Monday, July 20, 2009

2512 I Hate Ticketmaster!

Monday, July 20, 2009

Alan Cohen (Why Your Life Sucks, Page 70): “While you may be very careful about what you pay for with your money, you are probably less careful about what you pay for with your attention. In the long run, how you spend your attention affects your life far more profoundly than how you spend your money. Attention is energy. Whatever you feed it to will grow.”

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I signed up for a group activity next month in Bethel (the original Woodstock concert location). Tickets were like $60 for reserved seats, $40 for unreserved seating, and $19.69 for lawn. The organizer said to get lawn tickets.

The only way to get the tickets is through Ticketmaster.

I passionately !HATE! Ticketmaster! They are a complete ripoff. First there's a flat service charge. Then there's a flat convenience charge (in addition to the service charge, mind you - explain the difference, please?). Then there's a delivery charge - I chose "I'll print it off myself" because that was the cheapest. They were nice enough to allow me to use my own time, paper, and ink for only $2.

My $19.69 ticket ended up costing me $31.69. Not including tax.

That's 61% of the base cost of the ticket added on for Ticketmaster charges! And you know they're getting a percentage from the venue, too.

I think they should be charged with scalping. That's pretty much what it is when they're the only source for the tickets. They have them all, and you pay what they ask. Isn't that scalping?
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