# Well...I found out why I used to never get good seats... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 11, 2010, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-found-out-why-i-used-to-never-get-good-seats/532105 "2010-03-11T14:52:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-found-out-why-i-used-to-never-get-good-seats/532105/1 "2010-03-11T14:52:25Z")
I must have past some sort of threshhold on Ticketmaster…this is the 3rd set of tickets I’ve bought in the past 3 months on a ‘pre-sale’. We did Jeff Foxworthy a couple weeks ago and we were 6 rows back center stage. Just ordered tickets for one of those Cirque Du Soleil things my wife and daughter go gaga for… floor - row 3. No wonder I could only get crappy seats during the first 5 minutes on the first day tickets went on sale…they had already been on sale for several days! ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-found-out-why-i-used-to-never-get-good-seats/532105/2 "2010-03-11T15:02:47Z")
It might have been because of [Wiseguys Tickets hacking Ticketmaster](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/03/01/2010-03-01_wiseguys_tickets_charged_with_hacking_into_ticketmaster_livenation_to_illegally_.html) and making about $25,000,000 reselling the premium seats they illegally purchased. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-found-out-why-i-used-to-never-get-good-seats/532105/3 "2010-03-11T15:10:14Z")
As a former ticket scalper; let me tell ya’; you don’t even know the half of it. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-found-out-why-i-used-to-never-get-good-seats/532105/4 "2010-03-11T15:39:18Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > As a former ticket scalper; let me tell ya’; you don’t even know the half of it. You can’t just drop that and walk away! Spill yer guts! ---
**Author:** ![vertizontal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ad7895/32.png) [@vertizontal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vertizontal)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-found-out-why-i-used-to-never-get-good-seats/532105/5 "2010-03-11T16:36:18Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > As a former ticket scalper; let me tell ya’; you don’t even know the half of it. It’s time for an “Ask the ticket scalper” thread. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-found-out-why-i-used-to-never-get-good-seats/532105/6 "2010-03-11T16:41:03Z")
A lot of times those presale seats aren’t as good as the seats that go on sale to the general public. They can help you get seats before they sell out, but not always better seats. ---
**Author:** ![clnilsen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecccb3/32.png) [@clnilsen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clnilsen)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-found-out-why-i-used-to-never-get-good-seats/532105/7 "2010-03-11T16:44:09Z")
> [@vertizontal](#): > > It’s time for an “Ask the ticket scalper” thread. Seconded - I would LOVE to hear about this. This is one of the reasons i pretty much stopped going to concerts, is I was/am convinced that the general public was being screwed before they ever went on sale… ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-found-out-why-i-used-to-never-get-good-seats/532105/8 "2010-03-11T17:44:52Z")
I’m confused. Row 6, center, is crappy seats? ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-found-out-why-i-used-to-never-get-good-seats/532105/9 "2010-03-11T17:58:24Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > I’m confused. Row 6, center, is crappy seats? No no. He’s saying he _used_ to get crappy seats because he didn’t realize he could _pre-buy_. Now that he discovered this, he is getting the good seats. But I would just like to take this opportunity to say Ticketmaster and Stubhub suck…it’s legalized scapling! If I were to personally buy 30,000 tickets to an event and sell them with a 100%, or $50 service charge or whatever, I’d get in trouble. But they do and it’s fine…and for half the damn things out there, they are the only way to get tickets!:mad: ---
**Author:** ![cantara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@cantara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantara)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-found-out-why-i-used-to-never-get-good-seats/532105/10 "2010-03-11T18:57:24Z")
Scalping is more of a pain now. I recently went to see Muse in Toronto. We didn’t see the listing until the tickets had been on sale for over a month. When I went through TicketBastard, I discovered that the only ones left were for the upper tier partially obstructed. That didn’t stop them from charging $70/seat though. I tried eBay to see if there were some people who were unable to use their tickets. Imagine my surprise when I see a bevy of tix available for outrageous prices. They were $200 each. A quick look at the seller and I discover that they are based in New Jersey or California! I managed to find tix from a local whose wife decided she didn’t want to go. I ended up paying close to face for them. At the concert, I could see the blocks of seats unoccupied. It’s bad enough that people who want to see the show are competing for the tickets, but then the knobs who don’t care about a particular show start taking the tickets and can’t unload them… In the old days, the sweaty scalpers would at least sell them at face or a discount just when the show is going to start. Start the thread, SHAKES! ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-found-out-why-i-used-to-never-get-good-seats/532105/11 "2010-03-11T19:04:55Z")
[Ask the ticket scalper.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=12213848#post12213848) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-found-out-why-i-used-to-never-get-good-seats/532105/12 "2010-03-12T02:45:21Z")
> [@HelloNinja](#): > > A lot of times those presale seats aren’t as good as the seats that go on sale to the general public. They can help you get seats before they sell out, but not always better seats. This was my experience. I’d missed the fan club/pre-sale window for a Pet Shop Boys Hollywood Bowl concert, then hemmed and hawed about going, then finally broke down to see what was left on Ticketmaster after hearing it was 60% sold-out and managed to get third row just off-center. I figured it was because I was buying a single but a friend was able to get three together in the 6th row right after I told her. I didn’t get to enjoy it of course, because they ended up cancelling the show. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2010, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-found-out-why-i-used-to-never-get-good-seats/532105/13 "2010-03-13T03:04:19Z")
Another reason could be because of people like me. During my 20’s, my concert-going decade, for about 5 years I had a 2nd job at a Rose Records, just for the Ticketmaster sales. When a big on-sale was going to happen, my working pals and I who were working the Ticketmaster machine would start punching up blocks of tickets (anywhere from 4 to 10 at a time) about 5 minutes before the sale was supposed to start. We’d just start punching in the request over and over until it started spitting out tickets, sometimes a minute or two early. We always got 1st to 10th row center. We didn’t scalp, though, these were for us! But if others did the same for those big on-sales at all the other Ticketmaster booths, that wouldn’t leave much for the people who camped in line with their wristbands all night! Call me what you will, I saw some great shows in the 90’s. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-found-out-why-i-used-to-never-get-good-seats/532105/14 "2010-03-13T03:06:57Z")
Not trying to be a party-pooper, but sometimes really close seats at Cirque shows aren’t as good as ones a little farther back. That wouldn’t apply to Foxworthy, though. ---
**Author:** ![eldowan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@eldowan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eldowan)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2010, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-found-out-why-i-used-to-never-get-good-seats/532105/15 "2010-03-13T03:15:34Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Not trying to be a party-pooper, but sometimes really close seats at Cirque shows aren’t as good as ones a little farther back. That wouldn’t apply to Foxworthy, though. Seconded. We went and saw ‘O’ on the first row. Don’t get me wrong, it was impressive and amazing! And getting splashed from the show the night after my wedding wasn’t bad either. 😃 I would just have preferred 3 - 7 rows farther back to get a better view of the overall stage. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-found-out-why-i-used-to-never-get-good-seats/532105/16 "2010-03-15T18:53:08Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Not trying to be a party-pooper, but sometimes really close seats at Cirque shows aren’t as good as ones a little farther back. That wouldn’t apply to Foxworthy, though. ehh…I had that thought at the time I was buying them as well…but I didn’t know so I just took what they said was best available…can’t be that bad 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2010, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-found-out-why-i-used-to-never-get-good-seats/532105/17 "2010-03-16T13:48:00Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Not trying to be a party-pooper, but sometimes really close seats at Cirque shows aren’t as good as ones a little farther back. That wouldn’t apply to Foxworthy, though. Depends on the show. For **Quidam** , my date and I were dead center, in the front row of the section right behind the front-center section. That put the walkway directly in front of us, and since a lot of stuff happened in that walkway, we had a most excellent view. But for **Zumanity** , we were in the very front row, right section. That resulted in us actually being part of the show (I had - I swear - a dildo fight with one of the performers; my wife was mortified).