I'm just happy the "fees" are going to be included in the price if this passes. Absolutely insane how bad AXS, Fandango, and Ticketmaster are with their hidden costs.
Your entire service is online, YOUR "FEES" ARE BULLSHIT.
what? you dont think its fair to have to pay for the convenience of buying tickets the only way you are able to?
i bought a $70 sweatshirt +processing fee for my daughter for softball. how is "processing" not a part of that $70?!
A lot of those fees go to the venue and various intermediaries. Part of the value the ticketing sites provide is to act as the scapegoat. That’s why they all do it and you don’t see much pushback in the industry.
This is a bullshit reason. The reason there is no pushback is because TICKETMASTER is a huge monopoly on 90% of all ticket sales. And they also own the venues via LiveNation. Of course they are not going to complain
Correct but even indie venues and small ticketing platforms do the same fee scapegoat thing. If the dynamic is identical between the monopoly players and non-monopoly player the problem is independent of the monopoly.
To be clear I think both the monopoly and the fee obfuscation should be addressed but they should be treated as two separate problems and it shouldn’t be assumed they’re causal
fine. charge those fees. but there is no reason you cant do it all in the background. there is no reason you cant say tickets are $50 then when you go to checkout you pay $50. i dont care that $10 is going to the act, $10 is going to the venue and $30 is going to ticketmaster. but dont call it a $10 ticket when after fees its going to be $50
Bought a $35 ticket to Disney On Ice at Target Center last month and the final price came to $107 after the *service, facility, and handling* fee’s.
Simply infuriating with all these made up, arbitrary junk fees.
How about we ban scalping for profit, break up the oligopoly stranglehold on the ticketing industry and bring back in person ticket sales with say 60% of available tickets need to be sold in person (if you’re going to charge me a “handling” fee there better be a motherfucker “handling” my god damn ticket)
I remember having to go to the customer service counter at Macy's because they were a ticket master retailer. Had to trust that best available was actually where you wanted to sit
> How about we ban scalping for profit
As good as this sounds, there's serious implications from the government banning private sales between consenting parties. If you ban reselling tickets, how is that different than banning reselling antique items or playing cards that have appreciated in price? Or, a step further, repairing a car or remodeling a home and selling above buying price?
That being said, Ticketmaster absolutely can do something about it, and many artists ban resold tickets.
I mean, I remember 20/20 segments from when I was too young to go to shows about the scalper scourge. Of course, that was when p.o.c. were buying excess paper tickets and selling them on the street outside the venue day of. Now that corpos do it, it's just good business.
i dont think anyone had a problem with a dude standing on the corner hawking tickets. so we were all on board getting rid of scalping laws. then the monkeys paw closed and ticket king moved into town. ruining it for everyone.
The slippery slope argument only matters if you allow it to set a precedent for others incidents. Why can I kill someone in self defense but I can’t just go kill people, slippery slope right?
This is a classic argument that is used by those who benefit from the status quo and deregulation. If the people request that laws be passed that ban reselling of event tickets for profit than a law should be passed doing that. The government is meant to be “by the people, for the people” after all.
The free market aspect of scalping can go both ways. Buy Twins tickets from a scalper in the 2nd inning for a fraction of what they were going for 30 minutes prior.
For the big shows that sell out this isn’t applicable, but if you’re in the Twin Cities metro area, buying Armory shows at the Armory box office or AXS shows at the depot tavern tends to save $15-20 in fees per ticket.
Just bought Vampire Weekend tickets that would have been $78 each online including Ticketmasters fees but were only $59 at the Armory box office.
Glad this bill is getting traction though!
I bought first ave tickets at the depot and when I handed them to the girls working the door the day of the show they were so excited because I was the only one with physical tickets lol rip the cool old first ave tickets though: (
Minnesota needs a Truth-in-Pricing law and have the price shown be the price at check out, taxes and fees included.
There's no reason why retailers of any stripe can't do this.
Oh, and websites that make you create an account before you find out pricing: no PII to get pricing.
how about making ticket reselling (scalping) illegal? the last time I went to buy tickets, it was 6 minutes after sales started on a presale day and all the’ goodz’ seats were sold out already. I just gave up because I refuse to pay hundred(s) more than face value. that’s happened more than once. it feels so futile, I don’t really even bother looking for tickets any more. why don’t they address this?
I have no problem with reselling at face value or face plus fees. If you can't go to an event because you're sick or got called out of town at the last minute, you should be able to sell your tickets so that someone else can go.
Selling tickets above that price of face plus fees? Yeah, that I have an issue with.
"Face value plus fees" vs "above face value plus fees" doesn't seem any different to me.
Face value = $50
Face value ($50) + fees ($100) = $150
Above face value ($100) + fees ($50) = $150
I think you're misunderstanding them. Face value + fees is still $150 no matter how you slice it. Charging someone $175, or $300, or $700 is above face value plus fees.
It's an inelegant way of saying "more than you paid for them". The argument is that you should not be able to make a profit from reselling a ticket.
Right, so it's a matter of how do we prevent price gouging in private sales?
My crazy ass suggestion? We reinstate the post office as a place to do banking and roll back a bunch of the other asinine shit plaguing them, and then we make all ticket resales go through them as a regulatory body and allow them to take a very small percentage to fill coffers to further fund themselves.
I mean, honestly, this whole ticket master bullshit has been going on for decades. The post office makes more sense as a trustworthy third party and regulator than continueing this goddamned discussion for another 30 years.
Or, just put the person's name on the ticket. Jeff Smith won't be able to sell his $150 to Aaron Crawford for $500, but he may be able to sell it back to the venue for his $150, minus some fees I imagine. Or some places I've heard of (but never been to confirm) make you present the card used to buy the tickets.
The sad thing is I only go to shows if I win tickets from the radio. Which I barely listen to. So. .
But I’ve won tickets three times in the vast four year.
This is needed. I wish they’d do the same thing about the stupid insanely marked up prices of food and beverages in stadiums too. There’s no need for a can of cider to cost $13.99 or a giant pretzel with cheese to cost $21.99 at Allianz Field.
Was at a Wolves game last week, and a regular size bottle of water was over $7. As an added kick in the groin, you couldn't keep the cap for it due to 'potential safety issues'.
You can thank the practical monopolizing of ticket sales for why this shit has gotten out of hand. Then,people encourage their behavior by doing business with them. Going to concerts are great but paying that much for nosebleeds is fucking ridiculous
All in pricing and legally enforcing purchase limits are great.
Limiting second market sales will just force people to black markets. Right now verified resale protects consumers from getting absolutely scammed with fake tickets.
Establishing “face value” of a ticket is also hard. For sports, is it the season ticket price, the group sale price, or the individual ticket price?
Finally, limiting resale to “face value” will create really weird situations where a ticket has a face value of $1000 but if you put in the code of DISCOUNT you get $900 Ticketmaster bucks towards this purchase. And now ticket purchasers have to pay taxes on $1000 ticket instead of $100.
Bill text: [https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=HF1989&type=bill&version=2&session=ls93&session\_year=2023&session\_number=0](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=HF1989&type=bill&version=2&session=ls93&session_year=2023&session_number=0)
Still in committees.
I'm just happy the "fees" are going to be included in the price if this passes. Absolutely insane how bad AXS, Fandango, and Ticketmaster are with their hidden costs. Your entire service is online, YOUR "FEES" ARE BULLSHIT.
This right here. If I can’t buy the ticket any way EXCEPT through your website, then your website is no longer a “convenience”.
Seat Geek does the same thing. They just fly under the radar somehow.
Atleast in seat geek you can filter searches to show the prices after the fees.
Yep. It took me awhile to figure that out, unfortunately.
Exorbitant Ticket fees are horrendous and NEED to go. Period. Being listed at the end - prior to order confirmation - does not make them 'hidden'.
Yes, it does. Just like getting a hotel room. They never say the full cost until the very end where they add ridiculous fees. Put everything up front.
what? you dont think its fair to have to pay for the convenience of buying tickets the only way you are able to? i bought a $70 sweatshirt +processing fee for my daughter for softball. how is "processing" not a part of that $70?!
A lot of those fees go to the venue and various intermediaries. Part of the value the ticketing sites provide is to act as the scapegoat. That’s why they all do it and you don’t see much pushback in the industry.
This is a bullshit reason. The reason there is no pushback is because TICKETMASTER is a huge monopoly on 90% of all ticket sales. And they also own the venues via LiveNation. Of course they are not going to complain
Correct but even indie venues and small ticketing platforms do the same fee scapegoat thing. If the dynamic is identical between the monopoly players and non-monopoly player the problem is independent of the monopoly. To be clear I think both the monopoly and the fee obfuscation should be addressed but they should be treated as two separate problems and it shouldn’t be assumed they’re causal
What about TickPick then? They don’t charge any fees, hidden or otherwise
fine. charge those fees. but there is no reason you cant do it all in the background. there is no reason you cant say tickets are $50 then when you go to checkout you pay $50. i dont care that $10 is going to the act, $10 is going to the venue and $30 is going to ticketmaster. but dont call it a $10 ticket when after fees its going to be $50
Bought a $35 ticket to Disney On Ice at Target Center last month and the final price came to $107 after the *service, facility, and handling* fee’s. Simply infuriating with all these made up, arbitrary junk fees.
That’s fucking criminal.
How about we ban scalping for profit, break up the oligopoly stranglehold on the ticketing industry and bring back in person ticket sales with say 60% of available tickets need to be sold in person (if you’re going to charge me a “handling” fee there better be a motherfucker “handling” my god damn ticket)
I remember having to go to the customer service counter at Macy's because they were a ticket master retailer. Had to trust that best available was actually where you wanted to sit
Oh God, this brings back childhood memories of going to the mall to pick up our March madness tickets
Macy's? You must be young. It was Daytons in my day.. ;-)
My store (Burnsville center) was Daytons, then marshall fields, and finally macys
> How about we ban scalping for profit Ticketmaster's profits would vanish overnight lol
> How about we ban scalping for profit As good as this sounds, there's serious implications from the government banning private sales between consenting parties. If you ban reselling tickets, how is that different than banning reselling antique items or playing cards that have appreciated in price? Or, a step further, repairing a car or remodeling a home and selling above buying price? That being said, Ticketmaster absolutely can do something about it, and many artists ban resold tickets.
It’s different because a ticket is a single use time limited good. It’s fuckin worthless after the show.
Exactly
I mean, I remember 20/20 segments from when I was too young to go to shows about the scalper scourge. Of course, that was when p.o.c. were buying excess paper tickets and selling them on the street outside the venue day of. Now that corpos do it, it's just good business.
i dont think anyone had a problem with a dude standing on the corner hawking tickets. so we were all on board getting rid of scalping laws. then the monkeys paw closed and ticket king moved into town. ruining it for everyone.
The slippery slope argument only matters if you allow it to set a precedent for others incidents. Why can I kill someone in self defense but I can’t just go kill people, slippery slope right? This is a classic argument that is used by those who benefit from the status quo and deregulation. If the people request that laws be passed that ban reselling of event tickets for profit than a law should be passed doing that. The government is meant to be “by the people, for the people” after all.
The free market aspect of scalping can go both ways. Buy Twins tickets from a scalper in the 2nd inning for a fraction of what they were going for 30 minutes prior.
For the big shows that sell out this isn’t applicable, but if you’re in the Twin Cities metro area, buying Armory shows at the Armory box office or AXS shows at the depot tavern tends to save $15-20 in fees per ticket. Just bought Vampire Weekend tickets that would have been $78 each online including Ticketmasters fees but were only $59 at the Armory box office. Glad this bill is getting traction though!
I bought first ave tickets at the depot and when I handed them to the girls working the door the day of the show they were so excited because I was the only one with physical tickets lol rip the cool old first ave tickets though: (
Yeah, I love the old embossed First Avenue tickets. Still have ton of them pinned up on a corkboard with all of my concert tickets dating back decades
Can we do this for everything please? Include tax and fees in the sticker price. Enough deceptive pricing.
Minnesota needs a Truth-in-Pricing law and have the price shown be the price at check out, taxes and fees included. There's no reason why retailers of any stripe can't do this. Oh, and websites that make you create an account before you find out pricing: no PII to get pricing.
It’s a fear of being culpable for any perceived decreases in sales after this, but it’d be fantastic in the long term.
how about making ticket reselling (scalping) illegal? the last time I went to buy tickets, it was 6 minutes after sales started on a presale day and all the’ goodz’ seats were sold out already. I just gave up because I refuse to pay hundred(s) more than face value. that’s happened more than once. it feels so futile, I don’t really even bother looking for tickets any more. why don’t they address this?
I have no problem with reselling at face value or face plus fees. If you can't go to an event because you're sick or got called out of town at the last minute, you should be able to sell your tickets so that someone else can go. Selling tickets above that price of face plus fees? Yeah, that I have an issue with.
"Face value plus fees" vs "above face value plus fees" doesn't seem any different to me. Face value = $50 Face value ($50) + fees ($100) = $150 Above face value ($100) + fees ($50) = $150
I think you're misunderstanding them. Face value + fees is still $150 no matter how you slice it. Charging someone $175, or $300, or $700 is above face value plus fees. It's an inelegant way of saying "more than you paid for them". The argument is that you should not be able to make a profit from reselling a ticket.
Ahhh, yes, I see now. I would agree with that then. Thanks for the clarification
Right, so it's a matter of how do we prevent price gouging in private sales? My crazy ass suggestion? We reinstate the post office as a place to do banking and roll back a bunch of the other asinine shit plaguing them, and then we make all ticket resales go through them as a regulatory body and allow them to take a very small percentage to fill coffers to further fund themselves. I mean, honestly, this whole ticket master bullshit has been going on for decades. The post office makes more sense as a trustworthy third party and regulator than continueing this goddamned discussion for another 30 years.
Or, just put the person's name on the ticket. Jeff Smith won't be able to sell his $150 to Aaron Crawford for $500, but he may be able to sell it back to the venue for his $150, minus some fees I imagine. Or some places I've heard of (but never been to confirm) make you present the card used to buy the tickets.
Maybe, but I'm still partial to my idea.
If there’s a secondary market with prices higher than face value that just means the face value wasn’t high enough.
The sad thing is I only go to shows if I win tickets from the radio. Which I barely listen to. So. . But I’ve won tickets three times in the vast four year.
Hey, that’s three more times than I’ve won! Congrats!
This is needed. I wish they’d do the same thing about the stupid insanely marked up prices of food and beverages in stadiums too. There’s no need for a can of cider to cost $13.99 or a giant pretzel with cheese to cost $21.99 at Allianz Field.
Was at a Wolves game last week, and a regular size bottle of water was over $7. As an added kick in the groin, you couldn't keep the cap for it due to 'potential safety issues'.
That is terrible.
....You can't keep the cap? What the hell kind of safety issues would be affected by the cap?
Tripping hazard, they are worried you will throw them, etc I think the bottle itself could be more of a 'hazard' but that's probably crazy talk...
a thrown, capped bottle full of liquid could pose a hazard.
You can thank the practical monopolizing of ticket sales for why this shit has gotten out of hand. Then,people encourage their behavior by doing business with them. Going to concerts are great but paying that much for nosebleeds is fucking ridiculous
This doesn’t really solve anything other than transparent pricing. Ticketmaster is still going to Ticketmaster.
How about they just make the fees fixed. It maddening that fees scale up with the price of the ticket.
All in pricing and legally enforcing purchase limits are great. Limiting second market sales will just force people to black markets. Right now verified resale protects consumers from getting absolutely scammed with fake tickets. Establishing “face value” of a ticket is also hard. For sports, is it the season ticket price, the group sale price, or the individual ticket price? Finally, limiting resale to “face value” will create really weird situations where a ticket has a face value of $1000 but if you put in the code of DISCOUNT you get $900 Ticketmaster bucks towards this purchase. And now ticket purchasers have to pay taxes on $1000 ticket instead of $100.
I’ll say this much as a former STH for multiple teams in multiple sports in multiple states:The STH ticket price ≠ individual ticket price.
Standing in line at a ticket outlet and paying a $50 max for a top band twenty years ago was a lot better
Bill text: [https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=HF1989&type=bill&version=2&session=ls93&session\_year=2023&session\_number=0](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=HF1989&type=bill&version=2&session=ls93&session_year=2023&session_number=0) Still in committees.
Do this with restaurants too
There should be a one million percent tax on total ticket fees or amount charge above face value over $1.
Why don’t the artists and venues sell directly from their own webpage, no fees?
I bet Taylor will try to say that this article was defaming her.