TM Scalping Prime Seats Via Verified Resellers

[Partyslammer]

Nice job, U2. Between TM reselling prime seats for near $3k for some shows and sites like Stubhub offering hundreds of tickets per show for resale, you've done a bang-up job of putting a dent in the scalping industry and getting tickets in "true fans" hands. Good to see the Verified Fan Scam working so well.

 

[corianderstem]

re the Ticketmaster resale tix:

It's just fucking bizarre. I don't care if the simple explanation is "well, the price will adjust once the seller sees what the market dictates." Seeing seats - not even the best seats - for literally THOUSANDS of dollars is a fucking joke.

 

[zoomcat]

How about this, one could probably buy an entire day with the band for this price: https://twitter.com/bionicredhead/status/933061121526902784

 

[U2AlwaysForever]

Yeah after missing out on verified fan I bought resale nosebleeds today at msg for 130, and upper vegas seats for 70. Verified fan did not work out for this verified fan,

 

[ntalwar]

No complaints here - got 4 GAs.

 

[Partyslammer]

 

[DeVaul]

So does the Verified Fan program track the instant resale listings, cancel the purchases and put the tickets back into the available pool while flagging the related accounts? No? Oh.

 

[Dakotalola]

So does the Verified Fan program track the instant resale listings, cancel the purchases and put the tickets back into the available pool while flagging the related accounts? No? Oh.

No, because their system didn't flag those buyers as scalpers. But in reality, fans are reselling tickets. It will never be completely eliminated.

 

[DeVaul]

No, because their system didn't flag those buyers as scalpers.

Exactly my point.

 

[TartItUp]

So does the Verified Fan program track the instant resale listings, cancel the purchases and put the tickets back into the available pool while flagging the related accounts? No? Oh.

not when a portion of those tickets were placed there directly by Ticketmaster - they have inventory specifically for their secondary market sites in order to maximize profit. and if you'll allow me to wear my tin foil hat for one more minute ... TM puts some of that inventory at outrageously high prices ($9000?) to 'con' the public into thinking the least expensive scalped tickets are a bargain so they make a purchase in order to avoid being shut out completely. or something along those lines ...

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

No, because their system didn't flag those buyers as scalpers. But in reality, fans are reselling tickets. It will never be completely eliminated.

Right... I mean, the only way to totally stop it would be to make reselling tickets for more than face value illegal.

Their other solution would be to link fan club tickets directly to an account and revoke the tickets if they end up on second hand sights as a requirement of membership... Pearl Jam does this.

But I imagine U2's fan club is much larger than PJ's and would be a nightmare to distribute this way... and even PJ has been forced to issue the right to buy tickets via lottery because of too many 10c members.

 

[Pop Artist]

I was just looking at LA - surprising how many non-resale tix are left, but I was also surprised to see this morning the number of verified resale tix that are actually not all that far off from face. Of course there are still many ridiculously priced ones (forget it if you want GA) but there are quite a few that are not.

 

[ntalwar]

It looks like up to one percent of the seats in the premium sections are up for resale with a huge markup. Years ago before presales and codes etc, the percentage was a lot higher.

 

[innominata8]

re the Ticketmaster resale tix:

It's just fucking bizarre. I don't care if the simple explanation is "well, the price will adjust once the seller sees what the market dictates." Seeing seats - not even the best seats - for literally THOUSANDS of dollars is a fucking joke.

My tickets are on my phone. Initially the only option was to transfer them. Then, yesterday it was changed to transfer or sell. [emoji854]

 

[Partyslammer]

My tickets are on my phone. Initially the only option was to transfer them. Then, yesterday it was changed to transfer or sell. [emoji854]

LiveNation wants you to fully enjoy the "Verified Fan Experience" from buying to reselling!

 

[phommel]

Right... I mean, the only way to totally stop it would be to make reselling tickets for more than face value illegal.

for this, US and European laws will have to be changed. Another option would be to sell tickets on name.

Their other solution would be to link fan club tickets directly to an account and revoke the tickets if they end up on second hand sights as a requirement of membership... Pearl Jam does this.

But I imagine U2's fan club is much larger than PJ's and would be a nightmare to distribute this way... and even PJ has been forced to issue the right to buy tickets via lottery because of too many 10c members.

U2's fan club may be much larger than PJ's, their business may also be much larger. So, more people should be on this. If the band really wants, they can manage a much better system. It's the big profits TM/LiveNation/U2 get from reselling that prevents them taking serious action.
Why cannot U2.com just guarantee tickets to fanclub members? Just sell ALL tickets to fanclub members the first week....it's so easy!