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Rokyfan
THey get the big bucks from people who don't have the stomach to wait, people who don't follow this stuff that closely and people who have lots of money and don't care what things cost. they get the maximum possible, as the post above me says. They know exactly what they are doing with the prices, the presales. We are all just rats in cages, they know exactly what buttons to push and when to push them.

Yeah, I just got educated by touching the hot stove myself. Haven't seen Stones since '81 and out of loop on ticket practices, so I clicked Monday at 10am and all I saw was section 315 I grabbed em thinking "crap, sold out already?!"

Then I bought GOld VIP thinking it was only way to get decent seats before scalpers got em... but since then I've seen how it all works:

Except for Milwaukee I've managed to go back at my leisure and find better tickets for shows I want, even turned down LDs cuz I was finding what I wanted (though I do regret turning down the LDs now !)

Thx all for the education!

Interesting question. While it is probably true they are not selling these very expensive tickets to specifically "keep the profits out of the hands of the scalpers", they are certainly doing it to insure maximum profits are getting into their own hands. Whether those hands are strictly the promoters or possibly the band benefits financially too is unknown.

By selling obviously outrageous tickets and Lucky Dips at the same time they can get a pretty good real time take on the market. Economics 101 stuff, they can define the Price/Demand curve by getting good data points on both ends of the curve and a few points in the middle. Then they draw up the curve and figure out how to exploit the maximum profit from each show. If they just sold tickets at lower prices to start with none of this would be possible

How theses dynamics play out over the course of ticket sales and the power and tools the sellers have at their fingertips to manipulate the process is unique and truly intriguing. I imagine a very interesting mid-level economics course could be taught about this process, especially if they knew exactly what transpired. But these are probably highly guarded business practices and not many people probably know the truth of what really happens.

It is however not hard to imagine economist and business man Mick, sitting behind a bank of super computers, Wizard of Oz fashion, clicking on algorithms to analyze, change pricing and availability and sell more tickets with a gleam in his eye and a smile on his face...lol.

peace

Stones tickets have always been relatively expensive and now touring at the twilight of their career, they have lots of people intent on seeing them one more time, at almost any price.

That said, if you have no bread, you can see them for $29 bucks instead.

If that makes the fans happy, and they make more money this way, why wouldn't they do it?

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treaclefingers
Stones tickets have always been relatively expensive and now touring at the twilight of their career, they have lots of people intent on seeing them one more time, at almost any price.

That said, if you have no bread, you can see them for $29 bucks instead.

If that makes the fans happy, and they make more money this way, why wouldn't they do it?

Stones tickets have always been relatively expensive and now touring at the twilight of their career, they have lots of people intent on seeing them one more time, at almost any price.

That said, if you have no bread, you can see them for $29 bucks instead.

If that makes the fans happy, and they make more money this way, why wouldn't they do it?

TL/DR you can say that again

any particular reason(s) why Lucky Dip tickets were not offered for Buffalo ?

I'm guessing that they figured between Buffalo, Toronto, and Rochester all being close by, there would be enough demand not to need LD tix right off the bat. It's the only show that folks from NYC and Boston could reasonably drive to, as well.

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LetsWork
I'm guessing that they figured between Buffalo, Toronto, and Rochester all being close by, there would be enough demand not to need LD tix right off the bat. It's the only show that folks from NYC and Boston could reasonably drive to, as well.

LOL, I don't know about you but I don't consider an 8 hour drive reasonable. But yes it is the closest show to those cities.

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oldschool

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LetsWork
I'm guessing that they figured between Buffalo, Toronto, and Rochester all being close by, there would be enough demand not to need LD tix right off the bat. It's the only show that folks from NYC and Boston could reasonably drive to, as well.

LOL, I don't know about you but I don't consider an 8 hour drive reasonable. But yes it is the closest show to those cities.

Reasonable is not a definition attached to a Stones fan..8 hours to go see the Stones is nothing.

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leteyer
Reasonable is not a definition attached to a Stones fan..8 hours to go see the Stones is nothing.

so true

I'm giving myself a 6 hour driving radius for this tour. So 8 hours isn't bad.

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LetsWork
I'm guessing that they figured between Buffalo, Toronto, and Rochester all being close by, there would be enough demand not to need LD tix right off the bat. It's the only show that folks from NYC and Boston could reasonably drive to, as well.

Have you ever seen NYC and Boston drivers? Reasonable is not an adjective I would use to describe them. LOL.

But I agree with your post, why sell $30 tickets when you can sell them for twice that much? Obviously they are well aware that show is their strongest market on this tour.

peace

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tonyc
The point of my thread.

Yes, there are Lucky Dip and ways to get discounted tickets later if you are in the know. But, who besides us are in the know? The Rolling Stones seem not interested in letting people know there are ways they are being fan friendly this tour. They seem proud to let everyone think they charge what they want because they can.

Yes, but isn't the point that only the hard core fans - like us - are "in the know" about the Lucky Dip tickets. The general public doesn't have a clue, the scalpers can't use them because of the entry procedures, but every fan on IORR or Shidoobee or whatever, knows how to see these shows for $29.95 (plus fees of course). Isn't that how it SHOULD be?

Yes, I agree, the Lucky Dips work great for the hard core fan. Allows them to
see multiple shows which may not interst the casual fan.

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drbryant

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tonyc
The point of my thread.

Yes, there are Lucky Dip and ways to get discounted tickets later if you are in the know. But, who besides us are in the know? The Rolling Stones seem not interested in letting people know there are ways they are being fan friendly this tour. They seem proud to let everyone think they charge what they want because they can.

Yes, but isn't the point that only the hard core fans - like us - are "in the know" about the Lucky Dip tickets. The general public doesn't have a clue, the scalpers can't use them because of the entry procedures, but every fan on IORR or Shidoobee or whatever, knows how to see these shows for $29.95 (plus fees of course). Isn't that how it SHOULD be?

I am not sure what you guys are talking about... to me the Lucky Dip info seems to be featured prominently on the Rolling Stones website above all the links for the shows. Unless you are talking about something else?

If someone was clueless about it all, but maybe heard a glimmer of info on the radio or something, but still had no clue about how to get tickets, wouldnt they stumble over to the official website to see what was up, then click get tickets and see all of the info they needed to know about Lucky Dips at the top of the page e.g.>>>




Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2015-04-18 20:48 by Leonioid.

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drbryant
The general public doesn't have a clue, the scalpers can't use them because of the entry procedures, but every fan on IORR or Shidoobee or whatever, knows how to see these shows for $29.95 (plus fees of course). Isn't that how it SHOULD be?

I think it's a nice gesture on the surface, but I don't believe that they would necessarily be offering them if they truly thought they could sell out at higher prices.

The whole "strict anti-scalper measures to insure these tickets end up in the hands of Stones fans and don't end up in the resale market at highly inflated prices" sounds good but becomes a joke upon further analysis. We are generally talking about seats which have the least resale value to begin with. All the GREAT seats are already on the primary sellers market at highly inflated prices and thousands of seats were released to the highly inflated resellers market before the public had a chance at them.

If they can implement strict anti-scalper measures on these cheap seats, why don't they do the same thing for the ten's of thousands of more desirable seats? Obviously because they want in on the huge profits to be made.

You ask "isn't this how it should be?" I can only say, no, not really.

How it SHOULD be is that all fans get access to all the seats at list prices, no hugely inflated prices from the primary ticket sellers (ie Platinum seats for $4777), no pre-sales for people with exclusive credit cards, no huge releases of tickets before the sale to re-sellers and strict anti-scalper measures on the whole lot. It may be a bit idealistic but you asked.

peace

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Naturalust

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LetsWork
I'm guessing that they figured between Buffalo, Toronto, and Rochester all being close by, there would be enough demand not to need LD tix right off the bat. It's the only show that folks from NYC and Boston could reasonably drive to, as well.

Have you ever seen NYC and Boston drivers? Reasonable is not an adjective I would use to describe them. LOL.

But I agree with your post, why sell $30 tickets when you can sell them for twice that much? Obviously they are well aware that show is their strongest market on this tour.

peace

Lucky Dip were offered for San Deigo that is the only west coast show so I don't see that no Lucky Dip for Buffalo is because they can fill the stadium at full price with people from NYC, Boston & Southern Ontario.
maybe I'm naive thinking Lucky Dip tickets are a chance for economically challenged to see the show instead of selling tickets in weak markets.

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fyp933

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Naturalust

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LetsWork
I'm guessing that they figured between Buffalo, Toronto, and Rochester all being close by, there would be enough demand not to need LD tix right off the bat. It's the only show that folks from NYC and Boston could reasonably drive to, as well.

Have you ever seen NYC and Boston drivers? Reasonable is not an adjective I would use to describe them. LOL.

But I agree with your post, why sell $30 tickets when you can sell them for twice that much? Obviously they are well aware that show is their strongest market on this tour.

peace

Lucky Dip were offered for San Deigo that is the only west coast show so I don't see that no Lucky Dip for Buffalo is because they can fill the stadium at full price with people from NYC, Boston & Southern Ontario.
maybe I'm naive thinking Lucky Dip tickets are a chance for economically challenged to see the show instead of selling tickets in weak markets.

I would think that if the intention was for the sake of fans they would be available for every show. San Diego may not be a weak market but selling out the first show has marketing benefits for all the shows that follow.

peace

Many shows show as sold out...but lo and behold...tickets magically appear at all price levels as show dates approach.

The smallest venue of the tour, Milwaukee, had Lucky Dip tickets. I'm not sure
why some others did not - unless the Milwaukee LD's are restricted view.
In 2013, I spoke to several people who ended up with very
Good tickets including the Pit - so they must not all be unsalable tickets. The
mechanics of the lucky dip is a mystery.

Springsteen's camp seems to be one of the few acts that take anti-scalping seriously at least on the surface. Good location paperless tickets and no Ticketmaster partnerships with Platinum seating options shows that they are at least making a good attempt to get tickets in the hands of fans. I've never seen Springsteen pre-sales either.

I got my lucky dips for Kansas and have a question please. Sorry if it has been brought up before and I missed it.
Q. Somebody said when you pick up your lucky dips you are given the option to upgrade - would this option also include the likes of even gold circle?
Thanks for looking.

"till the next time..."

Star

Lucky Dip tickets is a nice way to make cheap tickets available to real fans because:

- They come in pairs only
- They are really cheap
- Ticket pickup at the show only
- Hard to resell them with an high price
- They are not advertised much
- Real fans go to real fan sites

Also, it is an easy way to fill up a slow selling show, it is a method they can use to keep the promise of low priced tickets to fans.

Bjornulf

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Starr
I got my lucky dips for Kansas and have a question please. Sorry if it has been brought up before and I missed it.
Q. Somebody said when you pick up your lucky dips you are given the option to upgrade - would this option also include the likes of even gold circle?
Thanks for looking.

"till the next time..."

In 2013, everyone wasn't given the option of upgrading. However, quite a few people went to Guest Services and were able to receive an upgrade upon request. Presumably because there were unsold empty seats in better locations. Many reported first getting nosebleeds then receiving a tap on the shoulder from a Guest Services rep and being escorted to much better seats (including Pit!). That said, there were people who tried to upgrade and failed. We'll know much more as people attending the first shows file their reports.

Thanks for that info Plink and bv...

Star

Anyone have advice for selling an extra LD ticket? First time using LD and I only need one.

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MingSubu
Anyone have advice for selling an extra LD ticket? First time using LD and I only need one.

Put it on viagogo and sell it for $10,000

Nate ><

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MingSubu
Anyone have advice for selling an extra LD ticket? First time using LD and I only need one.

Before the day of the show, I dont think there is a way, unless a friend will give you the money and plan on going with you.

The day of the show in the parking lot and surrounding area people will be looking for tickets and many/most of them will be those same scalpers we always see out there trying to buy and re-sell, but (at least) one of them might be a Stones fan who just want to get in and is looking for a bargain.

Tell them the deal and see if they want it. Personally I feel it would be bad form to think/hope to sell it for more than 50bucks and facts be known you may only get $25.00 for it (I would just keep it and have two seats for to stand by before I sold it for less than $25.00)... but if the demand is crazy, I guess it is not horrible to sell it for $80.00 which gets you in free.

Of course if no one is looking or no one wants the deal, then skip selling it and just go in alone and enjoy the show for $80.00, which is still not a bad price to pay.

fwiw I think there is nothing wrong with going to a show by yourself if you dont have a tried and trusted concert buddy. Being alone is lot better than 1) being there someone who wont shut up and wants to talk/yell all through the show 2) being there with someone who constantlty scream/sings the words to every song usually very poorly 3) Being there with a moron you have to babysit because they got too drunk or drugged-up 4) Being there with someone who wont move to better seats (self upgrade) cuz "these are our seats" 5) etc etc

It is a tiny 3 hour window to soak up a Stones show, so there is no sense anyone or anything getting in the way of it being the best concert it can be.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2015-04-20 01:10 by Leonioid.

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MingSubu
Anyone have advice for selling an extra LD ticket? First time using LD and I only need one.

There may very well be someone here or on another board interested in buying your spare. No doubt there will also be people wanting to buy a single outside the venue before show time, I've seen it happen (and you can screen your potential seat mates before making a decision). You can also post it on Craigslist, which is what I did in '13. The arrangements were made a couple of weeks in advance and I trusted the buyer to show up and pay shortly before the gig. My seat mate turned out to be a 20 year old superfan seeing the band for the 1st time, so that was fun. I think it would be a shame to waste an extra ticket when there are so many fans who would love to go.

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MingSubu
Anyone have advice for selling an extra LD ticket? First time using LD and I only need one.

Post on that gig/city thread that you have 1 available & ask if anyone is interested...

a few days ago someone posted this in the Detroit thread & I responded...now I know I'm going...I thought the poster would be local,but,he's from Germany....

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MingSubu
Anyone have advice for selling an extra LD ticket? First time using LD and I only need one.

Find someopne alone...tell him he must accompany you since you are escoted into the venue (no chance of reselling it) and get CASH before hand...just tell him 50 dollars for the tickets which will include a few beers for you.

Whenever i mention beer money, I think most concert fans know you speak the truth...except THERE WILL NOT BE ANY BEER THERE!!! LOL