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Post by wafflecrush on Feb 19, 2013 5:58:03 GMT -8
WTF?! Am I understanding this correctly? LiveNation is scalping their own tickets? It doesn't look as though these come with any "extras" like VIP... Just overpriced regular GA tickets.
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crowell
Grunting Yowie
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Post by crowell on Feb 19, 2013 6:46:37 GMT -8
Well, at least we know the market rate. $550.00 for a GA ticket. There appear to be only 22 at this price right now.
I suspect the real value to this is not in primary sales, but in holding down the secondary market. If ticket prices on the secondary market are allowed to get too high it will drive up counterfeit tickets and secondary market flippers - those that buy tickets at a premium and re-sell them at an even higher premium.
And if you think about it, they sold tickets at $300, then $337, and now $550. Not scalping. Just market inflation.
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Post by Cysquatch on Feb 19, 2013 7:39:26 GMT -8
And if you think about it, they sold tickets at $300, then $337, and now $550. Not scalping. Just market inflation. That is quite a fucking leap for prices that were already fairly high. I think if they are going to sell them with a label like "Platinum", there should be some VIP perks attached. They just sell you a regular wrist band at 40% markup and call it Platinum, because it cost more.
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crowell
Grunting Yowie
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Post by crowell on Feb 19, 2013 7:49:14 GMT -8
Better "platinum" than "unobtainium."
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Post by davers on Feb 19, 2013 7:59:39 GMT -8
Where exactly do you see this?
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crowell
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Posts: 184
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Post by crowell on Feb 19, 2013 8:06:16 GMT -8
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Post by Drew on Feb 19, 2013 9:39:30 GMT -8
I was thinking about this the other day: what if a festival did the opposite of the typical pricing structure, and sold the most expensive tickets first, then slowly reduced prices until they sold out. Like, Coachella tickets starting at $800, they would probably sell out at like $550 - you would be gambling if you waited for them to get too low.
I'm not saying this is a good idea, or an ethical idea, or practical, or suggesting it. I was just thinking of it and thought it would be a crazy scenario that would create some serious pandemonium.
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crowell
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Post by crowell on Feb 19, 2013 9:48:20 GMT -8
I was thinking about this the other day: what if a festival did the opposite of the typical pricing structure, and sold the most expensive tickets first, then slowly reduced prices until they sold out. Like, Coachella tickets starting at $800, they would probably sell out at like $550 - you would be gambling if you waited for them to get too low. I'm not saying this is a good idea, or an ethical idea, or practical, or suggesting it. I was just thinking of it and thought it would be a crazy scenario that would create some serious pandemonium. Burning Man has been playing with a version of this. Some tickets went early for about 180%, then they went down from there. Last year they had a combo pemium sale and lottery. It seems I recall the lottery allowed you to enter at three price points. If you entered at the higest, you were entered into all three price points, but they drew the lottery from the higest bidders first. Then they drew from the middle. If you won on the highest, you were out (you had tickets after all). Best chance to win: Bid for the highest tier. You got entered into all three rounds of drawing. Rumors were in the highest tier 50% got tickets and in lowest tier only 1 in 5 got tickets. Lesson for next year: Buy early. Buy often.
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Post by davers on Feb 19, 2013 10:15:01 GMT -8
Wow, that is a straight up 'Fuck you' to everyone without tickets.
"Are OFFICIAL PLATINUM GA TICKETS resale tickets? No. OFFICIAL PLATINUM GA TICKETS were not purchased initially and then posted for resale; they are being sold for the first time through Live Nation Concerts. Live Nation Concerts's OFFICIAL PLATINUM GA TICKETS program enables market-based pricing (adjusting prices according to supply and demand) for live event tickets, similar to how airline tickets and hotel rooms are sold. The goal is to give the most passionate fans fair and safe access to the best tickets, while enabling artists and other people involved in staging live events to price tickets closer to their true value."
Translation: Rich folk only.
It makes sense from a business point of view but holy shit does it make them look greedy.
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Post by Fig on Feb 19, 2013 12:05:39 GMT -8
What a load of shit.
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Post by rimjobflashmob on Feb 19, 2013 12:09:41 GMT -8
"Well, we know people are gonna scalp, so if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!"
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crowell
Grunting Yowie
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Posts: 184
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Post by crowell on Feb 19, 2013 12:20:58 GMT -8
Look at what this does though. It keeps the scalpers at $550 or below. This is only 22 tickets and it forces all scalpers to drop their price to well below this price point. I don't think the goal was to sell a bunch of $550 tickets. I think the goal was to keep scalpers from selling $800 tickets. I say smart move LiveNation.
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Post by Fig on Feb 19, 2013 12:29:23 GMT -8
As somebody who won't be paying a god damn dime over the original face value for tickets, this is fucking stupid.
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Post by StormyPinkness on Feb 19, 2013 13:10:29 GMT -8
Well, at least we know the market rate. $550.00 for a GA ticket. There appear to be only 22 at this price right now. I suspect the real value to this is not in primary sales, but in holding down the secondary market. If ticket prices on the secondary market are allowed to get too high it will drive up counterfeit tickets and secondary market flippers - those that buy tickets at a premium and re-sell them at an even higher premium. And if you think about it, they sold tickets at $300, then $337, and now $550. Not scalping. Just market inflation. It is still scalping. They are making a profit on after market tickets.
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crowell
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Post by crowell on Feb 19, 2013 14:05:18 GMT -8
It is still scalping. They are making a profit on after market tickets. Actually it is not. These are first market tickets. Never been sold.
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scough
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Post by scough on Feb 19, 2013 14:17:46 GMT -8
Ah, so THAT'S why it sold out so quickly. No surprises there. Ticketmaster/Live Nation already run their own scalping site.
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Post by wonk on Feb 19, 2013 14:20:37 GMT -8
Same story, different name. They've been scalping their own tickets every year since the festival first started selling out. Livenation and ticketmaster are basically the same thing now, and TicketsNow is a sister site to ticketmaster. Ticketmaster puts their own tickets to sold out shows on Ticketsnow for double face, then they get the profit instead of the scalpers. Nothing new here.
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Post by davers on Feb 22, 2013 17:31:59 GMT -8
So, there are more of these tickets, but they are $575 now. They just released a bunch, who knows how many, for face value.
There seems to be no logic to this.
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crowell
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Post by crowell on Feb 26, 2013 8:20:31 GMT -8
The logic is easy. They are countering the scalper market. But for the $575 tickets, scalpers would be at $800+. Not only that, but with the idea that every so often more tickets will drop at face, this is holding the secondary market at bay. Remember, they sold 25,000 tickets. Dropping another 100 here and there is NOT going to be a dent in the over all ticket sales, except on the scalper market. I say LiveNation / Sasquatch is doing a great job.
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Post by davers on Feb 26, 2013 8:37:27 GMT -8
If they are actually doing this to keep the scalper market down, why not save all those tickets they release for face value and release a lot more of these scalped by livenation tickets for $500? Or even less? Why raise the price from $550 to $575 if they are actually trying to keep scalped tickets cheaper?
Tickets on Stubhub are now below $500, so charging $575 is not "holding the secondary market at bay", it's gouging desperate festival goers.
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