Headache in a Suitcase said:
Now, now...Fake Edge is a lover, not a fighter!
Unless you yoink his fake beanie, of course.
Who is responsible for this outrage?
- Thread starter U2Kitten
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Now, now...Fake Edge is a lover, not a fighter!
Unless you yoink his fake beanie, of course.
WildHoneyAlways said:
actually, scalping is legal in many states, including new york, with set guidelines.
if i sold my ticket, i am technicaly a scalper... be it on e-bay, stub hub, or 100 yards away from the venue (the law in new york state). it is very much legal here.
Bonochick said:
ok fine... but what about the rumor that fake edge works for total tickets?
ah ha!!!
got'cha!!!
i think...
since when is a U2 concert not a luxery item, but a public service?
Ticketmaster, btw, encourages their customers to resell their tickets at face value up to and including any amount allowed by law as they do not typically offer refunds.
Ticketmaster, btw, encourages their customers to resell their tickets at face value up to and including any amount allowed by law as they do not typically offer refunds.
Last edited:
a quick little scan around totaltickets.com's webpage finds a link for "u2 news" that directs you to www.interference.com
u2wedge
New Yorker
Edited my 2 cents...
Last edited:
Liesje
Blue Crack Addict
kellyahern said:
Exactly. I'll be the first to admit, I've bought a total of 6 GAs from a broker and yes, it's sucks, and yes I DID try (rather, had 5 others trying with me) to get tickets from TM through general sale and was shut out EVERY time. So I went to the broker, but I justify it by the fact that I'm not having to pay for any airfare or hotel rooms for my concerts, just gas and offering some money to those who let me shower at their place.
u2wedge said:
would actually like to hear your 2 cents...
u2wedge
New Yorker
Headache in a Suitcase said:
Well, at the risk of getting 'smoked'...
I was just saying that having that pink banner on this forum is the same as having a banner advertising a casino on a board dedicated to gambling addicts. You just don't hang that sort of carrot in front of the people who make this forum what it is. It is an insult, and I am really surprised that there isn't more of an issue with it.
The owners of this site should create or promote an environment that helps get tickets to the fans in the most economic way possible. Don't give me this crap about it being supply/demand (well, maybe it is, but it's not a free market... it's a controlled market with brokers setting inflated prices.). We know the brokers have rigged the system and are raping (I'll use that word) fans financially in the process.
I don't know how 'Elvis' can legitimately say that he needs that banner ad as a revenue stream. The way I see it, he's established a $2/month fee for those who want 'enhanced features' that you can get for free at other sites. But I guess he's got a lock on it because of the community involvement here.
I just think, in principle, that it's a bad call. There are a lot of ways to generate revenue without spitting on the fans that sign up for your site. He should change his name from Elvis to Nikki Six (famous for spitting on the front row...)
Okay, that was my orginal two cents plus a couple.
Last edited:
The ticket scalping is outrageous, and it could be easily stopped; I really have to blame Ticketmaster for most of the problem! I bought tickets for U2 in Barcelona, Spain, and though there were internet problems (another story), but the system was much fairer: When you buy online through Spain's Ticktacticket you have to show ID and the original credit card when you pick up your tickets IN PERSON, they will only mail to an address in Spain (I was in Seattle), so I only saw two scalpers on Ebay with Barcelona tickets in the months before the show. This method reduced international internet scalpers to near zero! I got to Barcelona, walked into a ticket outlet, showed my online receipt and passport and they printed up my tickets.
If Ticketmaster sold tickets by forcing the buyer to show up in person with ID in the city or zip codes of the concert area, then scalping would drop off tremendously. A guy in Philadelphia, let's say, buying four U2 tickets for Seattle would not be able to resell unless he came out to Seattle and laid his ID down to pick up the tickets. Yes, some will slip through, relatives in other cities, etc., but I bet you could reduce the scalping tremendously by doing this. I remember the "old days", pre-ticketbastard", and you had to go to the venue or local outlet to buy your tickets. Scalping was a smaller local issue. Ticketmaster is guaranteed a sale when they know the whole world can buy online for any show and then send the tickets to anyone anywhere. I would guess that half their profits (the Ticketmaster sales surcharge), come from people and scalpers buying up tickets worldwide so they can resell on them on that other great scalping medium: Ebay.
It is easy to curtail this problem, but big money is being made with this legal yet corrupt system.
If Ticketmaster sold tickets by forcing the buyer to show up in person with ID in the city or zip codes of the concert area, then scalping would drop off tremendously. A guy in Philadelphia, let's say, buying four U2 tickets for Seattle would not be able to resell unless he came out to Seattle and laid his ID down to pick up the tickets. Yes, some will slip through, relatives in other cities, etc., but I bet you could reduce the scalping tremendously by doing this. I remember the "old days", pre-ticketbastard", and you had to go to the venue or local outlet to buy your tickets. Scalping was a smaller local issue. Ticketmaster is guaranteed a sale when they know the whole world can buy online for any show and then send the tickets to anyone anywhere. I would guess that half their profits (the Ticketmaster sales surcharge), come from people and scalpers buying up tickets worldwide so they can resell on them on that other great scalping medium: Ebay.
It is easy to curtail this problem, but big money is being made with this legal yet corrupt system.
Popmartijn
Blue Crack Supplier
Lewis12 said:
Well, Ticketmaster is exactly the same then. You have to show ID and the original credit card when you pick up your tickets IN PERSON, they will only mail to an address in the USA (I'm in the Netherlands).
Liesje
Blue Crack Addict
Lewis12 said:
For Will Call you must do exactly this. For everything else, though, TicketMaster exlipcitly allows and encourages re-selling of tickets because they do not take returns or cancellations. Either way, it's really not their problem what people do with tickets after they get them. Their job is to sell tickets, and unfortunately they get all the shit when U2 shows are so highly demanded, people aren't happy for whatever reasons.
Popmartijn said:
Well, Ticketmaster is exactly the same then. You have to show ID and the original credit card when you pick up your tickets IN PERSON, they will only mail to an address in the USA (I'm in the Netherlands).
No it's not, and it does not mail to just in the USA, and Ticketmaster is doing everything to make it worldwaide. Ticketmaster does not operate in your country -- and that’s why you can not have them mailed to you -- I assume it's because of some of your laws there? (My point about Barcelona was an example of regional buying.) Buying a ticket and having to show ID in person for the region, zip/postal code you live in is my example.
You do not have to show up in person to buy a ticket at Ticketmaster, you can have it sent to you in the countries that Ticketmaster operates in -- I had Canadian tickets mailed to me in the U.S. I can walk into a ticketmaster office in Seattle and buy tickets to Toronto 3000 miles away or London and have them printed out right there on the spot, or I can do it online.
Look, I buy a ticket for whatever city I want, and then if I wanted to I could sell it on Ebay. We all know that when a concert sells out in 10 minutes it's because the whole country, or the “Ticketmaster world” is buying tickets to it (that’s about 400 million potential buyers). That drives the scalping price for locals out of the roof. Here, where I work, I was the only person in my office to get tickets, everyone else was locked out due to the frenzy of the sale(s), and these people were not big hardcore fans like me, just regular people who would like to see U2. They are not going to spend $300 on a scalped ticket. Do you realize that all these people where I work immediately blamed U2 for the problem and now go around badmouthing them for crooked sales! Irrational yes! But what else can they think? Because of the stupid sales method. There are a lot of people out there that could be fans but are slighted by a semi-corrupt ticket selling system. We know that U2 doesn’t like it either.
Pearl Jam here in Seattle has had a huge feud with Ticketmaster for years because of these practices (surcharging) and sales methods. They refused to even sell through Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster started here in Seattle, a Paul Allen venture, and bought out most of America’s ticket selling agencies and consolidated selling methods – like he needs more billions.
Ticketmaster is making a huge fortune off this method; yes it's legal, but not very ethical and shuts out the regular concert goer. Scalpers are making a fortune too, adding Ebay as their outlet.
Simple: sell and pickup by ID in person by zip/postal code. Yeah, you can buy from wherever in the world, including the Netherlands, but to get those tickets you'd have to show up in person at that concert or area. Everyone wins, it would be much fairer for those locals who would like to see U2, or any band, and for the hardcore fans that follow the bands as well. There will always be scalpers and shortages, but not the chaos we now have.
Popmartijn
Blue Crack Supplier
Lewis12 said:
No it's not. Ticketmaster.com only mails to the USA. Trust me, I've been there. And we do have Ticketmaster in my country (try http://www.ticketmaster.nl)
Well, when I ordered tickets for the MSG show in May, my only option was will call. No mailing or Ticketfast, only will call.
U2FanPeter
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
In my experience, Ticketmaster has no problem with the Canada/US border. I've had US tickets mailed to me in Canada.
I also thought tickets could be sent electronically to Ticketmaster 'Head' Offices internationally for those with really special requests? Did you specifically enquire?
u2fp
I also thought tickets could be sent electronically to Ticketmaster 'Head' Offices internationally for those with really special requests? Did you specifically enquire?
u2fp
Popmartijn said:
Hold on there. It depends on where we are and what laws are locally applied. Also, everything has changed radically in the 9 months since U2 tickets first went on sale!!! TM doesn’t just mail to the USA only, I’m a Canadian but live in the U.S.A., but I can buy tickets in Vancouver for U.S. shows and have them mailed or picked up in Vancouver as well. They will mail either way for those two countries. I bet there are other countries where there are no ticket borders either. Even if they don’t mail, they also have resalable e-tickets.
You may have to pick the tickets up in the U.S. due to your local scalping laws in the Netherlands? Checking your link, I see there is a subsidiary for The Netherlands that Ticketmaster operates through now. But it looks pretty new! Was it in business a year ago? I also see it is not quite TM but another company linked through Ticketmaster - it says “a Ticketmaster Company”, so they bought somebody out! Check this Ticketmaster web site below, it shows a map of the World of Ticketmaster, (I see The Netherlands is listed on it now), and this map has grown a lot in the past year! When I bought U2 tickets for Barcelona in February, Spain was defiantly NOT a Ticketmaster country, but now it is! Click on TM Europe.
http://www.ticketmaster.com/international?tm_link=tm_home_a_intl
Even then you still get screwed in the Netherlands. Because when you decide to buy tickets, to say Vancouver, you gotta compete with 400 million plus potential buyers in the U.S. and Canada, all at once, who will get their tickets mailed that day or printed out. Would you want all of the U.S. and Canada to be able to order and have Amsterdam tickets mailed to them in the U.S.? What chance would you have of getting tickets, except on Ebay?
I bet in another year much of Europe will be under Ticketmaster rule; and let's hope local laws keep the sales local for pickup! You have to watch that company, they will try and get those laws pulled because they make a ton of money on that ticket surcharge, and if every show in the world of any band can sell out due to a huge new massive consumer base that resells to the world, then wow, they will make a ton of money, and Ebay is the world’s best ticket scalpers outlet to facilitate it.
Here in Seattle they just lifted the last scalping law a few weeks ago, before you could not resell tickets a certain distance from the venue, now you can. There are people whose only source of income is scalping – I work close to a Stadium (Paul Allen built that stadium with Tax Payers money too), and the same scalpers are out here at every game when they aren’t on Ebay. In the end we are all getting screwed.
U2FanPeter said:
Yeah, I'm currently living here in Seattle, but I'm from Vancouver too, of course my parents live there (North Van), and your point is right on the mark.
I wonder about Mexico and the rest of the Americas for ticket sales? Anyone from Mexico buy tickets for a U.S. show and get tickets in Mexico?
jachba
The Fly
There were NO last-minute tickets released by Ticketmaster here in Toronto before the shows. I checked 2 days before the first show and every day until the evening of the 4th show.
Similar threads
