Convenience fee - what convenience?

[tkddad]

I like going to concerts. I have reluctantly over the years pay the convenience fee at ticketmaster. They have a monopoly and the tickets usually will sell out in minutes. My only way of getting the tickets is to get on-line right at the time when it goes on sale and hope for the best. I can reluctantly see the "convenience" factor.

Whenever I can, I would go to the box office to get tickets for concerts that don't sell out to save the convenience fee.

I took my boys to see a blue jays game last summer for the first time in years. Since they seldom sell out, we lined up to get tickets at game time. To my surprise, I was charged $6 per tickets as convenience fee. They have the nerve to charge me $6 for the convenience for lining up to get tickets. Needless to say, that was my last blue jays game.

I saw an ad at the Markham library for a concert this Saturday at the Markham theatre. Tickets are $25 plus a $3.5 handling fee and a $2 on-line fee. I emailed them about getting tickets at the box office and was told that the $3.5 would still be charged at the box office. I would have no problem paying $30.5 for the concert if that is what they charge but paying a 20% premium is not for me.

Maybe it's just me. A lot of people have no problem paying the bank $2, 3 to withdraw their own money from an ATM. "Charge what the market can bear" is what they are taught in business school these days.

[TrevorK]

I saw an ad at the Markham library for a concert this Saturday at the Markham theatre. Tickets are $25 plus a $3.5 handling fee and a $2 on-line fee. I emailed them about getting tickets at the box office and was told that the $3.5 would still be charged at the box office. I would have no problem paying $30.5 for the concert if that is what they charge but paying a 20% premium is not for me.


Did you consider that perhaps the fee you are paying when you purchase the tickets at a box office (or utilizing a method that involves a live person) you are paying the fee for the company that sells the tickets on behalf of Ticketmaster?

[gman]

I like going to concerts. I have reluctantly over the years pay the convenience fee at ticketmaster. They have a monopoly and the tickets usually will sell out in minutes. My only way of getting the tickets is to get on-line right at the time when it goes on sale and hope for the best. I can reluctantly see the "convenience" factor.

Whenever I can, I would go to the box office to get tickets for concerts that don't sell out to save the convenience fee.

I took my boys to see a blue jays game last summer for the first time in years. Since they seldom sell out, we lined up to get tickets at game time. To my surprise, I was charged $6 per tickets as convenience fee. They have the nerve to charge me $6 for the convenience for lining up to get tickets. Needless to say, that was my last blue jays game.

I saw an ad at the Markham library for a concert this Saturday at the Markham theatre. Tickets are $25 plus a $3.5 handling fee and a $2 on-line fee. I emailed them about getting tickets at the box office and was told that the $3.5 would still be charged at the box office. I would have no problem paying $30.5 for the concert if that is what they charge but paying a 20% premium is not for me.

Maybe it's just me. A lot of people have no problem paying the bank $2, 3 to withdraw their own money from an ATM. "Charge what the market can bear" is what they are taught in business school these days.

Can you buy it in a cheaper price? If no, $30.5 or $28.5 is the ticket price.

[Winkle]

Yeah that's been around forever though. Ticketmaster used to charge you a $5 fee per ticket to print the ticket at home, the fee doesn't get tacked on if you have them mail it to you though, seems pretty silly. The thing is, there's really little regulations for the way ticket prices are advertised and marketed so TM and everyone else is free to list tickets at say $20 each but then take on a dozen extra fees to bring the actual total closer to $50 when you actually buy them.

Same thing with airplane tickets up till recently when they finally introduced laws that forced Canadian airlines to list the full price of tickets with all the fees and extra surcharges. Quite frankly I'll like them to take it to the next level so it's more like Europe where the listed prices for everything already includes the tax so the amount you pay is exactly what is on the sign.

[alkaseltzer01]

Can you buy it in a cheaper price? If no, $30.5 or $28.5 is the ticket price.

I think if that's the case, they should advertise the price with all fees included. Just like airlines should be doing (and I think they are going to).

[psyko514]

The fees should just be baked in to the ticket price. If I buy a ticket for the cheap seats at a hockey game, the price is $31. They tack on a $10 service fee on top of that. Why not just tell me the ticket is $41?

I understand the shipping charges and don't think they should be baked in to the price. I hate that I have to pay $5 to print the ticket myself, though.

[number8888]

I could be wrong but I think "ticket price" is only for the event and the actual ticket dealer (Ticketmaster for example) only makes money from the fee. So when the event is advertised it is done by the event organizer and thus only list ticket price. If you buy the tickets from other dealers then the convenience/processing/handling fee would differ, and maybe that's why they can't advertise the true cost of ticket.

[redgrandam]

That's possible, but it's kinda like buying your groceries and being charged a checkout fee to pay the cashier. In the store that cost is included in the pricing on the items. If its a fee you are forced to pay, why should we care where the money goes? Just want to know the price.

Sometimes it's part of 'transparency', which IMO makes things worse for consumers, and opens the door to more hidden (or less obvious) fees.

[psyko514]

I could be wrong but I think "ticket price" is only for the event and the actual ticket dealer (Ticketmaster for example) only makes money from the fee. So when the event is advertised it is done by the event organizer and thus only list ticket price. If you buy the tickets from other dealers then the convenience/processing/handling fee would differ, and maybe that's why they can't advertise the true cost of ticket.

True, although in Montreal, I believe that Evenko is not only the promoter but they control the ticket sales as well with no alternatives.

[Red_Army]

either way these fees are charged, whether or not they are tied into the ticket price or charged additionally makes no difference to me
It's still the same price for everyone else who buys, no more, no less

[nwilliams]

The fees should just be baked in to the ticket price. If I buy a ticket for the cheap seats at a hockey game, the price is $31. They tack on a $10 service fee on top of that. Why not just tell me the ticket is $41?

I understand the shipping charges and don't think they should be baked in to the price. I hate that I have to pay $5 to print the ticket myself, though.

There was an article a while back (i think in Wired) about the service charge model, and how the new CEO (or some high ranking position) as ticket master was going to be removing it because it's a bad model. They'll still charge the same price, you just won't see the breakdown...just as stores do not list their net profit beside the items they sell. The breakdown pisses people off, so they're going w/ a one price model.

Now if only we could get everyone to include taxes in pricing in stores. I always love being in the UK and seeing an "all in" price on the shelf.

[ccyk]

There was an article a while back (i think in Wired) about the service charge model, and how the new CEO (or some high ranking position) as ticket master was going to be removing it because it's a bad model. They'll still charge the same price, you just won't see the breakdown...just as stores do not list their net profit beside the items they sell. The breakdown pisses people off, so they're going w/ a one price model.

Now if only we could get everyone to include taxes in pricing in stores. I always love being in the UK and seeing an "all in" price on the shelf.

i support the all in price