Almost every time I see a concert or event, ticketmaster is mentioned, and a significant “service charge” is also mentioned.
What confuses me is why Ticketmaster exists – why dont box offices just sell tickets directly? I’m not quite sure what service Ticketmaster provides.
Not every box office wants to set up a phone center and secure website, those are not cheap to set up. So they just hire Ticketmaster to run phone and web sales for them.
Gosh, I’m actually in a position to give an informed answer, considering I work in the ticketing industry (although not for TM)…
What Bijou says is only half the story. TM is not only a service company allowing you to sell tickets online and through their call centre (although they’ll certainly do this), it is also a software and a hardware company providing box office systems to venues. If a venue has the TM box office system in place then the likelihood is they’ll be using the TM online and offline services for distribution.
As to booking fees/service charges, you’re unlikely to avoid these even if you were booking through the box office directly. Venues don’t generally set ticket prices (unless they’re producing venues), these are set by the producers/promoters of the event and the face value is what the producers/promoters generally expects to be paid for their tickets by the venue. The only way venues and distribution channels can make any money on the sale of tickets is to add a booking fee. Some producer/promoters may even demand a proportion of the booking fee as inside commission for the favour of letting you sell their tickets.
What you see as the face value is actually what in other industries would be seen as the wholesale price - the price the vendor is paying for the product before they add their mark-up. For some reason the ticketing industry is in the unique position of showing the mark-up it’s adding to the product as a separate fee - what’s generally called a booking fee. Every other vending industry does the same thing - buys at one price and sells at another - it’s just that supermarkets, for example, don’t display their wholesale prices and mark-ups separately (imagine walking into a supermarket and their ketchup was priced at 35c + $1.00 purchase fee).
The ticketing industry really is a weird place to be.
OB
When I buy tickets for events at our arena, RBC Center, they don’t charge me the extra ticketmaster fees. I just pay the normal ticket price. But I know some places charge the fees even at the box office. (in fact I am going to the RBC Center box office to buy a ticket in just a few hours)
At every venue I’ve been to, if you show up at the box office in person, you avoid the booking fee.
I think our local concert ampitheater charges the ticketmaster fees at their box office. ( Or maybe they did in the past. )
I just bought two tickets at the box office of the Warner Theatre in Washington DC, and I paid a booking fee of $5 each. It was still cheaper than TicketMaster’s $11.75 fee.
Or else what? They’ll go to one of Ticketmaster’s competitors? :dubious: