OK, I knew Ticketmaster prices were excessive, but...
Filed under: Extracurriculars
That buying tickets through Ticketmaster is expensive isn't news, but having just had a Ticketmaster experience that surprised me, I thought I'd share.Over the weekend, I took my daughters, 5 and 7, to see Disney On Ice. I had been contemplating taking them for about a month, but every time I went to Ticketmaster, and looked at the prices, I just chickened out.
I had considered buying some of the best seats in the house -- at $36 each. But with Ticketmaster's $4.95 "convenience charge," that added nearly $20 to the bill. Later, my wife decided she didn't want to go, which meant we were going to save money, but still, the idea of spending an extra $4.95 per ticket didn't sit well with me. Especially since that doesn't count the $3.35 order processing fee they were asking me to cough up.
It may sound like I'm cheap, and I am, but it does add up. Three tickets at $36, through Ticketmaster, was going to cost more than $125. So I decided to set my sights lower, to the $19 ticket. But even then, I started cringing. With the $4.95 extra per ticket, and the $3.35 order processing fee, I was basically going to shell out the face value of a fourth ticket.
A few weeks ago, I debated driving down to the box office to buy the tickets, but when I factored in the gas and the time involved, I started to think that I might as well just pay through Ticketmaster. And then a few days ago, I suddenly had the epiphany--Duh, just buy the tickets right before the show. This is Disney On Ice, not The Jonas Brothers On Ice (or if you like your pop culture references skewed a little older, the Rolling Stones On Ice). I can probably get tickets easily enough before the show.
So my daughters and I showed up about 90 minutes early -- hoping to avoid the mob. Well, there was no mob, as it turned out. in fact, I kept thinking of the recession during the show, since about half the arena was empty. The extra time beforehand turned out to be a good thing. We were able to walk near the Ohio River, which is just outside the arena, and my girls and I shared some pleasant quality time.
But what was particularly pleasant for my wallet wasn't just saving at least $18.20 by avoiding Ticketmaster, but that I wound up saving even more. Ticketmaster was going to charge me $19 per ticket, so I was prepared to spend $57 at the box office. Instead, they only charged me $43.
The box office charged me $19 for my ticket, but only $12 per ticket for my daughters. And so, yes, I saved an extra $14 by not going through Ticketmaster.
All in all, by bypassing Ticketmaster, I'm now $32.20 richer, which made me feel slightly better about paying $10 for parking and $7 (!) for a box of popcorn. The show itself, incidentally, was a bargain. The girls loved it, and as someone who couldn't skate if his life depended on it, I was impressed and entertained.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised by Ticketmaster. As I implied, they've taken a lot of criticism for their prices and how they do business. Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Justice subpoenaed Ticketmaster for reselling tickets, and WalletPop regular Josh Smith, a few months ago, wrote about how the Illinois Attorney General fined Ticketmaster $50,000 for paying marked up prices for tickets.
I looked thoroughly at the Ticketmaster web pages before writing this post, trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, thinking that there might be somewhere where it says, "Kids' ticket prices." Other than one little note, saying, "You must purchase 1 adult ticket per every 4 kids tickets purchased," there was nothing. They were clearly going to charge me $19 for tickets available for $12.
If that's how they roll, it's their business; I guess they can do what they want. I for one am going to remember in the future that when it comes to buying tickets, I can do what I want.
Not that I'll never use Ticketmaster. I'm sure I will when I feel like I have no other great options. If there's ever a Huey Lewis & the News or Billy Joel On Ice, I'll probably have to relent. But I'm going to remember the value of just showing up and buying the tickets in person.
Geoff Williams is a regular presence on WalletPop and is stuck, musically speaking, in the 1970s and 1980s. He is also the author of C.C. Pyle's Amazing Foot Race: The True Story of the 1928 Coast-to-Coast Run Across America (Rodale).
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
9-29-2009 @ 12:49PM
Anna said...
Ummm, hello? You still bought through ticketmaster. You don't pay for convenience charges at the box office because you're not using their convenience services.
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9-30-2009 @ 8:39AM
Jon Lazarus said...
Umm..hello? He bought them at the box office of the arena. That's not Ticketmaster. Try reading the article again before making comments; it will make you appear slightly less unintelligent.
9-30-2009 @ 12:29PM
Nancie K said...
Um Jon.. yes it was Ticketmaster regardless of whether or not the tickets were bought online or not. MANY big venues have contracts with TM to solely provide their ticketing services for many if not all events. Or they are contracted thru the Promoter, but the two usually go hand in hand .. venue + event. However each contract is different in it's stipulations on when and where fees are charged and by whom. Some venues do not charge the service charges, or it may even be reduced, if bought at the box office directly. But it's still processed thru Ticketmaster's machines... the tickets themselves will still say Ticketmaster on them!
Yes one can find deals to avoid the fees but it is rare. I purchase hockey tickets here in NJ thru often 'group discount' deals which allow me to avoid fees or minimize them. Dealing directly with the NJ Devils sales dept allows me to avoid buying tickets online through Ticketmaster but even if I bought them at the box office, I would still be charged the fees across the board. Go figure!!
Ticketbastard sux! Their ticketing practices get worse and worse every year. I'm at the point that I don't bother buying tickets anymore... the prices are skyrocketing and normal people can't afford good seats.
9-29-2009 @ 12:40PM
robert said...
Ticketmaster is a selling agent. Yes they set their service fees, that's how they make moeny. Who are they selling for? Promoters. Who sets the pricing? Promoters. Who determines advance vs day-of ticket pricing and availability? Promoters. Your pricing was different because sales sucked and the promoters directed the changes to help boost sales. Supply and demand.
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9-29-2009 @ 12:48PM
Robert said...
Yes, Ticketmaster sets the convenience fees. That's how they make their money. They get NO cut of the ticket price. They are a selling agent. For who? The promoter. Who sets the prices? The promoter. Who determines the advance prices vs the day-of prices and their respective ticket availability? The promoter. Supply and demand. If the sales suck, the prices come down.
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9-30-2009 @ 12:20PM
Jason said...
Who sets the convenience fee, the order processing fee, the facility charge, and then charges you $2 to print your own ticket but "will call" at the venue is still free? That would be Ticketmaster. I think no one is opposed to Ticketmaster making a profit, it's just that they continue to create fees out of thin air that irks most customers. As this article points out, these fees often equate to more than an additional ticket. Most people don't see the value of Ticketmaster services as being equal to the artists they are paying to see.
And the lack of an alternate choice (read: MONOPOLY) allows them to dictate whatever fees they want. Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam were correct all along but the courts didn't side with them, so this monopoly continues unabated.
9-29-2009 @ 1:20PM
Josie Aune said...
I understand your frustration. Convenience can be overpriced too. And what about charging you a two dollar fee for using your own paper and printer ink to print your tickets at home!
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9-29-2009 @ 4:08PM
Bee said...
What you don't understand, and as others have stated, is that Ticketmaster does not set the price of the ticket itself. If the child ticket was not available on the Ticketmaster, that's because the venue and promoter didn't ask Ticketmaster to sell it.
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9-29-2009 @ 5:06PM
Rojas said...
it's the same way with agents that sell Airline tickets
online or offline.
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9-30-2009 @ 6:45AM
Chris said...
So you saved a little money by taking 2hrs out of your day to go get the tickets yourself. No big newsflash. I pick up my own pizza because it's close and I avoid the delivery charge plus the tip. But if I did have it delivered I would tip generously and not complain about it. It's called the convenience factor, and you can't expect others to provide that for free. There a lot of ways to save a buck or two, but sometimes you just pay a little more and move on with your life. All the time spent worrying and researching how to save a couple bucks sounds to stressful for me.
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9-30-2009 @ 7:02AM
lunamorgan said...
Okay, so I follow the people pointing out that ticketmaster doesn't decide ticket costs or get a cut of that portion, but their fees are still exorbitant, which is the point of the post. Think about it like this:
Ticketmaster sells tickets to AT LEAST 1000 events per day (the cover many cities in many countries and most major cities have 50 or more events per day).
So assuming that low figure of 1000 events, lets assume a low figure of 100 people buying tickets from them per event (even though some events sell thousands of tickets.
That comes out to 100,000 tickets sold PER DAY. Each of those tickets comes with a $4.95 convenience fee. That's a total of $495,000 EACH DAY. Then consider that they also charge a processing fee of $1 and change per ticket, or another $100,000 per day.
Ticketmaster is taking in an IMMENSELY LOW ESTIMATE of $595,000 per day. Admittedly, they have to pay staff and web designers and for assorted other business costs, but even so, that is utterly ridiculous. This is $217,175,000 per year in fees.
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9-30-2009 @ 8:35AM
john said...
wow this guy is brilliant. he figured out a middleman adds to the cost of an item
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9-30-2009 @ 8:42AM
Mike said...
I'm with the AUTHOR here and not the several spendthrifts who posted first. I don't care who sets the price or makes the profit. I'm not so lazy or busy that I can't just buy tickets at the box office when I arrive or pay my utility bill by mailing in a check. I understand perfectly well that convenience costs money. That's why I don't buy milk at the gas station. But it's good to know there are so many people who are so freakin' lazy that they'll pay me tons of money to do such easy work. When I was a kid, I bought newspapers at a discount and delivered them at face value. The convenience of having a paper delivered to your door was free - save perhaps a few bucks given as a tip around Christmas-time.
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9-30-2009 @ 8:40AM
fun4holly said...
Factor fees into the ticket price - I feel like I'm getting bonked when I pay "convenience fees".
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9-30-2009 @ 9:41AM
Paula said...
You could have saved yourself a lot of work by just purchasing the tickets on line directly thru wherever Disney was being shown. Most places have their own websites. I purchased a concert ticket on line directly from the center where it was to be held. There was a small processing fee (less than $5.00) and I received the ticket in the mail within days. I could also choose my section and seat and because I saved on large processing fees and gas money, I bought the best seat.
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9-30-2009 @ 10:39AM
Kerri said...
You can not go through DIsney, the site puts you through ticketmaster.
9-30-2009 @ 11:00AM
niko said...
What I hate is that they charge the service fee and process fee according to the venue. A big show like pearl jam the service fee is $12 per ticket plus processing fee. If you want good seats you have to purchase the day they go on sale. Not the day of the show.
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9-30-2009 @ 11:14AM
ray said...
That doesn't make sense niko. Of course if you do want good seats at an event that would sell out quickly you better get the good seats the day they go on sale. On the other hand, you said you must buy them the day they go on sale to get them.
So you're saying that if you go to the event the day of the concert and there happened to be good seats, you couldn't get them?
9-30-2009 @ 12:13PM
Katie said...
This reply is more for Ray than Niko...but there is no way in heck you would be able to buy tickets that day to a venue like Pearl Jam. Tickets for them will sell out completely in less than 30 minutes. For myself, I go to dozens of shows and concerts every year. The fees that TM tacks on is ridiculous, but you really have no choice but to comply...especially if it is a popular show or out of state/town. Another rip off is Stub Hub. Please don't support that website. I tried to sell a set of tickets on there for face value and they were going to take almost 30% of what I would have gotten. It forced me to raise my price 30% just so that I could get my money back.
9-30-2009 @ 10:42AM
jane said...
I recently bought two tickets to a show in my area. Two $64 tickets cost $155.80. Here's the breakdown of the additional charges:
$16.40: The convenience of going to their website, typing in a bunch of captchas I could barely see, and having to verify my credit card a second time at the end.
$5.00: handling, which is interesting because I printed my own tickets.
$2.50: cost for printing my own tickets. Which is it? Did TM handle them or did I print them myself?
$3.90: processing. I purchased the tickets online. TM did not search for my tickets, take my information, print my tickets, or mail my tickets. What was "processed" exactly?
This is why I don't go to events, and why I will NEVER give Ticketmaster any more of my money. It's one thing to charge exorbitant prices to see mediocre entertainment, it's another to say "F@#K YOU: We're the monopoly, you have no choice" to the customer with each and every additional charge, which is what they are saying. Sorry, that's it for me.
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