eBay Protest | Your efforts are needed... Please read this thread.

[u2wedge]

Okay, people, I'd like to ask everyone to participate in an eBay protest of sorts. If you've been shut out on tickets perhaps you can burn off some of that negative energy by helping change the way tickets can be distributed in the future.

We've all been hearing Bono and the boys telling us for years that we can make a change in the world, that if we all speak as 'One' we can make a difference. Well, let's put that theory to the test and begin a grass roots effort to become a major pain in the ass to the brokers on eBay and make their lives miserable.

Let's do the following:

1. A team of people to gather lists of people who are ripping people off on eBay. We can contact them as needed to discourage their selfish activity.

2. A team of people to send emails to eBay management with auction numbers and members who are taking advantage of U2 fans. Nothing would piss these people off more than having their account suspended with a pile of U2 tickets sitting on their desk.

3. A team to forward concerns to U2's Principal Management re: the obvious scam that is Ticketmaster and how it is the antithesis of the U2 message.

4. Maybe we can come up with a slogan that we can use to create a media campaign, something as simple as a signature to use in the u2.com forums to display our feelings. If 100's of people are signing their posts with 'I'm a U2 fan and a broker stole my ticket' maybe people who can make changes will start making changes.

There certainly can be more strategies in place, but the ticket brokers have declared War on us and we need to fight back.

What do you say? Let's cause some INTERFERENCE!

The Captain

ps. I'll be posting this on Usenet as well.

 

[cmb737]

I agree that scalping on ebay is a bummer BUT:

1. Many states AND Ticketmaster allow reselling of tickets for face value and in some cases a bit more. In order for these auctions to be taken down, you would have to get Ticketmaster to PROVE that they are fraudulant and breaking a law (which you can't do).

2. War hasn't been declared. These tickets wouldn't be up there if there weren't thousands of U2 fans happy to dole out money for them. The market bears what people will pay. People pay, and by choice without a gun to their head. They are not being ripped off if they know all the information before they decide to purchase.

3. What would you do if there wasn't ebay? All the tickets would be gone, and you would have no way to get them. At least this way you can try and get some tickets for more than face value if you get shut out at onsale. Yeah, its sucks...but I got a lot of tickets on the last tour and was happy to get em. If you shop well, most of the time you can get a pretty good value. You have to admit, in all reality, GA's are fairly underpriced. They probably could be sold for 3 times what they are and still be the hottest tickets.

4. Most U2 fans I know go into the tour "season" knowing ahead of time that Ebay will most likely play a role in their ticket buying efforts. We know, we budget.

5. Ebay makes TONS of money on fees from these and all ticket sales. Good luck trying to get them to "interfere" with that. Most U2 fans I know (and I know hundreds) aren't all that pissed off about the really high priced tix on ebay, we don't buy them.

 

[RademR]

I agree there is something that needs to be done about the scalping, but not all sellers on eBay. If they have more than a 2-3 auctions going, then their obviously scalping for the money and are in it for the profit.

My friend bought 3 tickets accidently today for MSG (lowers) instead of 2 and so he put one ticket on eBay. He figures he might as well make a profit on it, and although I can't agree with him, I can't fault him for it. He's not a scalper or anything, so I think its alright.

I got 4 tickets to DC and only needed 2 and quickly got rid of them at face value, but not everyone are loyal u2 fans like we all are.

But you're right about the scalpers on Ebay. Something needs to be done.

 

[cmb737]

But you're right about the scalpers on Ebay. Something needs to be done.

Yeah, don't buy em.

 

[u2wedge]

I agree that scalping on ebay is a bummer BUT:

1. Many states AND Ticketmaster allow reselling of tickets for face value and in some cases a bit more. In order for these auctions to be taken down, you would have to get Ticketmaster to PROVE that they are fraudulant and breaking a law (which you can't do).

2. War hasn't been declared. These tickets wouldn't be up there if there weren't thousands of U2 fans happy to dole out money for them.

3. What would you do if there wasn't ebay? All the tickets would be gone, and you would have no way to get them. At least this way you can try and get some tickets for more than face value if you get shut out at onsale. Yeah, its sucks...but I got a lot of tickets on the last tour and was happy to get em. If you shop well, most of the time you can get a pretty good value. You have to admit, in all reality, GA's are fairly underpriced. They probably could be sold for 3 times what they are and still be the hottest tickets.

1. You're right, there is a percentage allowed for selling tickets above face, but there is no way that ANY ticket for a U2 concert on eBay should be more than $320, which is twice face value. $2000 for a U2 ticket is criminal, literally and figuratively. There is a serious problem with eBay's ticket sales rules and unless people have a collective voice about it, nothing will change (i.e. outcry about 1st presale...) fyi, Anyone can put in any value for the face value of a ticket. eBay could easily use TM's database for ticket values at each venue to limit this practice, if not eliminate it entirely.

2. I was being sarcastic using the term 'war' when describing the current ticket situation, where they cut true U2 fans off at the pass and then bend them over for the privilege. Again, if you're content with this, please read another post.

3. What would I be doing if there wasn't any eBay? Probably going to U2 with GA tix!

Now, if there isn't any interest to make a stink about getting screwed out of seeing the band that this site is based on, fine. I just thought it would be a good time to channel a lot of the anger that I read on this board into a more positive endeavor that will bring about a change re: ticket scalping.

But if there is any desire to get something going, this is the place to get it started.

Anyone?

ps. and I'm not talking about the extra ticket that a buddy may be trying to sell, I'm talking about the people who make a career screwing the legitimate fan out of hundreds of dollars unnecessarily.

 

[RademR]

Yeah, don't buy em.

thank you, cmb737

 

[mikal]

i know some people that could get the job done real quick.

 

[HappyFatBono]

I think you should concentrate on more heinous ebay scum.

People are selling counterfeit "Live Strong" bracelets on eBay - profiteering and taking money away from cancer research.

 

[gorman]

It's easy to say don't buy from scalpers, as "that's the only way they'll learn their lesson." The thing is, those tickets will sell no matter what we try to do. In fact, if it's not the fans that buy them due to protests, it'll end up being people that don't aren't actually true U2 fans. The scalpers won't be affected, not as many true fans will be at the shows, and we'll end up seeing less (or no) shows.

Personally, I'm not going to miss out on a U2 show just to attempt to prove a point to the scalpers, which in reality will have no impact.

Plus, given Ticketmaster's ticket limit, without the scalpers, I'm not sure how I'd see more than one show per-leg. Granted, if Ticketmaster lifted the limit, even more scalpers would end up with tickets. There's just no good solution here. I think as long as you have a good pre-sale for the real fans to ensure they can see at least one show, which seemed to happen this time around, then it's not worth worrying so much about scalpers and eBay.

I get the feeling that this may be an unpopular viewpoint

 

[lemon_vr6]

The only way I could go to the shows was Ebay. The most I paid was $300 per GA ticket, with an average price of $250 or so. Would I rather have paid $49.50 a ticket for the 12 shows I'm attending in the first 2 legs? Of course. Would I have paid whatever it took to even sit in the last row in the back of the arena? Only for U2. The system sucks, but it also works.

 

[RademR]

People are selling counterfeit "Live Strong" bracelets on eBay - profiteering and taking money away from cancer research.

that's fucked up.

 

[u2wedge]

I agree that scalping on ebay is a bummer BUT:

4. Most U2 fans I know go into the tour "season" knowing ahead of time that Ebay will most likely play a role in their ticket buying efforts. We know, we budget.

5. Ebay makes TONS of money on fees from these and all ticket sales. Good luck trying to get them to "interfere" with that. Most U2 fans I know (and I know hundreds) aren't all that pissed off about the really high priced tix on ebay, we don't buy them.

4. Of course fans budget for shows knowing that tickets will cost a certain amount of money. Of course, that doesn't mean squat when you can't buy tickets does it, or the tickets that you've budgeted for are now astronomically priced?

5. Ebay makes tons of money, brokers make tons of money, U2 makes tons of money.... guess who doesn't make tons of money? The majority of U2 fans. If you're telling me the average U2 fan should be expected to pay hundreds of dollars over face value for tickets, you can't be serious. Just admit there's a problem. A $165 ticket is crazy to begin with, let alone having to buy two of them (or more.)

I can't believe people have been conditioned to the point where they accept blatant price gouging in the name of convenience. "Oh, thank you eBay for letting me pay 10x more than I needed to!, I'll even give Mr. Seller a positve feedback for the privliege..."

 

[cmb737]

In response to U2 wedge, don't want to quote his whole post:

1. No one that can afford to bid on $2000.00 U2 tickets get ripped off for anything. I would wager that most of the tickets are going for twice face or less, the market just won't bear any more. If people can afford to pay this, let em.

2. I don't think the analogy of bending U2 fans over is an accurate one. Again, no one is forcing them to pay anything. U2 has proven they can run a successful presale for their most dedicated fans. Casual fans and social attendees can pay whatever they want. Who cares?

3. About no ebay? What about Zoo TV tour? 12 to 1 ticket demand. No ebay, many many fans left outside the venue listening. For those of us (and there are many) that travel, ebay is a lifesaver sometimes.


No one is arguing that scalping isn't wrong, or should be limited. My argument is that you personally aren't being screwed. If you are, you are choosing to be. Everyone has the same shot (including scalpers) to get tickets, some do, many don't. You don't have to buy them on Ebay or from scalpers. Tickets are often available the day of the show, and there are thousands being traded and sold on fan sites.

Again, there wouldn't be as many tickets on Ebay if there wasn't such high demand for them and people were buying them.

Don't like Wal-Mart? Don't shop there. Don't like Ebay? Don't shop there.

The government has already done all they are willing to do, and most municipalities are leaning towards allowing legal scalping as it is.

Sucks, but shit...

And if you really need help getting tickets at a fair price, I would be more than willing to help you. It's not hard.

 

[cmb737]

4. Of course fans budget for shows knowing that tickets will cost a certain amount of money. Of course, that doesn't mean squat when you can't buy tickets does it, or the tickets that you've budgeted for are now astronomically priced?

5. Ebay makes tons of money, brokers make tons of money, U2 makes tons of money.... guess who doesn't make tons of money? The majority of U2 fans. If you're telling me the average U2 fan should be expected to pay hundreds of dollars over face value for tickets, you can't be serious. Just admit there's a problem. A $165 ticket is crazy to begin with, let alone having to buy two of them (or more.)

I can't believe people have been conditioned to the point where they accept blatant price gouging in the name of convenience. "Oh, thank you eBay for letting me pay 10x more than I needed to!, I'll even give Mr. Seller a positve feedback for the privliege..."

True, if you can't get em you can't get em.

U2 is not a public utility, their touring does not guarantee you admittance at any price. Concerts, first of all, are a luxury designed for those with discretionary funds. $15 dollar parking, $8 dollar beer? I think $165 is a lot for a U2 ticket, but probably the best entertainment buy that is available. I am not rich by any means, but I would pay double (and have in the past!).

No one is paying ten times face value for tickets (like routinely happens for super bowl and world series tickets), and again IT IS A CHOICE. Some can afford it.

If you can't afford diamonds, don't shop at Tiffany's.

There are multiple other options besides Ebay. Email me for help: cburke737@comcast.net

Scalping sucks yes, but boycotting Ebay won't do anything and neither will reporting sellers.

 

[cmb737]

I get the feeling that this may be an unpopular viewpoint

I couldn't agree more.

 

[atikicat]

The laws regarding scalping are outdated and don't take into account today's cyber-age and the likes of ebay. Like it or not, there is usually nothing illegal about the prices being asked and paid on ebay. As long as the seller doesn't live in the state where the event is taking place...then there is no restriction on the price they can sell their tickets. If the buyer lives in the state where the concert is taking place, then there is some restriction on how much they can bid...an out of state buyer has no restriction, however. A seller in TX can sell tix U2 tix to MSG for $4000 to a buyer in NJ, and there is nothing illegal about it. If you want to do something to stop this practice, then there needs to be a federal law about scalping. Old state laws no longer do the job. Ebay of course has nothing to do with federal or state laws. Contact your state and federal reps if you want change.

 

[cmb737]

I couldn't agree more.

Gorman, sorry...just realized this sounded bad. I couldn't agree more WITH you.

 

[Anu]

This is an important thread because I think that U2 needs to re-invent the way it sells tickets. But EBAY, as over-the-top as it is, is basically one humongous internet yard-sale and perhaps not the root of all evil.

The prices on EBAY are not as offensive as those with the ticket services; it's Ticketmaster, the professional "ticket brokers," and the whole "system"
--not individuals on EBAY, many being ridiculously dedicated fans like ourselves, who are the real problem. (I am currently bidding for a quite reasonable single ticket).
(For another take on EBAY, check out the new Chumbawamba record (yes, I know they are confirmed and un-repentant Bono-phobes) and the song "On EBAY" which describes soldiers looting antiquities from Iraq to sell on EBAY)
--Anu

 

[ZOOTB]

Yeah, don't buy em.

Agreed. I'm as much against scalping as the next but as a last resort, we're it not for ebay, I wouldn't be going on May 28th.

 

[matt76]

I am a massive U2 fan, I also sold a ticket on ebay. I think the idea of a group being sent out to hunt down people is ridiculous. Without ebay we would be screwed. I don't mind putting down 150+ dollars to watch U2 play, the next time they will be touring again may not be for 4-5 years, so ebay for me is a life saver..

 

[ramblingrob]

The only way I could go to the shows was Ebay. The most I paid was $300 per GA ticket, with an average price of $250 or so. Would I rather have paid $49.50 a ticket for the 12 shows I'm attending in the first 2 legs? Of course. Would I have paid whatever it took to even sit in the last row in the back of the arena? Only for U2. The system sucks, but it also works.

I hear what you are saying, but I can't believe you spent $3,000 (12 X 250) for tickets. This doesnt count travel costs, etc. You must be pretty damn rich or have a strange set of values. I would never spend that much on u2, but I guess to each its own. Good luck.

 

[bcrt2000]

It's easy to say don't buy from scalpers, as "that's the only way they'll learn their lesson." The thing is, those tickets will sell no matter what we try to do. In fact, if it's not the fans that buy them due to protests, it'll end up being people that don't aren't actually true U2 fans. The scalpers won't be affected, not as many true fans will be at the shows, and we'll end up seeing less (or no) shows.

Personally, I'm not going to miss out on a U2 show just to attempt to prove a point to the scalpers, which in reality will have no impact.

Plus, given Ticketmaster's ticket limit, without the scalpers, I'm not sure how I'd see more than one show per-leg. Granted, if Ticketmaster lifted the limit, even more scalpers would end up with tickets. There's just no good solution here. I think as long as you have a good pre-sale for the real fans to ensure they can see at least one show, which seemed to happen this time around, then it's not worth worrying so much about scalpers and eBay.

I get the feeling that this may be an unpopular viewpoint

the other thing is, if you believe in capitalism as the holy grail of market systems, this is pretty much capitalism at its finest, its what the western world is made of. supply & demand.

U2 is being generous with their prices (especially for GA), and thats whats facilitating the scalpers, and its also augments the demand for tickets (something that has been seen over the last 10 years in toronto with toronto maple leafs tickets).

also, its legal. so as much as you don't want it to happen, these people are doing nothing wrong. in the context of the western world, its nothing more than buying low and selling high.

also, i don't think this will be popular either

 

[Chrisedge]

Worry about bootleggers, and other TRUE scum, instead of people selling tickets (Which last time I checked was legal in most states)

 

[spasm26]

U2 said that they only care about presale tickets ending up on Ebay. Good luck findout out if they were purchased during the presale or general sale.

 

[watergate]

u2 tickets on e-bay supply and demand

All of the U2 fans could make really low bids on the U2 tickets on e-bay or wait to bid on the tickets until the week or day of the show, but don't go over the original cost of the ticket. This will cause the sellers to panic and lower the cost of the tickets rather than lose money. Some of the U2 ticket sellers on e-bay bought tons of tickets that aren't selling and have no bids thus the sellers are going to lose several hundreds of dollars if the fans don't play the game. These greedy people are going to panic right before the concert and sell them at lower prices and maybe below costs if none of the U2 fans bid on them. Do any of these U2 fans that bought tickets and are now selling them at a profit think of how they are ripping off the members of U2? I'd like to suggest that the fans that are sellling U2 tickets on e-bay for a profit to send the profit that they make to the band. This hurts the band because they end up playing half empty venues due the scalapers not selling their inflated tickets on e-bay. Lets declare war on the scalapers.

 

[u2bigfans]

u should worry about all the brokers first.. these people are the ones that have hundreds of tickets already per show before it's on sale to general public.. i actually buy and sell on ebay too.. for tickets i want or don't need.. why waste the tickets u have that u can't use.. i start my tickets way below face value.. not like some people selling for $800+ for starting price..

 

[Liesje]

u should worry about all the brokers first.. these people are the ones that have hundreds of tickets already per show before it's on sale to general public.. i actually buy and sell on ebay too.. for tickets i want or don't need.. why waste the tickets u have that u can't use.. i start my tickets way below face value.. not like some people selling for $800+ for starting price..

No kidding! I was selling a pair on eBay for LESS than FACE VALUE. Why? I want to go to a different show and I can't afford to be doling out hundreds of dollars for new tickets every weekend so I need the money back. eBay is MUCH safer than just making an agreement on a message board with some random fan you've never met. Once you've got third parties like eBay, PayPal, SquareTrade, credit card companies, etc involved, you've got a better chance of not being screwed, as a seller OR a buyer. Even if I do find someone on Interference who wants my tickets, they will still be "sold" via eBay.

 

[CTU2fan]

Yeah scalping & high ticket prices sucks...

But c'mon, aren't there more pressing issues to get worked up about?

 

[Chrisedge]

U2 said that they only care about presale tickets ending up on Ebay. Good luck findout out if they were purchased during the presale or general sale.

And tell me where it said in the signup or emails from u2.com that tickets could not be re-sold... They didn't, therefore they have NO rights in asking fans/scalpers/whoever to not re-sell or scalp.

I'm sure U2 only had a problem with all the scalpers signing up (and paying $40) for the u2.com membership AFTER all the shit they got about the presale.

 

[U2WOJO]

Looks like Montreal is a step at limitting scalpers with the will calling of all GA's. Careful what you wish for. I bought 2 and need a third for my brother. With the will call there will be a very limited secondary market making it very difficult for a true fan wanting a ticket shut out in presales/general sales to get a ticket. Another problem this creates is what if I get sick, have a death in my family, or have some other unfortunate facit of life rear it's ugly head in my life a week or two before I am supposed to travel to that concert (and I'm going a ways). It is impossible for me to sell my tickets at face value and I lose over a $100 for a commodity I have every legal right to sell at face value. Sometimes "fixing" something that is broke creates other issues that are also bad. The real problem here is the relationship ticket brokers have that allow them to manipulate the Ticketmaster system. Put every GA on sale to the fanclub members and never to the general sale. Allow fanclub member to but 2 or 3 shows to sell all the tickets if the supply would be there. Sure brokers have joined the fan club, but I guarantee you they got lots of GA's not through the fan club in their hands in leg 1.