How should concert and sports tickets be sold?

[TXlib]

I think the current system is inefficient. The existance of scalpers is proof of that.

I think we need an online auction system for the tickets. You submit a bid. The bids are sorted from highest to lowest, and the bids are matched, highest to lowest, with the seats, best to worst.

Perhaps a multi-tiered system could be used which would update a map of the arena/stadium/concert hall, with the current value of the seats, and give people a period of time to bid.

Agree? Disagree? Or is Robb a dingbat?

[Kamika]

1. Disagree

I think we should have it like now, but only allowed to buy tops 5 tickets each..

If you bid you would REALLY make it so only the rich would be able to go to concerts etc

[Endangered Specie]

4. I would say make it around three

[TXlib]

7. Nobody has a right to go to concerts or sporting events

If you buy that argument, why don't you think it's unfair that only the rich can afford yachts, and million-dollar homes, and ultra-luxury cars, and multiple vacations to other countries a year?

I'm all for a progressive taxation structure. But once you've taken society's share, a person has a right to spend his money as he sees fit. Concert tickets is a perfect example of a system that is broken because they are trying to inject some misguided sense of egalitarianism.

I think, with the current system, you are still paying market price for the tickets on average, but a portion of that goes to the scalpers.

If the RIAA is ever to be broken, musical artists need to be able to extract as much economic rent from their concerts as possible, to make alternate distribution of their albums possible.

[Kamika]

10. I know one thing..

If I was a famous singer I'd hate it if only the rich came to my concerts, I'd want all my fans.

And it would also be a great way to get rid of alot of them aswell

And trust me the artists are already making s*itloads of money out of their concerts

[HEyHEY]

2. There was an article in the Lethbridge Herald recently

A guy was crying because the 20 tickets he had bought to a concert were stolen when his house was broken in to.

I thought, "OOO pooor baby can't scalp his tickets"

HA! Serves him right!

[Endangered Specie]

5. what do you think the thiefs intend to do with the tickets?

[soothsayer]

3. i like being able to buy a ticket at face value

it still happens from time to time, if yer lucky

[Bluzmann57]

6. A question about ticket sales

What the hell is a handling charge? You mean to tell me that it is an extra 5 bucks or more to pull the tickets out of a machine and hand them over to the customer? Just a pet peeve. Damn I hope spring gets here soon! I'm afraid scalpers will always be with us though. They buy a lot of the tickets just so they can resell them at 4 or more times the face value.

[TXlib]

8. With an auction system, there would be no "face value".

Although you could still enforce limits of how many tickets an individual can buy.

[tkmorris]

9. I'm with you

The added fees are ridiculous. I was going to buy a couple tickets for my wife and me to see a concert here in South Florida last year. Tickets were $35 per. Hey not bad! Unfortunately once all the fees were totalled that pair of tickets sold for just over $100. We stayed home.

Ticketmaster can kiss my butt.

[PVnRT]

11. That only works for people with internet access

Thus it is unfair to people who do not have easy access to bid online.

I think each venue should be allowed to sell its own tickets, or the people putting on the event (group/artist/sports team/whatever) should sell them, with a cut going to the venue. Ticketmaster is a load of shit.

[TXlib]

12. You could add a phone-based bidding system.

There, problem solved.