Early sale of third leg tickets....

[Liesje]

...so, I've been thinking about the band decided to sell all the third leg tickets right away this past spring. My understanding was that it was supposed to help curb the problem of scalping - with more months between the sales and the concerts, the scalper prices would do down. I thought that was a pretty good idea at the time, but having just bought 4 GA tickets from a broker, now I'm not so sure. I had to buy some GAs from a broker for the first leg after me and my six friend (most with pre-sale codes) ALL got shut out. The tickets were expensive, but they were legit and arrived before other people got theirs from TM. I decided to use the same broker again if I had to. I didn't get any GAs in the third leg sales, so I've been watching the prices daily since then. The prices have not changed one single bit. I already bought the tickets b/c honestly now that U2 is back in Europe, I got really scared that Americans would start buying for the third leg again and prices would go UP. Another thing I thought of that kinda goes against the decision to sell the third leg tickets early is that the tickets for the fall shows I was considering seeing went on sale before the dates of the first leg shows I had tickets to. So, I didn't really try that hard to buy the fall leg shows b/c I was still waiting to see how much I'd enjoy the first leg shows. Well, I REALLY enjoyed them, but then all the tickets were gone so I had to choice but to go back to the broker.

So, what do you guys think? Good idea? Bad idea?

 

[anitram]

To be honest, for me, it worked out great because they didn't perform anywhere near me on the first leg (ie. minimum 10 hour drive), and the closest place in my own country was a 5 hour flight away. This way, I had a chance to buy my tickets early and then plan around them to take vacation time around the shows. For people who are going to see 3, 4, 5, etc shows, I think it's helpful to have tickets in advance, especially those of us with jobs who can't just get up and leave at a moment's notice.

 

[Bono's shades]

To be honest, for me, it worked out great because they didn't perform anywhere near me on the first leg (ie. minimum 10 hour drive), and the closest place in my own country was a 5 hour flight away. This way, I had a chance to buy my tickets early and then plan around them to take vacation time around the shows. For people who are going to see 3, 4, 5, etc shows, I think it's helpful to have tickets in advance, especially those of us with jobs who can't just get up and leave at a moment's notice.

It worked out well for me, too. I'm not one of those people who go to multiple shows on a tour, even for bands I love. When I realized the closest place U2 was coming to me on the first leg was six hours away I started praying they would announce the third leg and start selling tix for it right away because my boss was insisting I schedule all my vacation time for the rest of the year right away. Sure enough, they announced the third leg early and Minneapolis, which is only a little more than a two-hour drive for me, was on it. I went ahead and scheduled some vacation time around the concert date since I was hoping to get GA and knew I would need to be in line all day. And I got tix since the presale went much, much smoother on the third leg.

This is actually the first time I've been able to see U2 at all, despite being a fan for ages. Something always came up that prevented me from going before. It's weird that I was able to arrange things so easily this time when so many other people went through so much heartache over it. I almost feel guilty about it sometimes, but maybe fate if just finally being kind to me since I was so unlucky in the past when it came to U2 and concerts.

 

[cmb737]

It worked out well for me as I am currently paying compounding interest on my U2 tickets. Everyone is happy!

 

[Liesje]

I know it's nice to be able to plan ahead and myself will benefit from that, but I was thinking more along the lines of scalping and why the band decided to go with an early sale.....

 

[Tech]

I don't think that selling the tickets for the fall leg early actually was going to help cut back scalping. The only thing it did for me was make sure that I got tickets sooner instead of later. I still had to use a ticket broker paid a heafty sum for 1GA for one vegas show (eticket no less) so all this did was get me to get the security of a ticket now and pay later (creditcard)

 

[Chizip]

Yeah I just thought they sold them sooner because that means they would get the money sooner, and we all know a dollar today is worth more than a dollar 6 months from now

 

[MTEdge]

Tickets for the third leg were a lot easier to get since sales were pretty much over two weekends, which meant scalpers had to pick which shows they would purchase tickets for (LA, Toronto, Boston, Chicago, Miami, DC, and NYC). The flipside being that tickets were a lot easier to get for other locales like Hartford, Pittsburgh, Tampa, etc.

Additionally, tickets for third leg shows in Chicago, LA, Boston were selling for less than face value on ebay while U2 was still going through the first leg. Heck, I even bid on one particular auction for third leg Chicago GA's that didnt even reach the face value reserve price! Tickets for those locales went up up up the moment U2 had passed through the particular area on the first leg.

BTW, never buy from brokers, ebay is nearly always cheaper.

Lastly, the band scheduled the third leg sales so early in order to get out from under the public relations disaster that was the pre-sales for the first leg shows. Don't blame the band for your indecision (lack of faith?) as to what kind of product the band was to put forth on this tour... Also, knowing how hard it was to get tix for the first leg, wouldn't it have been more prudent to purchase third leg tickets during general sales so that IF you didnt like the show you could have sold them to a fan at face value afterwards?


(General comment with respect to this forum and not to the original post) With the half-cocked criticism that is thrown at the band on these forums, I am starting to wonder whether the band can do anything right...

 

[Liesje]

BTW, never buy from brokers, ebay is nearly always cheaper.

Lastly, the band scheduled the third leg sales so early in order to get out from under the public relations disaster that was the pre-sales for the first leg shows. Don't blame the band for your indecision (lack of faith?) as to what kind of product the band was to put forth on this tour... Also, knowing how hard it was to get tix for the first leg, wouldn't it have been more prudent to purchase third leg tickets during general sales so that IF you didnt like the show you could have sold them to a fan at face value afterwards?

Easy, easy! I never said anything against the band...it was their decicion when to sell THEIR tickets. Did I blame them ever in my post? No. I simply was wondering what was the reason they decided to have an early sale and if the early sale had in fact fulfilled its purpose. Unfortunately, I'm not the type of person that has an infinite supply of money and can just buy tons of tickets and then figure out later which ones I want and which ones I can sale. Also, I hate it when people do that b/c then there's less tickets for everyone else to just buy through TM like we're suppose to. Not to mention, I DID try to purchase the tickets I wanted during the third leg general sales and got nothing, again.

I'd never buy a ticket off of eBay unless it was from someone I knew. Lately, I'm hearing more stories of people getting screwed than successfully purchasing legitimate tickets. I'd rather pay a bit more and go with the broker I trust who has never screwed me over and honestly has the best customer service of any company I've ever dealt with. I've been looking for the tickets I wanted on eBay and they either were not for sale or were twice as much as the broker was selling them for anyway. This is just my personal choice and doesn't really have much to do with the thread topic....

 

[VertigoGal]

I think it's probably a combination of them wanting to appease fans after the ticket fiasco, and wanting to put all the money in the bank (helps pay for the 50 million dollar stage without taking out of their pocket, not to mention sweet sweet interest )

 

[MTEdge]

Easy, easy! I never said anything against the band...it was their decicion when to sell THEIR tickets. Did I blame them ever in my post? No. I simply was wondering what was the reason they decided to have an early sale and if the early sale had in fact fulfilled its purpose. Unfortunately, I'm not the type of person that has an infinite supply of money and can just buy tons of tickets and then figure out later which ones I want and which ones I can sale. Also, I hate it when people do that b/c then there's less tickets for everyone else to just buy through TM like we're suppose to. Not to mention, I DID try to purchase the tickets I wanted during the third leg general sales and got nothing, again.

I'd never buy a ticket off of eBay unless it was from someone I knew. Lately, I'm hearing more stories of people getting screwed than successfully purchasing legitimate tickets. I'd rather pay a bit more and go with the broker I trust who has never screwed me over and honestly has the best customer service of any company I've ever dealt with. I've been looking for the tickets I wanted on eBay and they either were not for sale or were twice as much as the broker was selling them for anyway. This is just my personal choice and doesn't really have much to do with the thread topic....

LivLuv, as far as I can remember, we're usually on the same side of the issue. Unfortunately, as to this thread, I let a bit of my recent dissatisfaction with inane complaint threads seep into my overall point that third leg sales were early because of the negative media resulting from the first leg sales.

I respect your basis for buying from brokers. I still would go the ebay way, but that's me.

I also respect your point that ppl do not have an infinite supply of money.

However, I disagree to the extent you suggest that ppl buying tickets for shows they have no intent on attending results in fewer tickets on the market. Most people (like myself) purchase tickets for other markets with the sole purpose of trading for tickets to shows they CAN attend.

I live in NJ, which is close to MSG. If I wanted to attend the MSG shows, but was shut out during general sales, then I would try to buy tickets to those shows that ppl would consider trading their MSG tickets for. I know for a fact that ppl buy MSG tickets even though they can't attend in order to trade for local shows they can attend. Heck, I traded with them!

The point is that, so long as fans purchase tickets to trade and not scalp, then purchasing tickets for say Portland does not result in fewer tickets on the Portland market--especially when those Portland tickets will be used by someone in Portland who had bought MSG tickets.

I hope that made sense...

 

[WildHoneyAlways]

My understanding was that it was supposed to help curb the problem of scalping - with more months between the sales and the concerts, the scalper prices would do down.

If only this was true. The prices for tickets have stayed about the same since the band has come through town. I have no problem buying from a broker. One of the best brokers I have ever dealt with is right here in Chicago. As for Ebay, at least 50% of the tickets being sold there are being sold by brokers so don't let that fool you.

I am in agreement that the 3rd leg tickets went on sale so early to help combat the negative press the first pre-sale got.

 

[MTEdge]

If only this was true. The prices for tickets have stayed about the same since the band has come through town. I have no problem buying from a broker. One of the best brokers I have ever dealt with is right here in Chicago. As for Ebay, at least 50% of the tickets being sold there are being sold by brokers so don't let that fool you.

As I noted in my previous post, prices have not been the same for most shows (the exceptions being LV and Miami). For example, prices went up for GA's after the first leg shows in Oakland (from $150 to $350), Seattle/Portland (from $225 to $350), Chicago (from $200 to $350 or more), Boston (from $200 to $450), MSG (from $400 to about $550 or more). Prices have come down for Charlotte (from $400 to $300 or less), DC (from $500 to about $400), Toronto (from $400 for most shows to $275 for most shows), etc.

Also, broker prices on ebay are far better than broker prices on their private websites. My guess as to why that's the case is that the brokers try to keep in line with the market prices on ebay.

 

[matt_tx00]

ebay is always a lot cheaper than Stubhub and all the broker sites. I've seen that with several concert tours.

I think its worked out worse in some ways that they put the tix on sale so early. Its given brokers a lot more power to control ticket pricing. I've managed to get tix for the October Philly shows. Prices started off fairly low before the May Philly shows took place, then they rose quite a bit in late May/June once the May shows passed as demand for the October shows increased. Now the tix for Philly are really expensive and hard to get just like many other cities.

Tix for Dallas/Houston this fall are outrageously priced. There may be some demand at these high prices but one broker I know here in Houston (for one of the bigger outfits) says that he's sold very few tix for U2 here, mostly because the show is so far away. Then you gotta wonder why they set the prices so high? Brokers STILL have tons of these tix for sale and refuse to drop the prices for some reason.