd row seats for almost any show I wanted to see just by doing this. So now the Atlanta show has sold out in two seconds. Makes sense. It's a small place and it sounds as if a ton of seats were held for people. Being that it is the 1st show of the tour, I'm sure all the local radio stations will be giving away tickets. I was hoping to go but my friend who lives there didn't get tickets. We will probably end up buying tickets at a premium. Guess that's just how it works. §

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