# Do all the fees charged by groups like ticketmaster do anything, was there a time before fees **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 29, 2019, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-the-fees-charged-by-groups-like-ticketmaster-do-anything-was-there-a-time-before-fees/845563 "2019-12-29T21:45:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-the-fees-charged-by-groups-like-ticketmaster-do-anything-was-there-a-time-before-fees/845563/1 "2019-12-29T21:45:12Z")
When I buy tickets to an event there are a ton of various fees added on. Some are absurd like a ‘delivery fee’ to mail tickets (which I avoid by using an e-ticket, but still its overpriced). Was there a time before fees, when if a concert was $20 you paid $20 plus sales tax, not $40-50 when all was said and done? When I go to the movie theater, I pay the ticket price plus sales tax. I don’t have a ton of additional fees added. Do the fees do anything, or is this just a monopoly economic model where people aren’t given a choice to avoid fees and the venues work with the ticket sales providers to create monopolies? If so, why aren’t there anti-trust efforts to address this? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-the-fees-charged-by-groups-like-ticketmaster-do-anything-was-there-a-time-before-fees/845563/2 "2019-12-29T22:00:24Z")
Yes. I paid face value for concert tickets before ticket bastard. But the other tradition from those days was that big shows sold out 0.2 seconds after tickets went on sale and you had to pay a scalper. I guess this is an improvement. If you buy your movie tickets on your phone here in AZ (Harkins) you have to pay “convenience” fee. I’m not sure how you have to pay more for less - less paper, less people having to work the ticket booth - but it is the way. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-the-fees-charged-by-groups-like-ticketmaster-do-anything-was-there-a-time-before-fees/845563/3 "2019-12-29T22:03:21Z")
Does Ticketmaster have a monopoly on sales or can you still buy direct from the venue? ---
**Author:** ![Caldazar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Caldazar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caldazar)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-the-fees-charged-by-groups-like-ticketmaster-do-anything-was-there-a-time-before-fees/845563/4 "2019-12-29T22:13:22Z")
The fees are Ticketmaster’s revenue. The labels they slap on the various fees do not necessarily correlate in any way to actual costs incurred by the company. They collect the fees, pay out their business costs (which can sometimes include kickbacks to venues, event promoters, and such), and then what remains is Ticketmaster’s profit. Summing all the fees into a single value and labeling it “Ticketing Sales Charge” is probably a reasonable way to think about it, at least to a first approximation. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-the-fees-charged-by-groups-like-ticketmaster-do-anything-was-there-a-time-before-fees/845563/5 "2019-12-29T23:13:38Z")
wasnt live nation formed because there was a revolt by some of the musical acts against tm’s practices? ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-the-fees-charged-by-groups-like-ticketmaster-do-anything-was-there-a-time-before-fees/845563/6 "2019-12-29T23:21:55Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Yes. I paid face value for concert tickets before ticket bastard. But the other tradition from those days was that big shows sold out 0.2 seconds after tickets went on sale and you had to pay a scalper. I guess this is an improvement. > > If you buy your movie tickets on your phone here in AZ (Harkins) you have to pay “convenience” fee. I’m not sure how you have to pay more for less - less paper, less people having to work the ticket booth - but it is the way. Does Harkins have a loyalty program that eliminates those fees? AMC has never charged me extra but I’ve been part of their various loyalty programs since I was finally past the age of the student discount or knowing someone who worked there. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-the-fees-charged-by-groups-like-ticketmaster-do-anything-was-there-a-time-before-fees/845563/7 "2019-12-29T23:47:13Z")
Yes. There was a time when you could camp out/stand in line to get tix at the box office when they went on sale at 10am. You paid the ticket price. Then services like Ticketron came along & allowed you to buy tix by phone; they charged a fee for this service but you didn’t need to take off work &/or stand out in cold/rainy weather. Their fees were reasonable. Then Live Nation (parent of TicketMaster) got big & powerful & charge you fees for everything, both per ticket fees & per order fees on the same order of two (or three or four) tickets to a given event. I’ve seen what are in some way, shape, or form mandatory fees that you can’t get out of in any way. Want physical tickets mailed to you? Pay a fee. Want them emailed to you & you print them? There’s a lesser but still a fee. WTF? I need(ed) a physical ticket; that shouldn’t be an extra fee. _\<– The previous was from a time before smartphones & scanable phone tickets._ I’ve even gone to a concert, bought tix at the ‘box office’ before it began & had to pay some form of processing/handling fee. At least in my mind, that is false advertising because there’s no way to buy tix for the stated cost. Sure, if I don’t want to drive all the way to a concert venue months before a concert & stand in line so I’m paying a convenience fee to avoid that but when I _can’t_ buy tix for the stated price that’s false advertising. > [@nightshadea](#): > > wasnt live nation formed because there was a revolt by some of the musical acts against tm’s practices? Live Nation owns TicketMaster for over a decade now. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-the-fees-charged-by-groups-like-ticketmaster-do-anything-was-there-a-time-before-fees/845563/8 "2019-12-30T01:12:04Z")
They’ve accomplished this: I no longer go to live events largely because of Ticketmaster. Beside the fees, I dislike the pseudo-monopoly they seem to have created. I wanted to go to a show last year, got pissed off at the Ticketmaster web site and called the venue directly. Turns out they were unable to sell me a ticket to their own property - it had to go through TM. Hung up, didn’t go, saved my money. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-the-fees-charged-by-groups-like-ticketmaster-do-anything-was-there-a-time-before-fees/845563/9 "2019-12-30T01:46:32Z")
Once he became successful Louis C.K. had stopped selling tickets through Ticketmaster and sold tickets through his venue or the website I think, he said it took a little more work to do it this way but in the end he got more money and the tickets were cheaper for the audience. After his scandal happened though I believe he has gone back to using Ticketmaster, it would be nice if more entertainers went this route and bypassed the middle man. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-the-fees-charged-by-groups-like-ticketmaster-do-anything-was-there-a-time-before-fees/845563/10 "2019-12-30T01:56:17Z")
> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > They’ve accomplished this: I no longer go to live events largely because of Ticketmaster. > > Beside the fees, I dislike the pseudo-monopoly they seem to have created. I wanted to go to a show last year, got pissed off at the Ticketmaster web site and called the venue directly. Turns out they were unable to sell me a ticket to their own property - it had to go through TM. Hung up, didn’t go, saved my money. If I want to go to an event, I go directly to the venue to buy tickets or I just don’t go. Recently I checked on what it would cost me to buy tickets through Ticketba$tard vs. going to the venue directly. Ticketba$tard wanted $80 in fees for two tickets. The venue only charged sales and entertainment tax for the area they are in; that was $20. It took some time and gas to buy at the venue, but this wasn’t an event that was in danger of selling out, so I went when I had the time and also did some other things while I was out which would have cost gas anyway. The money I saved by going to the venue will pay for our dinner before the event. These fees have gotten beyond ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-the-fees-charged-by-groups-like-ticketmaster-do-anything-was-there-a-time-before-fees/845563/11 "2019-12-30T02:39:35Z")
> [@pool](#): > > Once he became successful Louis C.K. had stopped selling tickets through Ticketmaster and sold tickets through his venue or the website I think, he said it took a little more work to do it this way but in the end he got more money and the tickets were cheaper for the audience. After his scandal happened though I believe he has gone back to using Ticketmaster, it would be nice if more entertainers went this route and bypassed the middle man. I saw him recently and he is using ticketmaster again. But he did sell out the show, so it isn’t like he doesn’t have clout to avoid ticketmaster ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-the-fees-charged-by-groups-like-ticketmaster-do-anything-was-there-a-time-before-fees/845563/12 "2019-12-30T04:54:55Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Does Harkins have a loyalty program that eliminates those fees? AMC has never charged me extra but I’ve been part of their various loyalty programs since I was finally past the age of the student discount or knowing someone who worked there. It doesn’t seem that way. I’ve started the process and the fees show up. I quit without finishing so I don’t know if they go away (I am a reward member). Because ion this discussion, I’ll ask at the customer service at the next movie I go to. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-the-fees-charged-by-groups-like-ticketmaster-do-anything-was-there-a-time-before-fees/845563/13 "2019-12-30T05:20:48Z")
> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > Beside the fees, I dislike the pseudo-monopoly they seem to have created. I wanted to go to a show last year, got pissed off at the Ticketmaster web site and called the venue directly. Turns out they were unable to sell me a ticket to their own property - it had to go through TM. Hung up, didn’t go, saved my money. Yes, the contract Ticketmaster has with many venues requires that ALL tickets be sold through Ticketmaster – the venue can’t even sell you tickets directly. > [@pool](#): > > … it would be nice if more entertainers went this route and bypassed the middle man. Even that doesn’t work much anymore. Ticketmaster is now demanding exclusive contracts with concert venues – that they agree to not rent their space to performers who try to sell tickets directly, or via any seller other than Ticketmaster. I don’t see how they get awy with such a monopolistic, anti-competitive practice. Especially when many of the concert venues are owned by the public (i.e., local governments). But then I persist in believing that we have laws in this country, and a government that enforces them. ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-the-fees-charged-by-groups-like-ticketmaster-do-anything-was-there-a-time-before-fees/845563/14 "2019-12-30T06:43:37Z")
Trying to bypass SticketFaster once, I drove into Hollywood to buy tickets for _Wicked_, I believe, at The Pantages. They were very upfront about the fact that even at the box office on Hollywood Boulevard, where parking is a premium, I still had to pay the man his fee to purchase tickets. I have to really, really want to see something to put up with that shit. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-the-fees-charged-by-groups-like-ticketmaster-do-anything-was-there-a-time-before-fees/845563/15 "2019-12-30T13:32:34Z")
> [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](#): > > Yes, the contract Ticketmaster has with many venues requires that ALL tickets be sold through Ticketmaster – the venue can’t even sell you tickets directly. > > Even that doesn’t work much anymore. Ticketmaster is now demanding exclusive contracts with concert venues – that they agree to not rent their space to performers who try to sell tickets directly, or via any seller other than Ticketmaster. > > I don’t see how they get awy with such a monopolistic, anti-competitive practice. Especially when many of the concert venues are owned by the public (i.e., local governments). But then I persist in believing that we have laws in this country, and a government that enforces them. Damn, I’d assume that would count as a trust or monopoly. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-the-fees-charged-by-groups-like-ticketmaster-do-anything-was-there-a-time-before-fees/845563/16 "2019-12-30T13:57:22Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Damn, I’d assume that would count as a trust or monopoly. Probably would, but the government has little interest in breaking up monopolies these days (and it started before the current administration). When Ticketron came along, fees were reasonable (IIRC, under a dollar) for the convenience. Ticketmaster came along and charged big fees, betting that there would be enough people willing to Shell out. They were right. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-the-fees-charged-by-groups-like-ticketmaster-do-anything-was-there-a-time-before-fees/845563/17 "2019-12-30T17:52:16Z")
> [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](#): > > Even that doesn’t work much anymore. Ticketmaster is now demanding exclusive contracts with concert venues – that they agree to not rent their space to performers who try to sell tickets directly, or via any seller other than Ticketmaster. > > I don’t see how they get awy with such a monopolistic, anti-competitive practice. Especially when many of the concert venues are owned by the public (i.e., local governments). But then I persist in believing that we have laws in this country, and a government that enforces them. It’s only going to get worse; they had a 10-yr consent decree as part of the merger that is about to expire. > [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > Beside the fees, I dislike the pseudo-monopoly they seem to have created. I wanted to go to a show last year, got pissed off at the Ticketmaster web site and called the venue directly. Turns out they were unable to sell me a ticket to their own property - it had to go through TM. Like I said upthread, I don’t know how it’s legal to advertise a ticket for $x but not allow anyone to buy it for that price. If there are _mandatory_ (by them) fees, then the ticket really isn’t $x, it’s $y ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-the-fees-charged-by-groups-like-ticketmaster-do-anything-was-there-a-time-before-fees/845563/18 "2019-12-30T20:22:33Z")
I briefly worked for TicketBastard 25 years ago, and even back then they charged “convenience” fees. Granted, it was only a dollar, maybe two at the most, per ticket. Not waived for anyone, even employees. Sadly, I still have the opening call spiel ingrained in my memory. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-the-fees-charged-by-groups-like-ticketmaster-do-anything-was-there-a-time-before-fees/845563/19 "2019-12-30T20:28:53Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > I’ve even gone to a concert, bought tix at the ‘box office’ before it began & had to pay some form of processing/handling fee. At least in my mind, that is false advertising because there’s no way to buy tix for the stated cost. Sure, if I don’t want to drive all the way to a concert venue months before a concert & stand in line so I’m paying a convenience fee to avoid that but when I _can’t_ buy tix for the stated price that’s false advertising. I agree, and I’d love to see some state Attorney General go after them for it. Look, they can break up their costs however they want, and they can charge whatever they want. But if there’s no way to actually buy a ticket at the advertised price, that’s fraud. There are some ongoing lawsuits over a similar practice with hotel “resort fees”, which are also not disclosed and unavoidable. Hopefully the gov will win there and go after ticketmaster next. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-the-fees-charged-by-groups-like-ticketmaster-do-anything-was-there-a-time-before-fees/845563/20 "2019-12-30T20:34:20Z")
Years ago I bought tickets for a concert from TM, and every ticket included a “parking fee”. I was more than mildly annoyed that four people sharing a single car had to pay for four “parking spaces”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-the-fees-charged-by-groups-like-ticketmaster-do-anything-was-there-a-time-before-fees/845563.md?page=2)