I am not surprised by anything like this that ticketbastard does.
Convenience fees for printing my own tickets at home? Check.
Want a parking pass in advance? You can't print it at home, and have to pay $15.00 for Fedex shipping. No US Mail, no will call, no pickup locations.
Special phone numbers for bots and 'authorized' resellers to get tickets ahead of the general public? Check.
There used to be competition, but now there isn't.

That truly sucks.

You get what you tolerate.

It won't matter to me. I am not a fan. I average one sporting event a decade. It's not that I dislike them, it's just too much time and money for the enjoyment I get from it. Ditto for any concert. I'd put up with it for something as good as The Phantom of the Opera, but that's about my limit.

In the end, the companies will do what the fans will tolerate. It's your money. If enough of you care, the policy will change.

Yet another gallon of gasoline for the entertainment industry's self-immolation. The industry has long lusted after a pay-per-play model for all entertainment products, even though they are consistently rejected by consumers. Circuit City is out of business today in part because of the millions of dollars it invested in the loser Divx pay-per-play movie system.

This model is almost exactly what DragonCon uses, because a) they have hundreds of events in hotels, which means that unticketed people are everywhere in the common areas, so access depends on the display of the badge you get when you show up, and b) they've had counterfeiting problems.
If you are ejected, you can be forbidden from attending any future events, though I've not seen that. Major hotel staff is magically efficient at stopping misbehavior.

There is some standing in line to get one's badge, but I find that entertaining, too. If you want to go to an event attended by people you don't want to be near - like a rock concert - rest assured the audience is completely different at DC.

First, I have all the ticket stubs from every Yes concert I've ever been to (17 at last count). Some of us do save the memories.

Second, I was going to buy tickets for a concert recently, and the fees were nearly 30% of the total price. Screw that. I want the money to go to the artist, the promoter and the venue, not the middleman who does nothing more than process the credit card.

Third, with ticketbastard, you can't ask for specific seats, even if they happen to be available. You'll take what you're offered, and that's an end of it.

At least when I go to the ballpark on game day (minor league, anyhow) I can ask for seats in a specific section. Used to be that way for concerts.

Now? Why should I pay $80+ for a 1-2 hour concert? Especially when $20 or more of that goes straight to ticketbastard?

So Ticketmaster already controls probably 75% or more of major event ticket sales, and now wants to control the resell market as well.

I can't blame them for trying, but why not just go to an auction system right from the beginning? Why even have a base price? Let people pay what they think it's worth.

There may be negatives, but on the flip side there has been a real problem in many cities with third parties buying up the majority of tickets and then reselling them.

I rarely like live concerts so I don't really care.

I wonder how much they'd have to control before antitrust laws could come into play.

There are plenty of ways to make paperless tickets work without giving up the convenience of paper tickets, namely making them optional and tying them to a number and password instead of an ID, which would solve all the problems listed above. Of course, this is a lot of work for almost no gain, since there is going to have to be someone manning the paperless ticket booth anyway. Seems more like they want to do this to stop third-party sellers rather than make it more convenient for people to buy and use tickets.

I'm amazed that there are still concerts and sporting events with the ridiculous fees to buy tickets. I wanted to order tickets for something for my kids and each ticket had a separate $12 feel then a convenience fee and then a fee to even print them up. I used to purchase Jets tickets but even that became a hassle because now the ticket holder has to deal with the fees and can no longer get rid of the tickets cheaply. A few years ago I was able to buy two tickets online and take my son to his first Bruce Springsteen concert. Total cost of the tickets was $75. I'm afraid those days are gone.

Another model is The Masters golf tournament. Tickets are gifts from the Augusta National Golf Club, or there is a lottery among those indicating they would like tickets to the next year's event; also, a restricted number of them are now offered on-line. A restriction is that the tickets are tied to a home address, and that persons found with a ticket not assigned to them are ejected, and the home address is banned from further purchase, subject to review by the club.

The club controls its own access. Some people marvel at the idea that for some days of the tournament, all spectator electronic devices and cameras are banned outright, again earning you an escort off the premises should you pull one out.

This will likely also pose a problem for great organizations like VetTix, which is too bad. I've gotten lots of tickets from them, and now that I've gotten comfortable enough to buy season tickets for the Phoenix Suns, I intend to "tithe" ten percent of my tickets to VetTix. I wonder how I will be able to do that if this eventually happens.

And as far as keeping the tickets as memories, lots of people do that. I have a drawer full of tickets from every sporting event, concert and play I've attended since I returned from Afghanistan. I've even thought about making a scrapbook. I don't think it's much of a stretch, though it is obviously emotional rather than practical.

> The club controls its own access.

I get it! They're aware of the need to continuously monitor the paying agents!

Powerful principle! Clever!

I started going to rock concerts in 1971 (first show: Led Zeppelin at the (now defunct) New Haven Arena. Ticket cost: $5.00 - fast forward a coupla years to 1973: ZZ Top and Alice Cooper at the New Haven Coliseum (thanks, Mike!), ticket cost: $12.00. Johnny Winter, New Haven Coliseum, $12.00. These shows were assigned seating, mind you. In December 1974 I had row 7 on the floor for Yes (In The Round, they had Alan White on a revolving stage,d rumming like a crazy man, complete with gongs, it was nuts! and very innovative in those days), they had just released "Tales from Topographic Oceans" and it was a fantastic show! I think tickets were $10 for the floor seats, not sure what they were for the others. Also saw the Allman Bros. there, it was a general admission show, what, $7.00, I think. I saw some great shows there. Then there was the summer of 1976, when Yes presented a laser light show at Colt Park in Hartford, omgwtf, it was AWESOME. I paid $6.50 for that ticket. That was the same summer I saw Elf (with Ronnie James Dio upfront), Aerosmith, and Deep Purple (David Cover(robertplant)dale doing lead vocals because Ian Gillan was doing Jesus Christ Superstar on Broadway), for $6.50, too. Same price for the John Miles Band opening for Fleetwood Mac and Jefferson Starship; the Grateful Dead; the J. Giels Band opening for Jethro Tull; Crosby Stills and Nash and the Doobie Brothers. Then Jim Koplick and Shelly Finkle started brokering the shows and the ticket sales and that's when prices started going crazy. One year, I saw yes for $10.00, the next it was $20 and tickets just started spiraling upwards, because they were getting some great acts and people were willing to pay to see them. I remember seeing the Rolling Stones at Madison Square Garden in 1972 or 3 for something like $25 and now they want $150 a seat?? Oh HELLS no, I'm not paying that! I've seen every seriously big act for less than $50 and had some excellent seats. And the shows were way better back then! They got their money out of me. I'm not giving them any more. The only shows I'll go to are at the smaller venues that don't have anything to do with ticketbastard. Those guys can kiss my ass anymore.

Have to agree with Flynne on this. No more TicketMaster shows or any shows with fees for the privilege of buying/printing a ticket.

Suddenly I'm at fun minor-league baseball games for 1/10 the price, where the Little League kids run on to the field and play a run or two with the semi-pros standing over them, giving them tips.

I'm at a local bar watching an up-and-coming band, or a down-and-out band sometimes, with a $10 cover charge and a two-drink minimum.

Or I'm at Yoshi's in Oakland, eating sushi and then watching jazz greats and not-so-greats from three tables away, with perfect sound and total comfort, coming back in for the second show if there are enough seats.

Of all the things I've been blessed with, coming of age during the 'classic rock' era, ranks right up there.

BTW Flynne, I was on stage with Johnny Winter in 79, taking photos.

I bought my mother tickets for a four day concert as a mothers day present. Bought online, printed up at home.

$8 dollar "handleing fee"

What the fuck was ever touched by anyone other than me?

"Powerful principle! Clever!"

No, you don't get it. You just have an obsession.

And just like Chuck(les), your existence has been validated by an off-topic blurt. Nice going, and seek help.

> your existence has been validated

That's great! Validated existence of the needfully and continuously monitored!

Golden.

No, Crid. Denial isn't going to help you. You also got the POV wrong.

This was novel. I wish I could read every post, but i have to go back to work now... But I'll return.