(01-30-2005) U2 ticket touts purged by eBay as fans lose out - Sunday Times*

[HelloAngel]

U2 ticket touts purged by eBay as fans lose out


TOUTS selling U2 concert tickets on the eBay auction website are being chased off the web this weekend after action by lawyers acting for U2.com.

Legal advisers for the band’s website contacted eBay after thousands of tickets appeared on the auction site a few hours after a special advance sale for fans.

Almost 3,000 listings for tickets for U2 concerts in America and Britain have been offered on eBay for up to $425 (€325) each, several times their face value. One seller offering two floor tickets to a Boston show for $495 boasts: “I have tickets to U2’s entire North American leg of the tour.”

Ticket touts succeeded where many genuine fans failed last week, as the first online advance sale by U2 caused widespread disappointment.

After paying $40 (€31) in membership fees for the right to buy tickets before they went on sale to the public, some fan club members found the code they had been given did not allow them to buy tickets — or that they could only buy seats far back from the stage. U2’s official website and Billboard.com were bombarded by complaints and some fans are threatening legal action.

This weekend U2.com was working with eBay to remove tickets being sold above face value. The auction site does not allow the sale of concert tickets at more than face value in American states where this is illegal.

One tout had posted up four tickets for an arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey, with a starting bid of $1,699. Another had two tickets at Madison Square Garden in New York for at least $629.

“U2.com, working with eBay, has already taken down 77 postings and are continuing to work on preventing touts using the system,” said a U2 spokesman.

One option may be to withhold the tickets of people who bought through U2.com and who are now auctioning them through eBay, because they have not yet been posted out. It

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2091-1463123,00.html

Copyright 2005 Times Newspapers Ltd.

 

[Elvis]

Looks like they're only able to remove the ones that it was illegal for (depending on location). As of right now, there 2807 U2 ticket auctions on ebay. Also, the article makes mention of withholding u2.com tickets, but I already know people that have had theirs delivered.... so that idea isnt going to work.

 

[Jamila]

I am also disappointed in those of us who claim we are U2 "fans" who criticized the presales on Tuesday and the general sales on Saturday who are now posting here at Interference and on other U2 sites of the great tickets that they have bought at exhorbitant rates from scalpers on ebay and elsewhere!

WHERE IS OUR INTEGRITY - or have we lost it in our greed and our "need" to see U2?

WE MUST BE PART OF THE CURE TO THIS MESS - or then we are part of the problem.

Harsh words - but very true ones.

We demean ourselves as U2 fans if we speak and act out of both sides of our mouths.

 

[Elvis]

I hate to say it, but the reality is that their will continue to be the demand for tickets at these insane prices even if all 28000 members of this site, as well as others, were to not buy them.

 

[Lancemc]

Fuck that, I'm buying GA ticks from ebay. Cha-ching.

 

[I Move in Mysterious Ways]

Hmm . . . I'm usually very unlucky, but somehow I made off w/ good tickets for 5 shows . . . I have submitted to the scalpers a couple times though.

If you think ebay's bad, look at the ticket "brokers." There's gotta be a nice warm place in U2 hell waiting for them.

 

[Blue Room]

If you think ebay's bad, look at the ticket "brokers." There's gotta be a nice warm place in U2 hell waiting for them.

You mean like the one that is linked at the top of the page of this site??

My only problem with all of this is the fan club and pre sale. Its overpriced and it was handled very poorly. Especially comparing it to how Propaganda handled tickets to prior to this tour for half the cost.

The general onsale is a crapshoot anyway and it always has been. Its tough but demand for U2 is as high if not higher than it ever has been. Its one of the drawbacks of being a big fan of an artist that ALOT of people want to go see. The hysteria was similiar to this for the indoor arena leg for Zoo as well.

 

[I Move in Mysterious Ways]

I wish I was a part of the Propaganda era. Unfortunately, my fanhood didn't really fully blossom until that fateful date on October 16, 2001 . . .

 

[Tech]

Hey at least with Propaganda you had a chance for a pair of great seats. That's all one wanted. Now it's hard even to get crappy seats at all on ticketmaster. No, I'm not happy at all today.

 

[mysticchild]

I agree with you Tech, this has been crazy, the hype of it too. I am not a happy camper today. U2 tickets went onsale for Arrowhead Pond and Staples all 4 shows are soldout. I talked to ticketmaster at 9:30 this morning and then 10 mins later I couldn't get through to save my life. I tried online and I ended up being in line 5 different times and never got there either. I have been a big fan for 20 years now and I used to belong to Propaganda in 87. All they did was send 4 subscribed magazines and that was it. then i never heard from them again. As I got older it just wasn't that important to me and I thought it didn't exist anymore. My bad.

 

[BonoIsMyMuse]

They've taken down a whole 77 postings? Wow, that leaves, what, only about 500+ left?

I especially like the one advertising 2 MSG GA's for $2,000

 

[Macphisto2005]

They've taken down a whole 77 postings? Wow, that leaves, what, only about 500+ left?

I especially like the one advertising 2 MSG GA's for $2,000

You should send the bidding up to $1,000,00 for them, then don't pay and take the negative feedback. eBay takes a % of the sale from the buyer and charges their credit card that fee. That % of $1,000,000 will probably be really high.

 

[sallycinnamon78]

At least U2.com are attempting to do something about this crap.

 

[isabelle_guns]

I am also disappointed in those of us who claim we are U2 "fans" who criticized the presales on Tuesday and the general sales on Saturday who are now posting here at Interference and on other U2 sites of the great tickets that they have bought at exhorbitant rates from scalpers on ebay and elsewhere!

I completely agree and this made me upset when I read this on various threads. Once again, you have said exactly what I have been thinking. you rock!

 

[isabelle_guns]

I'm divided on this issue to be honest. I think that it was cheap, wrong and disgraceful with what happened with the pre-sale and the ticket brokers putting them up on e-bay during the pre-sale however, someone like myself who never had a chance to even try to buy it 'cause of work rely on such sites like e-bay to buy good tickets to the shows. It is really a hit and miss situation and it's not black and white. As with any arguement or debate, there is always a gray factor.

 

[BAW]

I'm divided on this issue to be honest. I think that it was cheap, wrong and disgraceful with what happened with the pre-sale and the ticket brokers putting them up on e-bay during the pre-sale however, someone like myself who never had a chance to even try to buy it 'cause of work rely on such sites like e-bay to buy good tickets to the shows. It is really a hit and miss situation and it's not black and white. As with any arguement or debate, there is always a gray factor.

I agree with you to a point on this isabelle, because I used ebay during the Elevation tour and it worked out great.

BUT why can't these tickets be put on ebay at face value to start and let the bidders determine how high they're willing to go? Starting a GA ticket at $450 is shameful IMO and they deserve to have their auctions pulled. There are a bunch of sellers starting their tickets out at 99 cents with a buy it now of $300-$400. I have no problem with that because once the bidding goes beyond face value, its all up to the buyers.

 

[Elvis]

They only start at 99cents to avoid some (not all) ebay fees. they KNOW they will go well above the face value, and if not.. they cancel the auction.

 

[la princess]

Brokers

I've finally gotten the nerve up to post. I tried to get tickets on Saturday, with no success. I saw on the news (I live in the Chicago area) that the majority of the tickets were bought by brokers (same thing as scalpers), and these are legal in Illinois. Here's a message I've posted on several other sites:

I am contacting all my senators and representatives, and I'm asking
all of those in Illinois who hate scalpers to do this as well.

Why am I contacting my reps? Simple, I'm tired of fans being shafted
when it comes to tickets. On Saturday, January 29, at 10am (even
before this actually), I went online to get tickets for U2. Outside
of Duran Duran, U2 was the only other show I wanted to see this
spring. I made a budget so that I could finally see U2 in concert.
I had a rough time getting through, but finally it said Ticketmaster
was supposedly searching. After 15 minutes, it said nothing was
available. They even added additional shows, but these sold out
while I was online. At first I figured that since it was a hot show,
everyone tried to get tickets. I've since found out the majority of
those buying tickets were in fact scalpers, or "brokers".

How does this apply to contacting politicians? In Illinois, it's
legal to be a broker. These brokers buy hot tickets, and then sell
them as much as 50 times the worth of the ticket, or even more. I've
seen tickets from these brokers going for as much as $1,000 for a
ticket with a face value of $165. Yes, many of these brokers get
tickets from people selling tickets (such as comp tickets, etc).
However, when these companies take tickets away from fans, only to
resell them to fans at a huge markup, then this is a major problem.
Not only are fans being screwed, nothing can be done since these
companies are legal.

I am asking the state of Illinois to make brokers illegal, like they
are in most states. I realize that making them illegal won't make
them go away, but I firmly believe the problem will be less of a
problem. The fleecing of fans needs to stop, but it can't stop
unless others join the fight.

Besides contacting your reps, other ways to fight this include not
buying these tickets. As much as I want to go to the U2 show, or get
better Duran Duran tickets, I refuse to give these people any money.
I would rather sit at home than give them money so they can continue
this. If more people do this, I believe the problem will lessen.

Please join me in this fight, and say NO MORE!