Ticketmaster’s Thoughtless Business Model

Several days ago, I bought two Flight of the Conchord tickets on Ticketmaster for their May 9th DC show. This is what my invoice looks like:

Tickets: $35 X 2

Convenience Charge: $9.85 x 2

Order processing fee: $5.10Total Ticketmaster fees: $24.80

Ticket costs before fees: $70 | Ticket costs after fees: $94.80

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I’m sorry, but I have to vent about how frustrated I am with this incompetent company. It irks me that they came up with the innovative idea of charging customers $5 to print out their tickets with their own ink and paper, and then decided to stop there. Come on, Ticketmaster, is that the best you’ve got? Here are some freebies to help you get your head in the game:

1) Every time a customer types the url ‘Ticketmaster.com’ into their browser, charge them a dollar “maintenance fee” before they can access the site, regardless of sale. Bandwidth doesn’t pay for itself.

2) When users are presented with the CAPTCHA charge them a “verification fee.” If they incorrectly type the word into the box, make them pay a fine, as well. Time is money.

3) Charge a “fan loyalty verification fee” for all pre-sale tickets. What is that? It’s insurance to make sure the most loyal fans are getting the best seats. By cooperating with this verification process, customers show Ticketmaster that they really want to go to the show—enough to deserve the best tickets. Even if it’s a General Admission show, charge this fee.

4) Those numbers aren’t going to crunch themselves. Charge your customers a “Billing fee.” This is different then the processing fee. The processing fee processes. The billing fee bills. You’d be stupid to not understand the difference.

I, for one, call for a boycott of Ticketmaster until they show more dedication to their business. Whose with me?!

22 thoughts on “Ticketmaster’s Thoughtless Business Model

  1. I remember when my brother and I bought tickets to see Wilco, it was a bit ridiculous how much extra Ticketmaster was charging… fortunately for Ticketmaster it was Wilco..

  2. Fuck ticketmaster! pearl jam was right.
    kidnap the ceo and and hold him/her ransom for 5 dollars, plus a 50 billion dollar ransom convenience charge? whos gonna help me?

  3. How about also charging a “Coolness Factor” fee, wherein a charge is assessed according to how cool the band is right now. And by “right now,” I mean, quite literally “right now,” so, like the stock market, this fee could adjust on an hourly basis as bands become more or less cool throughout the day.

  4. booooo ticketmaster.

    well look at the bright side, flight of the conchords! awesome!

  5. Well, at least you can console yourself that the death clock is already ticking on Ticketmaster. It’s adapted so poorly to changing marketplace that it’s hemorrhaging market share. All you can do is hope LiveNation doesn’t repeat the mistakes.

  6. I agree completely! The most frustrating aspect of ticketmaster is how all the clubs (at least the ones in San Francisco) play along with the site. Most box offices are open for several hours every Sunday, and even if you call during that time, it’s unlikely you’ll talk to a human being. In many cases, people have no other option. EUGH!

  7. Hey annonymous, what thhell’s that supposed to mean? Downloading music is one thing, but I have no qualms about paying for a good live show. Ticketmaster is just one example of thousands where these totally unnecessary charges are applied. They know that the majority of concert-goers want/need to buy tickets in advance, so they know people will pay those fees. A boycott sounds good to me….nd if you/I/we can, just pay at the door, its usually cheaper anyway.

  8. I feel the same way. When I bought Radiohead tickets for Atlanta they were originally $35 and after all the fees they were about $50 a piece. Not a large price to pay for Radiohead but still an unneccesary increase.

  9. hell yeah.. i went through the same thing last month when i bought tom petty tickets. i was too pissed. pearl jam could forsee the future… and i wish more people were behind them. ticketmaster, along with many MANY other companies (walmart and comcast especially) are just trying to screw around with the more-than-willing generations to come.

  10. I was already shocked at how much they were charging when I went to order my two BellX1 tickets – would have been almost half again on each ticket. I instead chose to take transit down the local record store outlet who also sells the tickets and buy them there instead. Saved a pile. NEVER AM I GOING TO USE ticketmaster UNLESS THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO OTHER CHOICE.

  11. Aaah! Ticketmaster rules the world.

    Who gave them the right to have a monopoly on ticket sales??

    I don’t even know how to get tickets without using them, unless I want to risk waiting until I get to the show and the tickets being sold out :(

  12. i fucking hate ticketmaster
    I was tryin to get tickets to see the bloc party and they were ONLY 26 bucks but after dear old ticketmaster it turned out to be about 85 which in my min is 100 +… UGH!
    I HATE THEM!!!

  13. So here’s the latest way Ticketmaster wants to screw it up. Their newest thing is “paperless ticketing”… you will need to hand them the same credit card they charged when you bought your tickets, they swipe it and you then have to show ID.

    If you bought tickets for a large group, you all must enter at the same time with the purchaser. If you’re young or you don’t have a credit card, so you get mom or dad to buy your ticket, looks like mom or dad are attending the concert with you.

    Some new concerts don’t give you a choice, it’s paperless or nothing.

  14. I worked for Ticketmater for many years and I didn’t like it but I learned about why there are fees. Ticketmaster only receives the charges they charge to but tickets. They have to buy the tickets from the venue or premoter and then they sale them at the same price. They have to make money. You don’t have to buy tickets through them. You can drive to the box office (which has weird hours and is far away most of the time) and only pay the price of the ticket and the facility charge. The long and short of it is don’t buy tickets from Ticketmaster or any company if you don’t want to pay the fees!

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