Options
How common are ticket touts?
[Deleted User]
Posts: 16
Forum Member
Me and a few friends are desperate to see Foals in Portsmouth on the 13th March
We only became fans of them recently, after they sold out in fact, but we REALLY like them and have been looking for tickets for quite a while now.
I know ticket touting is bad, unethical etc. But if we were desperate enough and didnt get tickets by then could we rely on getting them from touts outside? How common are they?
We only became fans of them recently, after they sold out in fact, but we REALLY like them and have been looking for tickets for quite a while now.
I know ticket touting is bad, unethical etc. But if we were desperate enough and didnt get tickets by then could we rely on getting them from touts outside? How common are they?
0
Comments
Check out ebay in the days running up to the gig. Are the tickets even selling for face value? How much above face value are they selling for?
Make sure you know the value of the tickets when you approach the tout. If there isn't much demand one of you should approach the tout, ask how much for X amounts of tickets then say nah, dude round the corner offered us at X amount left and walk off. You can always send another friend.
http://www.scarletmist.com/ is a ethical face value only site that sells tickets people dont want to/cant use
gum tree also sell tickets
touts are a last resort really
Now there is someone selling 8 for £45 each and that isnt including the £5 postage, I asked if he could go lower if I bought 4 together and he said he wouldn't go lower at all (greed!) I cant pay these prices or the even higher prices on sites like viagogo.
I want to go for my 18th, I put an ad up on Gumtree and was bombarded with obvious scammers asking for bank transfers, I told them I would only meet face to face.
However, one person out of many many others, actually offered to call me on the day of the event and meet me on the night outside the venue and sell me 4 for £100, and I'm fine with that (£7 over face value per ticket). I immediately asked him why we couldn't meet sooner and he said he couldn't get them any earlier and he knows the promoter.
This would be my first proper gig I've ever gone to for a popular act, and so I thought this guy sounded really dodgy, but my friend told me that whenever he goes to gigs there are always ticket touts buying and selling spare tickets, so I thought maybe he's just one of those trying to get some confirmed buyers.
The biggest worry for me is that, if we don't get reasonably priced tickets by the date, and go to meet this guy, he won't turn up or won't have the amount of tickets we want (he may have sold them on) It would also be very disappointing to plan to go, to get there and be turned down in any way.
The obvious way to avoid disappointment by not going ,but I really, really want to see this band.
Nonetheless I will keep looking on ebay, the venue is not that far from me so it wouldn't be too much of a wasted trip, more hugely disappointing.
Would relying on a tout be a reliable last resort? Am I overthinking this? thanks for your help
People on gum tree are not an option. Seriously just leave that alone.
Keep looking on ebay, as it gets nearer to the date it quite often happens that too many people have bought tickets up for resale. I sold a pair of tickets to for mindless self indulgence on the day of the gig because sudden changes meant I couldn't go. I sold them for face value, the lady came and picked them up on the day. Do that.
common doesn't do them justice
Gemma, the OP is using the adjective, you are thinking the synonyms and wombles live on the noun
You could always try the Box Office when you arrive, they sometimes have tickets there
People offer to sell their football, concert, theatre etc tickets at face value or less (not allowed to sell over the face value) through the site in advance or last minute, right up to the day of the event.
Why? They're supplying goods at prices which customers are willing to pay. Like Harrods, John Lewis or Tesco. It's the "willing to pay" part which is important.
If people don't like touts, there's an obvious solution - don't buy from them. If nobody bought over-priced tickets, there'd be no touts.
Nobody ever came to any harm because they missed a football match.
i didn't; mean it really - it was just a play on words.
I don't understand all the negativity directed towards touts.
Maybe because they buy loads of tickets so "fans" cannot buy them from the official means, then they hike up the price.
Say you want a new TV, yet some touts have bought all the TVs, and are now selling at double the price.
Thats why people hate them, because they buy all the tickets up and increase the price. Many bands actually despise them as they make it harder for them to go out and play shows, many "sell out" shows have ended up with only half the ticket number showing up as the touts bought up the rest of the tickets and people didnt bother going. Thus lowering merch sales and hurting the band in general.
Ah - now I struggle to understand how they do get hold of so many tickets.
Fair enough. Nor do I - they're supplying a demand.
And if fans refused to buy from them, they wouldn't buy loads of tickets, would they? In fact, they wouldn't buy any at all. The fans only need refuse to buy from them for a couple of events.
Smart of them to know I wanted a new TV. However, you could legitimately claim that someone "needed" a new TV. Nobody "needs" to go to a sports match or music event.
They are all common as they have no class or style.
They are also leeches on the genuine fans and exploit people for profit. They have no place in society.
How are they exploiting people? They offer a product, at a known price. If you choose to pay that price, then you get exactly the product described.
If you decide not to pay that price, you keep your money in your pocket, and they have to find another buyer.
Seems no different to commercial dealings all over the world.
Do you blame the drug pusher or the addict?