I just wanted to say that I really hate ticketmaster and their charges, and am disappointed that Sarah uses them. On a $25 ticket, there are $12.85 in various charges. (I'm talking about the Calgary show on May 5th.) That's over 50% of the cost of the ticket, which is brutal, and quite frankly is enough to stop me from going to the show. If the money was going to Sarah that is one thing, but I don't like it to go to a monopoly that rips people off.
Just wanted to vent a little bit, and make a request to Sarah: please use other ticket methods in the future! I will gladly drive to the venue or some other ticket booth, or order over the phone, to save the $30-plus dollars in charges that would be incurred for 3 tickets!
Originally posted by Nathan: I just wanted to say that I really hate ticketmaster and their charges, and am disappointed that Sarah uses them. On a $25 ticket, there are $12.85 in various charges. (I'm talking about the Calgary show on May 5th.) That's over 50% of the cost of the ticket, which is brutal, and quite frankly is enough to stop me from going to the show. If the money was going to Sarah that is one thing, but I don't like it to go to a monopoly that rips people off.
Just wanted to vent a little bit, and make a request to Sarah: please use other ticket methods in the future! I will gladly drive to the venue or some other ticket booth, or order over the phone, to save the $30-plus dollars in charges that would be incurred for 3 tickets!
Nathan, I believe tickets were available for this show through SarahSlean.com. They had their own service charges but they were under that of TicketMaster.
Seeing this venue is an active church, I don't think it's feasable to do a box office sale.
She does sell through other services for other shows.
It's too bad I missed the tickets on SarahSlean.com. I'm definitely a fan, but only come check out the site every month or two, and by the time I checked it was a week or two after the sale. I guess I should get on the mailing list, right?
I was talking to the church this morning and it sounded like they do other options, it's too bad they weren't used this time, especially since it sounds like Sarah isn't locked into Ticketmaster by a promoter or something. Ah well.
^No problem Nathan. Hope you do find your way into the show.
The mailing list would be a good idea. You can also subscribe to littleslean news (my signature) too if you like. Its more supplemental to the main site, but it will note the larger things.
I believe with her Western Canadian dates, Sarah was actually tied into a promoter (LiveNation) which will almost exclusively use Ticketmaster.com.
Ticketmaster fees are, in general, getting out of control, though. How on earth it costs $8-10 to "process" a ticket purchase is beyond me.
Now that I think about it, maybe this would be a good opportunity for me to put together a ticketing service/website. I should've bought Select-a-Seat when they went out of business here in Winnipeg. With my web programming experience and friends in the print industry, it wouldn't be as difficult as one would think, especially at the beginning if the volume was low.
Another ticket site is a great idea, and I'd even be willing to lend my experience and help if I had the free time. Be warned though, Select-a-seat went out of business for a reason, and ticketmaster is pretty ruthless in their dealings. They have exclusive deals with promoters, venues, and use their monopoly to their advantage. I think it would be hard to do much unless the government stepped in, or a ton of artists, venues and sports teams started to take a stand. The folks in Pearl Jam are my heroes!
I agree with you about service charges! I went to Sarah's concert in Edmonton, at the Winspear, and it seems they don't do ticketmaster! You can order on-line, by phone or in person at the Winspear. I went in person, got fabulous seats and paid ony $6 in service charges!
