How can a concert 'sell out in 5 minutes'?

jonloch1jonloch1 Posts: 3,175
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I have just read on DS that apparently Gaga sold out in 5 minutes. How can that be possible?? It takes longer than that just to get through to someone! And my dad didn't get me tickets until quarter to 10 this morning!!:confused:

Only thing I thought was do they count up how many people are in the queue and then declare it soldout when the queue is filled up??

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  • Master OzzyMaster Ozzy Posts: 18,923
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    It's a load of rubbish. It's not hard for a concert to sell out in minutes...about 70% of the tickets will have been bought by touts. The reason they sell out in minutes is because the touts by a load of them.
  • Aura101Aura101 Posts: 8,327
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    It's a load of rubbish. It's not hard for a concert to sell out in minutes...about 70% of the tickets will have been bought by touts. The reason they sell out in minutes is because the touts by a load of them.

    :confused::confused::confused: where did you pluck that figure from.
  • spaceygalspaceygal Posts: 3,447
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    From all accounts I've learnt most of the tickets aren't sold directly to the public, they're passed directly to the partner 'sell on' sites to sell at extortionate prices. They're never released directly to us to buy in the first place. Also many of the best seats are kept as part of the special VIP packages.
  • uniqueunique Posts: 12,365
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    I have just read on DS that apparently Gaga sold out in 5 minutes. How can that be possible?? It takes longer than that just to get through to someone! And my dad didn't get me tickets until quarter to 10 this morning!!:confused:

    Only thing I thought was do they count up how many people are in the queue and then declare it soldout when the queue is filled up??

    you don't need to get through to anyone. it takes seconds to book tickets online. you have your account setup in advance with address and credit card details so when you buy you just click through. if there are more people booking online than there are tickets available and everyone starts online at the time they go onsale, then tickets not selling out in a few minutes would be strange.

    but sometimes only a limited number of tickets are put onsale, and they then say it's sold out to create demand, and release more later. or someone just lies or plucks figures out of thin air to make a story. it's not worth worrying about
  • Sweet7Sweet7 Posts: 599
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    It's a con! Ticketmaster own GetMeIn..was a bit odd that as soon as tickets went on sale, thousands suddenly turned up on GetMeIn with a considerably price rise.
  • walterwhitewalterwhite Posts: 56,554
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    It's a load of rubbish. It's not hard for a concert to sell out in minutes...about 70% of the tickets will have been bought by touts. The reason they sell out in minutes is because the touts by a load of them.

    Good made up statistic there.

    It's easy for a concert to sell out that quick, there are phone lines, multiple websites selling them etc etc.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 966
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    It's a load of rubbish. It's not hard for a concert to sell out in minutes...about 70% of the tickets will have been bought by touts. The reason they sell out in minutes is because the touts by a load of them.

    aaaaaaaand.... we all get a strong whiff of bullcrap.
  • Stuart1000Stuart1000 Posts: 1,275
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    It always really annoys me when people say "All the touts have bought the tickets" or "It's so unfair on real fans!" or "Fans can't buy tickets cos the touts have bought them all!"

    I have never failed to get tickets to a gig. That includes Lady Gaga (all of her tours including artRave), Beyonce's upcoming UK tour, the first night of Michael Jackson's shows at The O2, Glee Live, Robbie Williams, Take That and the Rolling Stones. If you really want tickets to a show, you can get them. Real fans do get the tickets. Demand will always outweigh supply for big artists. If you don't get tickets, don't sit blaming the touts. Try and find alternative ways to get a ticket. Enter competitions, keep checking ticket sites everyday until the gig in case more get released unannounced, search Twitter for people selling tickets at face values, check alternative ticket buying methods others won't have thought of (local ticket offices, in person at the box office).

    In my eyes, if you really want to go to a gig, you should always be able to get a ticket at face value somehow. Don't sit blaming the touts.
  • glyn9799glyn9799 Posts: 7,391
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    Stuart1000 wrote: »
    It always really annoys me when people say "All the touts have bought the tickets" or "It's so unfair on real fans!" or "Fans can't buy tickets cos the touts have bought them all!"

    I have never failed to get tickets to a gig. That includes Lady Gaga (all of her tours including artRave), Beyonce's upcoming UK tour, the first night of Michael Jackson's shows at The O2, Glee Live, Robbie Williams, Take That and the Rolling Stones. If you really want tickets to a show, you can get them. Real fans do get the tickets. Demand will always outweigh supply for big artists. If you don't get tickets, don't sit blaming the touts. Try and find alternative ways to get a ticket. Enter competitions, keep checking ticket sites everyday until the gig in case more get released unannounced, search Twitter for people selling tickets at face values, check alternative ticket buying methods others won't have thought of (local ticket offices, in person at the box office).

    In my eyes, if you really want to go to a gig, you should always be able to get a ticket at face value somehow. Don't sit blaming the touts.

    Totally agree :D
  • rfonzorfonzo Posts: 11,771
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    I have found it difficult to buy concert tickets in the past.
  • jonloch1jonloch1 Posts: 3,175
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    rfonzo wrote: »
    I have found it difficult to buy concert tickets in the past.

    im quite lucky in a way because im in a wheelchair and disabled tickets don't sell out as fast as normal tickets. But I still cant believe in December I managed to get Beyoncé and Robbie Williams tickets and then yesterday managed to get lady gaga tickets [ok not the best view tickets but still] so I've been very lucky recently!
  • elasticloveelasticlove Posts: 18,254
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    A portion (however small) would have been sold in the pre-sale too.
  • WhyHelloWorldWhyHelloWorld Posts: 15,494
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    My mother got my sister them 4 hours after they went on sale. I don't understand it either.
  • Hit Em Up StyleHit Em Up Style Posts: 12,141
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    I posted a link to a site which had three thousand tickets listed for Gaga. That was one site. There are several others out there with just as many on. I actually only posted the link as I was being accused of being a liar. When all I was trying to do was help the fans who said they couldn't get tickets.

    So when people say they couldn't get tickets they just aren't looking because there are plenty there for the taking.
  • sarahj1986sarahj1986 Posts: 11,305
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    I am on O2 so I was given the opportunity to buy them 48 hours before general release as was her little monsters fan club. I would imagine that O2 and little monsters are "allocated" a certain amount, along side ticketmaster, promoters etc so its possible that come 9am on the Friday a great deal of tickets are already sold. I was looking to go however her Birmingham date is on my boyfriends birthday and a Wednesday day so I would probably need to take time off work to get there. I am hoping she releases more dates
  • walterwhitewalterwhite Posts: 56,554
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    Stuart1000 wrote: »
    It always really annoys me when people say "All the touts have bought the tickets" or "It's so unfair on real fans!" or "Fans can't buy tickets cos the touts have bought them all!"

    I have never failed to get tickets to a gig. That includes Lady Gaga (all of her tours including artRave), Beyonce's upcoming UK tour, the first night of Michael Jackson's shows at The O2, Glee Live, Robbie Williams, Take That and the Rolling Stones. If you really want tickets to a show, you can get them. Real fans do get the tickets. Demand will always outweigh supply for big artists. If you don't get tickets, don't sit blaming the touts. Try and find alternative ways to get a ticket. Enter competitions, keep checking ticket sites everyday until the gig in case more get released unannounced, search Twitter for people selling tickets at face values, check alternative ticket buying methods others won't have thought of (local ticket offices, in person at the box office).

    In my eyes, if you really want to go to a gig, you should always be able to get a ticket at face value somehow. Don't sit blaming the touts.

    It always makes me laugh when they say 'real fans miss out'. Do they not think that people paying £1000 for a ticket are 'real fans'?
  • spaceygalspaceygal Posts: 3,447
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    Sure, there are thousands of tickets for sale right now, on various sites like Viagogo and Get Me In, but none at their standard prices. They're all being sold up to ten times their normal prices! Most ordinary people can't afford those kinds of ridiculous mark ups for gigs and shouldnt have to either. More tickets should be available at face value prices.
  • calico_piecalico_pie Posts: 10,060
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    Stuart1000 wrote: »
    It always really annoys me when people say "All the touts have bought the tickets" or "It's so unfair on real fans!" or "Fans can't buy tickets cos the touts have bought them all!"

    I have never failed to get tickets to a gig. That includes Lady Gaga (all of her tours including artRave), Beyonce's upcoming UK tour, the first night of Michael Jackson's shows at The O2, Glee Live, Robbie Williams, Take That and the Rolling Stones. If you really want tickets to a show, you can get them. Real fans do get the tickets. Demand will always outweigh supply for big artists. If you don't get tickets, don't sit blaming the touts. Try and find alternative ways to get a ticket. Enter competitions, keep checking ticket sites everyday until the gig in case more get released unannounced, search Twitter for people selling tickets at face values, check alternative ticket buying methods others won't have thought of (local ticket offices, in person at the box office).

    In my eyes, if you really want to go to a gig, you should always be able to get a ticket at face value somehow. Don't sit blaming the touts.

    I've pretty much always managed to get tickets too, but I think it's a bit naive to think there isn't any touting going on.

    I can fully understand that some people might buy tickets, and then not be able to go to a show and want to sell them on the resale sites.

    But the fact that there are always so many tickets available for resale immediately when tickets go on sale can only mean one thing - organised touting on a huge scale.
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