Ticket fees are bullshit
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My kids want to see Monster Jam next February. They don't care about seats and it's loud, so I got the cheapest tickets for $20. We need 7 tickets so the subtotal says $140.
Then on the final "Place Order" screen, it tells you the real total:
Congress should pass a law that says the listed price for any product, whether it's an apple at the store, or a ticket to a sporting event, should include every single tax and fee.
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"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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Yeah, that service fee is likely saving you money…
While I don’t like the idea, these are the facts. In that situation, the $20 Ticket Fee is going to MonsterJam. The Facility Charge is going to the Venue, and the $9.10 service fee goes to the online ticket service. So they could have just made the ticket price $34 + Tax and it would look more palatable to you, but the tax would be based on the $34 per ticket price vs the $20 ticket price… It probably saves you around $3 total…
The Brad
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@George-K said in Ticket fees are bullshit:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/01/arts/concert-ticket-fees-biden.html
Great… Uncle Joe is going to save us $100 in ticket fees per year and charge us several thousand in new taxes. Huzzah.
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Yeah, that service fee is likely saving you money…
While I don’t like the idea, these are the facts. In that situation, the $20 Ticket Fee is going to MonsterJam. The Facility Charge is going to the Venue, and the $9.10 service fee goes to the online ticket service. So they could have just made the ticket price $34 + Tax and it would look more palatable to you, but the tax would be based on the $34 per ticket price vs the $20 ticket price… It probably saves you around $3 total…
@LuFins-Dad said in Ticket fees are bullshit:
$9.10 service fee goes to the online ticket service
Because it costs them $36.40 to process (all at once) four tickets as opposed to one.
Something wrong when the ticket vendor charges 45% of the ticket price.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@LuFins-Dad said in Ticket fees are bullshit:
$9.10 service fee goes to the online ticket service
Because it costs them $36.40 to process (all at once) four tickets as opposed to one.
Something wrong when the ticket vendor charges 45% of the ticket price.
@George-K said in Ticket fees are bullshit:
@LuFins-Dad said in Ticket fees are bullshit:
$9.10 service fee goes to the online ticket service
Because it costs them $36.40 to process (all at once) four tickets as opposed to one.
That’s like suggesting that it was no different for the server to bring us 4 dinner plates than 1, so we should only tip on 1…
Something wrong when the ticket vendor charges 45% of the ticket price.
The company that does the ticketing for the Arts Center that I’m on the board for showed us their numbers. It costs them between $3-$7 per seat sold depending on how well the event sells. Then they would also like to make profit. It’s possible that they sold us a bill of goods, but I know that if we built our own online ticketing platform, it would take us 5 years to break even at a $10 per seat.
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@LuFins-Dad said in Ticket fees are bullshit:
$9.10 service fee goes to the online ticket service
Because it costs them $36.40 to process (all at once) four tickets as opposed to one.
Something wrong when the ticket vendor charges 45% of the ticket price.
@George-K said in Ticket fees are bullshit:
@LuFins-Dad said in Ticket fees are bullshit:
$9.10 service fee goes to the online ticket service
Because it costs them $36.40 to process (all at once) four tickets as opposed to one.
That’s like suggesting that it was no different for the server to bring us 4 dinner plates than 1, so we should only tip on 1…
Something wrong when the ticket vendor charges 45% of the ticket price.
The company that does the ticketing for the Arts Center that I’m on the board for showed us their numbers. It costs them between $3-$7 per seat sold depending on how well the event sells. Then they would also like to make profit. It’s possible that they sold us a bill of goods, but I know that if we built our own online ticketing platform, it would take us 5 years to break even at a $10 per seat.
The Brad
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@George-K said in Ticket fees are bullshit:
@LuFins-Dad said in Ticket fees are bullshit:
$9.10 service fee goes to the online ticket service
Because it costs them $36.40 to process (all at once) four tickets as opposed to one.
That’s like suggesting that it was no different for the server to bring us 4 dinner plates than 1, so we should only tip on 1…
Something wrong when the ticket vendor charges 45% of the ticket price.
The company that does the ticketing for the Arts Center that I’m on the board for showed us their numbers. It costs them between $3-$7 per seat sold depending on how well the event sells. Then they would also like to make profit. It’s possible that they sold us a bill of goods, but I know that if we built our own online ticketing platform, it would take us 5 years to break even at a $10 per seat.
@LuFins-Dad said in Ticket fees are bullshit:
That’s like suggesting that it was no different for the server to bring us 4 dinner plates than 1, so we should only tip on 1…
A fair point...perhaps.
The cost of producing 4 meals is certainly greater than that of producing one. That's a consideration.
Costs $3-$7 per seat?
Wow.
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Yeah, that service fee is likely saving you money…
While I don’t like the idea, these are the facts. In that situation, the $20 Ticket Fee is going to MonsterJam. The Facility Charge is going to the Venue, and the $9.10 service fee goes to the online ticket service. So they could have just made the ticket price $34 + Tax and it would look more palatable to you, but the tax would be based on the $34 per ticket price vs the $20 ticket price… It probably saves you around $3 total…
@LuFins-Dad said in Ticket fees are bullshit:
Yeah, that service fee is likely saving you money…
While I don’t like the idea, these are the facts. In that situation, the $20 Ticket Fee is going to MonsterJam. The Facility Charge is going to the Venue, and the $9.10 service fee goes to the online ticket service. So they could have just made the ticket price $34 + Tax and it would look more palatable to you, but the tax would be based on the $34 per ticket price vs the $20 ticket price… It probably saves you around $3 total…
I don't mind the fees and taxes, I mind it not being listed as the ticket price. The ticket price should include all costs involved in the ticket! This would be like ordering a $20 burger meal at a restaurant and finding out later there is a $9 cook fee, $5 building fee, $1 waiter fee, and $3 taxes. Just list the meal price at $38.
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@George-K said in Ticket fees are bullshit:
@LuFins-Dad said in Ticket fees are bullshit:
$9.10 service fee goes to the online ticket service
Because it costs them $36.40 to process (all at once) four tickets as opposed to one.
That’s like suggesting that it was no different for the server to bring us 4 dinner plates than 1, so we should only tip on 1…
Something wrong when the ticket vendor charges 45% of the ticket price.
The company that does the ticketing for the Arts Center that I’m on the board for showed us their numbers. It costs them between $3-$7 per seat sold depending on how well the event sells. Then they would also like to make profit. It’s possible that they sold us a bill of goods, but I know that if we built our own online ticketing platform, it would take us 5 years to break even at a $10 per seat.
@LuFins-Dad said in Ticket fees are bullshit:
@George-K said in Ticket fees are bullshit:
@LuFins-Dad said in Ticket fees are bullshit:
$9.10 service fee goes to the online ticket service
Because it costs them $36.40 to process (all at once) four tickets as opposed to one.
That’s like suggesting that it was [1] no different for the server to bring us 4 dinner plates than 1, so [2] we should only tip on 1…
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Not "no difference," but the difference is less than linear (i.e., the cost or effort to bring two plates in one trip is less than the cost to bring two plates in two trips).
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Get rid of tipping and this would not be a question.
Consider this: the effort to bring one bottle of $30 750ml wine is the same as that to bring one bottle of $1800 750ml wine, yet by current tipping practice in the USA, the tip for the former will be much less than the tip for the latter. And you think "tipping" makes sensible basis on which to argue your case?
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@LuFins-Dad said in Ticket fees are bullshit:
Yeah, that service fee is likely saving you money…
While I don’t like the idea, these are the facts. In that situation, the $20 Ticket Fee is going to MonsterJam. The Facility Charge is going to the Venue, and the $9.10 service fee goes to the online ticket service. So they could have just made the ticket price $34 + Tax and it would look more palatable to you, but the tax would be based on the $34 per ticket price vs the $20 ticket price… It probably saves you around $3 total…
I don't mind the fees and taxes, I mind it not being listed as the ticket price. The ticket price should include all costs involved in the ticket! This would be like ordering a $20 burger meal at a restaurant and finding out later there is a $9 cook fee, $5 building fee, $1 waiter fee, and $3 taxes. Just list the meal price at $38.
@89th said in Ticket fees are bullshit:
The ticket price should include all costs involved in the ticket!
I agree 100%.
I know that Air B & B somewhat recently changed their pricing so that it shows the full price. Too many people were complaining about "hidden" fees.
If they can do it, others can also.
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They weren't hidden on the invoice.
If you are required to include them in the price, they will be hidden.
@Copper said in Ticket fees are bullshit:
They weren't hidden on the invoice.
If you are required to include them in the price, they will be hidden.
The below is the real problem.
Then on the final "Place Order" screen, it tells you the real total:
I dont know if @89th is like me, but I would look at the total price and divide by the number of tickets and that would tell me what I am paying PER ticket. If they want to "hide" the various fees within the total price, fine by me. All I want to know is what is my price per ticket.
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You know what really makes me upset? The idea there are families where spending $140 is a really big deal, and the idea that they might find out it’s nearly twice, at $270, at checkout and therefore might need to cancel or reduce who can go….that’s infuriating.
We grew up with just the basics, and I vividly recall not asking for things like a baseball hat because I knew budgets were tight and we could use that $10 somewhere else. So the type of price jumps between an advertised ticket price and the actual final price found at concerts and events is really just wrong. SAD!
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Good news, @89th, Uncle Joe and the FTC are coming to the rescue:
https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/11/23912563/ftc-proposal-junk-hidden-fees
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is proposing a new rule that it hopes will put an end to hidden junk fees that some businesses often add as a surprise when consumers are checking out.
The agency is currently seeking public comment on the rule, known as the Trade Regulation Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees, after having already collected 12,000 comments last year from individuals, businesses, law enforcement groups, and others on how deceptive fees affect them.
Consider adding your comment to suppose the proposed rule.
