It's probably not even many fans selling at stubhubs, my guess would be professional scalpers.

That reminds me of something Trent Reznor posted:

"The ticketing marketplace for rock concerts shows a real lack of sophistication, meaning this: the true market value of some tickets for some concerts is much higher than what the act wants to be perceived as charging. For example, there are some people who would be willing to pay $1,000 and up to be in the best seats for various shows, but MOST acts in the rock / pop world don't want to come off as greedy pricks asking that much, even though the market says its value is that high. The acts know this, the venue knows this, the promoters know this, the ticketing company knows this and the scalpers really know this. So...

The venue, the promoter, the ticketing agency and often the artist camp (artist, management and agent) take tickets from the pool of available seats and feed them directly to the re-seller (which from this point on will be referred to by their true name: SCALPER). I am not saying every one of the above entities all do this, nor am I saying they do it for all shows but this is a very common practice that happens more often than not. There is money to be made and they feel they should participate in it. There are a number of scams they employ to pull this off which is beyond the scope of this note."

Of course, not to say that L'Arc or their staff are doing this. Could be the venue, could just be professional scalpers, could be some fans with extra tickets wanting to make some moola.

Edit to add:

I've also heard something regarding ticketmaster fees. I've heard that some artists/management/tour management will want more money for the ticket so they price it lower but have ticketmaster add a fee on top. Plus ticketmaster takes fees for themselves.

For example: management wants a 2$ fee, so ticketmaster adds at 2$ fee + 1$ fee from themselves. In the end, fees can go through the roof. Doing this allows ticketmaster to take the heat from the public, rather than the band/staff/tour staff, and so on.

I don't know how true this is, but I've heard it more than once.

(01-28-2012, 03:12 PM)Tokio Wrote: It's probably not even many fans selling at stubhubs, my guess would be professional scalpers.

That reminds me of something Trent Reznor posted:

"The ticketing marketplace for rock concerts shows a real lack of sophistication, meaning this: the true market value of some tickets for some concerts is much higher than what the act wants to be perceived as charging. For example, there are some people who would be willing to pay $1,000 and up to be in the best seats for various shows, but MOST acts in the rock / pop world don't want to come off as greedy pricks asking that much, even though the market says its value is that high. The acts know this, the venue knows this, the promoters know this, the ticketing company knows this and the scalpers really know this. So...

The venue, the promoter, the ticketing agency and often the artist camp (artist, management and agent) take tickets from the pool of available seats and feed them directly to the re-seller (which from this point on will be referred to by their true name: SCALPER). I am not saying every one of the above entities all do this, nor am I saying they do it for all shows but this is a very common practice that happens more often than not. There is money to be made and they feel they should participate in it. There are a number of scams they employ to pull this off which is beyond the scope of this note."

Of course, not to say that L'Arc or their staff are doing this. Could be the venue, could just be professional scalpers, could be some fans with extra tickets wanting to make some moola.

Edit to add:

I've also heard something regarding ticketmaster fees. I've heard that some artists/management/tour management will want more money for the ticket so they price it lower but have ticketmaster add a fee on top. Plus ticketmaster takes fees for themselves.

For example: management wants a 2$ fee, so ticketmaster adds at 2$ fee + 1$ fee from themselves. In the end, fees can go through the roof. Doing this allows ticketmaster to take the heat from the public, rather than the band/staff/tour staff, and so on.

I don't know how true this is, but I've heard it more than once.

I vote for the last choice - all of the above. I would think it would be harder for L'Arc management since they are not that well known outside of Japan. No matter what we believe! But who really knows how these places work. If the band/management wanted more money, they could have easily charged more and received it. I had budgeted for the Paris/London prices myself.

Don't take me wrong - I am NOT complaining about the cheaper prices. I still feel we got the shaft with no VIP tickets that so many were looking forward to.

(01-28-2012, 03:12 PM)Tokio Wrote: It's probably not even many fans selling at stubhubs, my guess would be professional scalpers.

That reminds me of something Trent Reznor posted:

"The ticketing marketplace for rock concerts shows a real lack of sophistication, meaning this: the true market value of some tickets for some concerts is much higher than what the act wants to be perceived as charging. For example, there are some people who would be willing to pay $1,000 and up to be in the best seats for various shows, but MOST acts in the rock / pop world don't want to come off as greedy pricks asking that much, even though the market says its value is that high. The acts know this, the venue knows this, the promoters know this, the ticketing company knows this and the scalpers really know this. So...

The venue, the promoter, the ticketing agency and often the artist camp (artist, management and agent) take tickets from the pool of available seats and feed them directly to the re-seller (which from this point on will be referred to by their true name: SCALPER). I am not saying every one of the above entities all do this, nor am I saying they do it for all shows but this is a very common practice that happens more often than not. There is money to be made and they feel they should participate in it. There are a number of scams they employ to pull this off which is beyond the scope of this note."

Of course, not to say that L'Arc or their staff are doing this. Could be the venue, could just be professional scalpers, could be some fans with extra tickets wanting to make some moola.

Edit to add:

I've also heard something regarding ticketmaster fees. I've heard that some artists/management/tour management will want more money for the ticket so they price it lower but have ticketmaster add a fee on top. Plus ticketmaster takes fees for themselves.

For example: management wants a 2$ fee, so ticketmaster adds at 2$ fee + 1$ fee from themselves. In the end, fees can go through the roof. Doing this allows ticketmaster to take the heat from the public, rather than the band/staff/tour staff, and so on.

I don't know how true this is, but I've heard it more than once.

This whole concept brings up a really good point. If the buying and resale of tickets solely for profit is to be legal (and I don't believe it should be), then the resale should also observe the rights of the artists to profits made off of their work product. So, if they buy tickets, just to resell them at profit, they should be bound to share a hefty percentage of their profit with the band. Even if this were only enforceable regarding major ticket resale sites and resellers making a major business of it, at least a lot more of the money would go where it belongs.