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Hairball

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mosthigh

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Hairball
Groupon wow...and I thought selling through Costco w/discounts was the low point.
Feel bad for those who paid full price, but I did mention when sales started it was worth waiting for price drops and discounts - there was NO way they would sell all those tickets at those ridiculous prices.
I imagine the secondary markets will be cutting prices by at least 75% off face value just as it happened with the Desert Trip and the *Vegas shows. For those still waiting, might want to check out those sites (stubhub, etc.) - you might be able to get in the Pit for very cheap. And I don't know of there are dollar type discount stores in the UK (we have 99cent stores, etc. in the US), but next thing you know might be able to get a ticket from there.

Desert Trip pit tickets went from $1700 usd (face) to $5000 usd on secondary, then plummeted steadily to $300 usd by the first show day - for both weekends.

I recently used Groupon for Uriah Heep - got a $65 ticket for $25. You bring your promo code to the box office to exchange for a ticket. I noticed the actual ticket had '$0.00' on it - meaning it was probably a comp, meaning Groupon probably paid little or nothing for the approx 250 discount tickets that were sold (venue capacity was 1200). They just wanted to fill seats. It sure helped.

Yes, I was the lucky recipient of the apprx. $300 Desert Trip three day PIT pass for wkd. 2. Bought it on stubhub a day or two before the show, and then went to a special rented room to pickup at the nearby Hyatt (or Hilton?) where there were official stubhub staff giving out wristbands along with hundreds of other people who had bought the discounted tickets. Huge bags of wristbands in all categories...they were practically giving them away...it was all very well organized! And then *Vegas '16 immediately after Desert Trip was another stubhub success for me - bought a pair of floor seats the day of show for apprx. $250 which were originally face $750+fees (making them over $800). Was there with my wife celebrating her birthday w/no real intention of seeing the Stones, but at that price couldn't refuse!

As for Groupon, in the past I've bought vouchers for restaurants - pay $10 for a $25 dining credit for example.
Never knew they were in the concert ticket business!

Desert Trip was a unique set of circumstances. The reason prices dropped so far so fast is that Coachella is so far from any major city that attendance meant some significant advance planning, and most people couldn’t just decide on a whim to go. I did, but I ended up making the drive on a Friday afternoon from LA - 4-1/2 hours. Add 45 minutes to pick up the ticket and 30 minutes to walk from the car to the venue and it was six hours just to get to the show. Brutal. Made it in time to see 1/2 of Dylan’s set. Except for crazy people like us, the only buyers left were people who were already there and decided to upgrade. Any scalpers took a major bath, but that’s highly unlikely to happen with a show in central London.

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drbryant

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Hairball

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mosthigh

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Hairball
Groupon wow...and I thought selling through Costco w/discounts was the low point.
Feel bad for those who paid full price, but I did mention when sales started it was worth waiting for price drops and discounts - there was NO way they would sell all those tickets at those ridiculous prices.
I imagine the secondary markets will be cutting prices by at least 75% off face value just as it happened with the Desert Trip and the *Vegas shows. For those still waiting, might want to check out those sites (stubhub, etc.) - you might be able to get in the Pit for very cheap. And I don't know of there are dollar type discount stores in the UK (we have 99cent stores, etc. in the US), but next thing you know might be able to get a ticket from there.

Desert Trip pit tickets went from $1700 usd (face) to $5000 usd on secondary, then plummeted steadily to $300 usd by the first show day - for both weekends.

I recently used Groupon for Uriah Heep - got a $65 ticket for $25. You bring your promo code to the box office to exchange for a ticket. I noticed the actual ticket had '$0.00' on it - meaning it was probably a comp, meaning Groupon probably paid little or nothing for the approx 250 discount tickets that were sold (venue capacity was 1200). They just wanted to fill seats. It sure helped.

Yes, I was the lucky recipient of the apprx. $300 Desert Trip three day PIT pass for wkd. 2. Bought it on stubhub a day or two before the show, and then went to a special rented room to pickup at the nearby Hyatt (or Hilton?) where there were official stubhub staff giving out wristbands along with hundreds of other people who had bought the discounted tickets. Huge bags of wristbands in all categories...they were practically giving them away...it was all very well organized! And then *Vegas '16 immediately after Desert Trip was another stubhub success for me - bought a pair of floor seats the day of show for apprx. $250 which were originally face $750+fees (making them over $800). Was there with my wife celebrating her birthday w/no real intention of seeing the Stones, but at that price couldn't refuse!

As for Groupon, in the past I've bought vouchers for restaurants - pay $10 for a $25 dining credit for example.
Never knew they were in the concert ticket business!

Desert Trip was a unique set of circumstances. The reason prices dropped so far so fast is that Coachella is so far from any major city that attendance meant some significant advance planning, and most people couldn’t just decide on a whim to go. I did, but I ended up making the drive on a Friday afternoon from LA - 4-1/2 hours. Add 45 minutes to pick up the ticket and 30 minutes to walk from the car to the venue and it was six hours just to get to the show. Brutal. Made it in time to see 1/2 of Dylan’s set. Except for crazy people like us, the only buyers left were people who were already there and decided to upgrade. Any scalpers took a major bath, but that’s highly unlikely to happen with a show in central London.

Sounds like a torturous journey for you drbryant and I feel your pain, but glad you made it and hope you were too! For the record, I was one of those who upgraded. I had a nice hotel and a cheap GA for wkd. 2 all set to go, but then watched by reading the thread here that the prices were dropping and dropping and dropping....and dropping - couldn't resist buying one a day or two before the weekend. I was also there for the first weekend , and had an official mid-range priced ticket bought during initial sales - I don't recall massive price drops for that weekend though, but even if there were I wouldn't have upgraded as I had a decent seat about 30 rows behind the Pit.

As for that type of situation not happening with a show in central London, perhaps not, but when they're releasing tons of Lucky Dips and selling on Groupon, seems the promoters are the ones taking the bath. But again as I mentioned above, scalpers were taking a bath for the *Vegas show. There were official price drops in various sections in the weeks leading up to the shows, but even then it was overpriced. Then the cancellation for the first show, yet somehow tickets remained at the box office the day of the show for the second one. With official tickets still available, the scalpers were dumping them at a fraction of the price. Supposedly it finally sold out, but that's debatable as there were still quite a few empty seats during the show.

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......