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 Post subject: Viagogo
PostPosted: Sat May 19, 2012 8:53 pm 
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Tried to get tickets for Sheffield but left it too late (got leeds O2 in the bag though) anyway I looked on viagogo and tickets selling for between £71.00 and £112.00!! Its a f****** disgrace! Your thoughts Mr Hawley??


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 Post subject: Re: Viagogo
PostPosted: Sun May 20, 2012 9:30 am 
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Joined: Sat Oct 29, 2005 5:37 pm
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Location: Manchester
Viagogo selling tickets directly from promoters stinks but if people are willing to pay silly prices, market forces will win out...

I must say that I've had some great bargain tickets via Ebay - now that everyone thinks they can be a stay-at-home tout there are often quite a few people desperate to offload tickets at any price in the week prior to the gig. "Secret" Johnny Marr gig for less than £5? Ta very much :D

I think people need to start voting with their feet rather than paying a 500% mark-up to attend a gig they'll probably just talk through anyway...


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 Post subject: Re: Viagogo
PostPosted: Sun May 20, 2012 12:45 pm 
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john_quays wrote:
I think people need to start voting with their feet rather than paying a 500% mark-up to attend a gig they'll probably just talk through anyway...


I used Viagogo to sell Hawley tickets a tour or so back - at cost price plus a few bob to cover Viagogo's charges - some guy called Peter Shilton bought them - I often wonder if it was the Peter Shilton - anyway whoever it was - I bet they couldn't believe their luck - right at the front down the left hand side facing the stage in the small[ish] circle for Birmingham Town Hall.

I was going to max out the number of tickets I bought for Pocklington so that folks on here that for whatever reason didn't get a ticket would be able to buy one at cost - I did this for a Mott The Hoople reunion warm up gig in Monmouth [Sept 2009] - only to find out that other folks on the Ian Hunter Forum had done the same - I reckon 15 people may have bought 100 tickets to a 300 seater theatre - all were sold through the Forum at cost tho' - so no touting going on.

Canna understand folks that will pay such a price when there are other gigs within an hours drive of the City Hall.


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 Post subject: Re: Viagogo
PostPosted: Sun May 20, 2012 1:07 pm 
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Location: Manchester
Poppy Dog wrote:
john_quays wrote:
- I reckon 15 people may have bought 100 tickets to a 300 seater theatre - all were sold through the Forum at cost tho' - so no touting going on.


I can't decide whether I think this is a good idea or not: I like the idea of taking the tickets out of touts' hands but it seems a bit unfair to people who aren't signed up to said forum...

I've probably mentioned this before but when I was buying tickets for Leonard Cohen at Manchester Opera House a few years back I started queuing at 7am for a 10am opening (after a 5am drive-by, mind you 8) ) and was fifth or sixth in line behind some studenty looking folks... After a while they disappeared round the corner of the building to meet a dodgy geezer who handed each of them a fat envelope and instructions to buy tickets for "Leonard Cohen - he's some guy from the 60s". They'll get tickets to sell on one way or another...

Looking back, I'm a bit bemused that I followed them round the corner and watched what was going on. To their minor credit, however, they didn't say anything when I claimed first place in the queue after returning to the front of the building.


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 Post subject: Re: Viagogo
PostPosted: Sun May 20, 2012 5:44 pm 
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Hawleytastic!
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Aye can see what your getting at - mine were handed over for cash on the day of the gig - at a meet up point for about 100 others an hour before the show - the buyers having to sit alongside me in the theatre :*:

I remember for the big gigs at Hammersmith Odeon a week or so later - they extended the booking from two to five nights - so supply exceeded demand - and held back some tickets that were released / sold a few days before the show - perhaps as a move against touts.


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 Post subject: Re: Viagogo
PostPosted: Sun May 20, 2012 5:48 pm 
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Hawleytastic!
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Location: Near Wales.
I bought tickets for Birmingham direct from the HMV site after failing to find any 'seated' tickets for sale at Derby or Holmfirth, or for Birminham on other websites. Manchester seemed to be standing only.

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 Post subject: Re: Viagogo
PostPosted: Sun May 20, 2012 6:38 pm 
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Location: Manchester
Poppy Dog wrote:
I remember for the big gigs at Hammersmith Odeon a week or so later - they extended the booking from two to five nights - so supply exceeded demand - and held back some tickets that were released / sold a few days before the show - perhaps as a move against touts.


I think this is happening more often now. I also see a few smaller promoters/venues holding back a small number of tickets for walk-ups on the night.

One thing that bugged me about the Cohen tickets was that I queued up for three hours outside the venue, was first to be served and could still only get tickets on something like row T. A couple of days before the gig, more tickets were made available via Seetickets, most of which were for seats on the first two rows... No doubt they had been reserved for various VIPs who knocked them back - a bum deal for the people who really wanted to go and booked time off work to secure tickets.

I think all the above illustrates the point that *venues* and *promoters* need to start looking after the punters who keep their businesses afloat. It's all very well them taking the easy option of off-loading a load of the more desirable tickets to agencies to sell on at a profit but I think music fans will soon tire of it and the people who treat gigs as purely social events will find cheaper ways to get drunk and socialize. Then they'll have to face up to the embarrassing slashing of prices or, much worse, venues actually going out of business having been priced out of the market.

The record industry treated its customers like shit for years and now faces extinction because of a generation (or two) of consumers who see little value in what they do. I know live music is slightly more protected than a song or record but I think the principle still applies: treat customers badly and they will find other ways to spend their money.

Rant over. And I've not even mentioned booking fees and wildly inflated (uninsured!) postage costs...


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 Post subject: Re: Viagogo
PostPosted: Sun May 20, 2012 9:41 pm 
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Hawleytastic!
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john_quays wrote:
Poppy Dog wrote:
Rant over. And I've not even mentioned booking fees and wildly inflated (uninsured!) postage costs...


I could choose to pay £1 for e-mailed tickets or £1.85 to have them posted. I printed them myself at least I don't have to worry about getting them by post.

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 Post subject: Re: Viagogo
PostPosted: Fri May 25, 2012 11:28 pm 
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I really don't like the idea that big companies like ticketmaster are cashing in on fans and performing a quasi-tout role, saying that though I'm a wee bit of a hypocrite as I used them to get Royal Albert Hall - Pulp tickets when I missed out on those. Think I ended up paying £95 for £55 tickets though most of that was booking fee & not to the seller. At least they're guaranteed unlike ebay I guess.


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