Glastonbury Ticket System

[Abster]

Watching Watchdog is making me yell at my TV, I think I'm getting old.

This whole Second Hand Market Issue, gigs selling out then within minutes being on ebay with ticket touts etc. I know Glastonbury is a nightmare on ticket day and we all pray to the ticket gods to lace out palms with a ticket. But why oh why don't all tickets have the same registration system as Glastonbury does?

Is it too logical? Does annoy me when you want ticket to see them sold out only to be sold on ebay for ridiculous prices.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3Sn9kz60SZPXy0g0qCy2zk8/second-hand-ticketing

[Mr Splodge]

Watching Watchdog is making me yell at my TV, I think I'm getting old.

This whole Second Hand Market Issue, gigs selling out then within minutes being on ebay with ticket touts etc. I know Glastonbury is a nightmare on ticket day and we all pray to the ticket gods to lace out palms with a ticket. But why oh why don't all tickets have the same registration system as Glastonbury does?

Is it too logical? Does annoy me when you want ticket to see them sold out only to be sold on ebay for ridiculous prices.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3Sn9kz60SZPXy0g0qCy2zk8/second-hand-ticketing

[A13]

Because Ticketmaster et al have a financial interest in the resale market, they wont push to have more restrictions will they.. Plus the gov't will get a double dose of VAT, yummy!

[Thearg]

I should imagine it costs a lot of money for GFL to do what they do but other smaller venues ie gigs etc make they're money anyway regardless of touts so maybe the cost and incentive just isn't there.

[salvador wali]

I agree with the way tickets are sold for Glastonbury. The only upside of having a general sale with no reg/pictures etc, is that there would always be an opportunity for a ticket, regardless of price. I'm one of the lucky ones i've always been able to get a ticket (even if it was in the final tiny resale this year)

[st dan]

Basically I believe that it's down to the venues, promoters and the bands themselves not wanting it.

The above parties don't really 'care' who buys the tickets as long as they sell out.

Touts make sure that gigs sell out .. And for that reason they are seen as beneficial to the above, and unfortunately I can't see the big push to ever change things any time soon.

[dn3876]

Most other Festivals don't sell out straight away so there isn't really an issue. With gigs you couldn't have photo idea for every event. I don't mind buying off of touts I have done in the last and will do again I'd say most people have. My biggest bug bearer is the secondary ticket sites that run alongside the main ticket seller. These should be clamped down on as it can't be right to be able to buy a ticket for over the odds off of a sister site to the actual main one that is taking the piss!!

[Ruwise]

I understand what you are saying but unless they had the same refund system it would be a difficult thing to administer. You buy tickets months in advance and people often have legitimate reasons for needing to sell. I sold a ticket for my friend through twickets as his wife was going in for surgery the same day as one of the gigs we were going to. At least twickets is only ever face value or below.

[scaryclaireyfairy]

radiohead tried personalised tickets for their last tour with a face-value resale option if you couldn't attend. it caused some drama for some people but not as much as you'd think. no doubt their office staff were run ragged but it worked. i imagine it was expensive to implement though and it has to be said they're in a privileged position cos they can afford it/recoup it from diehards like me.

so it can be done but only if you have enough control over your 'brand' to demand it.

edit: the vast majority of complaints about the system stemmed from, those that bought from ticketmaster rather than from radiohead's shop. obviously ticketmaster are both poachers and gamekeepers so it wasn't really in their interest to make life easy for those where the lead booker couldn't attend on the day, for example.

Edited June 4, 2014 by scaryclaireyfairy

[OneLittleFish]

I have a real problem with the likes of GetMeIn etc as it shows the main priority of the primary ticket market. Instead of making efforts to track down serial touts and ban them from using the site, they've gone "Hey, let's do business together! We'll give you a system where you can sell your tickets for a huge profit, we'll take a cut for the service and we all get rich!".

Just remember that any time you try and deal with the customer services department of most of the major primary ticket resellers.

A few years back I ordered a British Sea Power ticket from arguably the most famous one six days before the gig. The ticket never arrived so I bought one on the day and e-mailed before leaving for the gig to say that I'd done that and required a refund. I came home to find an e-mail saying that they'd get my name at the door and I would just have to print off their reply e-mail and show it. Handy, seeing as how a) they knew I'd already bought a replacement ticket and I was at the gig so couldn't print off their e-mail. They refused to give a refund on a ticket that IIRC was under £15 - for a multi-million pound company it was absolutely shocking.

IMO I like the idea of a law banning reselling of tickets anything above face value - it's in the interests of the ticket companies to be able to continue to take a cut of the secondary ticket market so they'll never change - sadly I think it would have to be by law for it to happen.

[math125]

Could easily print a name on the tickets and require matching photo id to get into a venue. Can't see that adding huge extra costs.

[pancakes]

I have a real problem with the likes of GetMeIn etc as it shows the main priority of the primary ticket market. Instead of making efforts to track down serial touts and ban them from using the site, they've gone "Hey, let's do business together! We'll give you a system where you can sell your tickets for a huge profit, we'll take a cut for the service and we all get rich!".

Just remember that any time you try and deal with the customer services department of most of the major primary ticket resellers.

A few years back I ordered a British Sea Power ticket from arguably the most famous one six days before the gig. The ticket never arrived so I bought one on the day and e-mailed before leaving for the gig to say that I'd done that and required a refund. I came home to find an e-mail saying that they'd get my name at the door and I would just have to print off their reply e-mail and show it. Handy, seeing as how a) they knew I'd already bought a replacement ticket and I was at the gig so couldn't print off their e-mail. They refused to give a refund on a ticket that IIRC was under £15 - for a multi-million pound company it was absolutely shocking.

IMO I like the idea of a law banning reselling of tickets anything above face value - it's in the interests of the ticket companies to be able to continue to take a cut of the secondary ticket market so they'll never change - sadly I think it would have to be by law for it to happen.

[LondonTom]

Could easily print a name on the tickets and require matching photo id to get into a venue. Can't see that adding huge extra costs.

[Tuna]

it's the bloody viagogo/getmein shit that annoys me the most. i have had a few gigs here in london where they check ID against the ticket; even e-tickets, which is much better. then as mentioned above radiohead had personal ID tickety things but they didn't have photos on. looking through loads of my ticket stubs a lot of them have my name on - they could very easily check IDs on the door!

[cammie81]

Yeah I agree about the secondary ticketing sites.

Touting has always been exploitative but how it's done has changed.

Previously it was done standing in the rain in the middle of nowhere (and still is).

More common now are the touts posting on these websites from their canary wharf office.

I wouldn't be surprised if the major ticket websites with a sister secondary site offload a batch of tickets to popular events to someone off book and share the profit.

[autoinflate]

I'm torn on this one - generally i'm all for a free market, so if you want to go to a gig that badly just get on the phone early enough and snap up the tickets, or if it's a big gig don't sweat it - just turn up and buy one outside, generally for less than face value.

On the other hand I do like things to be fair and proper, and the way ticket sales for gigs are going these days seems far from that. One option would be to make it illegal to resell gig tickets, like for the footy, which would deal with much of the blatant touting....but I for one wouldn't want that. I like being able to turn up outside the big summer gigs and get a cheap ticket.

So, ultimately, fuck knows....

[pentura]

just turn up and buy one outside, generally for less than face value.

...I like being able to turn up outside the big summer gigs and get a cheap ticket.

Edited June 5, 2014 by pentura

[Pinhead]

Not a free market though is it - its legitimised corporate touting. For each gig that goes on sale via the normal vendor, a whole chunk of tickets is effectively 'sold' internally straight over to the viagogo / getmein resellers which has the effect of a) forcing up the price as there are less regular tickets available for punters at face value and b: forcing people to then go and pay through the nose to these sanctioned tout organisations, who then make a profit from the difference and no doubt pay a fee from that profit back to the original vendor for the privilege. Win-win for them - lose-lose for the customer. And scratch the surface of the 'directorship' of these reseller touting companies and you'll find a trail leading right back to the original big gig vendors...

Touts are slime whether they are floating around outside the gig or they're seeming legitimised via a poxy registration at Company House...

Edited June 5, 2014 by Pinhead

[autoinflate]

I don't think I've ever been to a gig and seen touts selling tickets for less than face value.

Edited June 5, 2014 by autoinflate

[autoinflate]

Not a free market though is it - its legitimised corporate touting. For each gig that goes on sale via the normal vendor, a whole chunk of tickets is effectively 'sold' internally straight over to the viagogo / getmein resellers

[Ruby77]

 

Could easily print a name on the tickets and require matching photo id to get into a venue. Can't see that adding huge extra costs.

[pentura]

You won't see/hear them selling for less than face value, in fact quite the opposite. You just have to haggle. I paid 50 quid for arctic monkeys the other week....could have got him down more too I reckon, but touts have to eat too eh.

Have done similar for loads of gigs in London.....i'm talking about the big gigs in Hyde Park, Finsbury Park, Emirates, Wembley etc. These have 40k+ tickets, there are always loads of spares knocking around and touts will pick them up cheap, then sell them on at any profit, especially if it means they're done for the day and can fuck off down the pub.

[Pinhead]

Google "dispatches ticket scandal" - was exposed a few years back I believe. The dirty bastards even tried to fuck them in the courts to stop them televising their practices...

[autoinflate]

blimey that is outrageous eh.

ticket industry should be regulated then I guess...where's me placard...

Edited June 5, 2014 by autoinflate

[LaxtonsSuperb]

Google "dispatches ticket scandal" - was exposed a few years back I believe. The dirty bastards even tried to fuck them in the courts to stop them televising their practices...