Eric Church cancels 25,000 concert tickets bought by scalpers

[asta]

Just saw this article:
http://www.wsmv.com/story/34546995/eric-church-cancels-25k-tickets-bought-by-scalpers

I am not a big fan of his type of music but good for him. I do wonder how someone goes about identifying the scalper tickets and cancels them. And if he can do it then I am sure other artist could do it also.

 

[eskskick]

That's a good way to go about it, as long as real ticket holders aren't having tickets cancelled. I recently read an article that Garth Brooks is putting on additional shows in each city he's visiting on his tour until they don't sellout. So he played about 12 shows in Chicago and is in the middle of doing 9 shows in Edmonton. And he's up to 5 shows in Las Cruces, NM now.

 

[pryncess527]

A lot of people are doing this now. The last several shows I went too, there was a several week delay before I was allowed to print my tickets so that Ticketmaster could examine the purchases and retract any that went to scalpers. I'm sure they use a combination of data like IP address, time stamps, credit card info etc to identify people who likely bought more than the allotted amount

 

[ronandannette]

Time to go back to the "good old days" where people lined up outside an actual box office and bought their tickets in person, with a limit on the number of seats you could purchase in a single transaction. (In the early 90's at our local Ticketmaster it was 8 seats per person.)

 

[indygirl99]

Time to go back to the "good old days" where people lined up outside an actual box office and bought their tickets in person, with a limit on the number of seats you could purchase in a single transaction. (In the early 90's at our local Ticketmaster it was 8 seats per person.)

This will not stop scalpers.

 

[asta]

The thing that frustrates me is the tickets that are gone before the tickets go on sale to the public. I wish there was a law that mandates that the venues publish the amount of tickets for sale so I know whether to waste my time trying for something that was never there to begin with. I live in a town with a huge music and recording industry. After the artists get their share of tickets, the labels eat up a huge amount of tickets, then sponsors and then the employees of the venue get to buy tickets. After this the amount left to the public can be very small. I think the tickets being scalped before the on sale date are coming from these groups.

 

[adisneyaunt]

According to the artist, other artists could do the same thing
If they cared too, they don't apparently.

 

[Kitty 34]

Time to go back to the "good old days" where people lined up outside an actual box office and bought their tickets in person, with a limit on the number of seats you could purchase in a single transaction. (In the early 90's at our local Ticketmaster it was 8 seats per person.)

I spent 6 hours in a line buying tickets for Elton John in 1976. Definitely worth the wait, btw!

 

[elphaba91]

That's a good way to go about it, as long as real ticket holders aren't having tickets cancelled. I recently read an article that Garth Brooks is putting on additional shows in each city he's visiting on his tour until they don't sellout. So he played about 12 shows in Chicago and is in the middle of doing 9 shows in Edmonton. And he's up to 5 shows in Las Cruces, NM now.

There's definitely a risk that bona fide purchasers could have their tickets cancelled. The Hamilton producers have been trying all sorts of methods to reduce scalping and I've heard of people having their tickets cancelled because they were trying to buy for a large school group or because they booked using the same ISP as someone else who did the same or for no reason they can actually identify! Also, there are sometimes people who want to sell their tickets for legitimate reasons (i.e. because they can't use them, not to make a profit) who are punished by this system.

On the other hand, having all the tickets snapped up by scalpers seriously sucks. Garth Brooks' solution seems the best so far - take away the demand rather than the supply. Although obviously not every artist can just have unlimited concerts!

There's no real 'right' answer to this problem, is there?!

 

[eskskick]

There's no real 'right' answer to this problem, is there?!

Yep, I think that sums it up about right.

 

[dhardawa]

A few years back, I went to the venue (I work a block away) and was second in line when tickets went on sale. The only thing available were nosebleed seats in the very back of the very large arena. Of course, there were thousands available on scalping websites. Something needs to change for sure.

 

[mummabear]

Also, there are sometimes people who want to sell their tickets for legitimate reasons (i.e. because they can't use them, not to make a profit) who are punished by this system.

The Canucks have a system where you can resell your tickets through their website which I think is a good way of allowing people to resell because there will always be legitimate reasons for doing so

 

[elphaba91]

The Canucks have a system where you can resell your tickets through their website which I think is a good way of allowing people to resell because there will always be legitimate reasons for doing so

Ticketmaster has that too, but you're allowed to set your own price, including well above the box office price! I think it's great to have a legitimate way of buying and selling unwanted tickets, but if you don't prevent the sellers from jacking up the price then you're just encouraging scalping!

 

[wilkeliza]

There's definitely a risk that bona fide purchasers could have their tickets cancelled. The Hamilton producers have been trying all sorts of methods to reduce scalping and I've heard of people having their tickets cancelled because they were trying to buy for a large school group or because they booked using the same ISP as someone else who did the same or for no reason they can actually identify! Also, there are sometimes people who want to sell their tickets for legitimate reasons (i.e. because they can't use them, not to make a profit) who are punished by this system.

On the other hand, having all the tickets snapped up by scalpers seriously sucks. Garth Brooks' solution seems the best so far - take away the demand rather than the supply. Although obviously not every artist can just have unlimited concerts!

There's no real 'right' answer to this problem, is there?!

For Hamilton they actually allow resell, it can only be done through ticketmaster though. If someone is buying for a group they should be doing it through group bookings which is different than standard bookings.

I commend any artist doing this. Louis CK actually matches IDs to tickets. The person who bought them must go. Yeah it sucks if you can't go but it is getting out of hand. Going back to the Hamilton example there can't be over 100 people per a performance that can't make the show so try to sell. Heck if you are just looking to get rid of tickets you can't use you charge face value plus fees. We do that with our baseball season tickets. Always face value plus fees never a super over the top gouging. Hamilton has gotten so rediculous though that the secondary market is deiving up the price of the direct market in hopes to make it less profitable.

I know Chance the Rapper is doing this too. They are canceling tickets that show up on ebay or resell websites and then putting them back on sale. So if you just couldn't go you get your money back and if you ate a scalper you can't make profit.

 

[Pacolovestacos]

ID to ticket name is good but what if I buy 2 tickets and bring a guest. The guests name won't be on ticket right? Just purchaser name.

 

[CarolAnn856]

ID to ticket name is good but what if I buy 2 tickets and bring a guest. The guests name won't be on ticket right? Just purchaser name.

Unless you put the guest's name on the ticket. But even that is problematic. Say you buy 2 tickets for your adult child as a birthday gift so he/she can take a friend, but you don't know who they would want to take.

 

[mbf]

I also commend any artist who is willing to try to put a stop to this. Last year I joined the Luke Bryan fan club so I could have two ways to get in on the presale (I also have a Cabela's Visa). It was still virtually impossible to get good seats and by being a member of the fan club I was limited to how many I could purchase and had to do will call and show ID at the venue. However, besides Fan Club there were several other ways to get in on the presale that didn't have that will call requirement and I saw tickets on Stubhub and Ticketmaster resale for outrageous prices. Same with another concert he put on near me last summer. We did go to the first concert and paid regular price but it really irks me that people are getting away with this. After the concert I went to there was an article on our local news saying thousands of tickets had been bought up by scalpers using bots ( http://www.syracuse.com/news/index....ves_ticket_system_is_broken_schumer_says.html ).

It's a lousy way to make money that is for sure. I refuse to buy from resellers even though my son is dying to see Hamilton. We can wait until we come by tickets honestly though.