ABC-7 Listens about high priced concert tickets
Texas rockers ZZ Top are paying a visit to the Abraham Chavez Theatre April 28th, and ABC-7 Viewer Chuck’s not happy with ticket prices.
Chuck wrote, saying, ” … Almost every ticket was sold to StubHub.com. The initial price for for seats ranged from $53 to $83 from Ticket Master. Now, all tickets range from $139 to $200 from StubHub.com. If that is not ticket scalping then what is?
Yes, that is what’s commonly called scalping. And the prices have increased since Chuck wrote us.
El Paso Police Detective Mike Baranyay assures ABC-7 that it’s perfectly legal in El Paso to sell a ticket for more than its face value. Sometimes a venue may object to you reselling tickets on its premises, which could lead to a trespassing charge if you don’t leave when asked to.
Stubhub is a facilitator. It doesn’t buy tickets. It creates a marketplace where buyers and sellers can find each other, and charges each for the service.
if you check StubHub several days in a row, you’ll often see a trend of rising or falling prices and can decide whether to buy quickly, or wait a while.
As the ticket resale market has grown, StubHub has faced increasing competition. Tickets are often resold on Craigslist, eBay and other sites. Also, LiveNation and Ticketmaster now broker ticket resales along with those issued by the box office.
StubHub recently cut its fees, and went to a transparent pricing policy so you can see the total cost up front.
Here are some tips to find the best deal:
Fansnap.com and Seatgeek.com recently merged. You can find them through either domain. They provide a score that lets you know how good a deal you’re looking at, based on historical prices for the artist, venue, and seat location.
Also, concert promoters have increasingly gone to a presale strategy, which can help you beat the scalpers. You can often get presale codes by registering with the venue, and by downloading mobile apps from ticket sellers like LiveNation and Ticketmaster. Also, many major credit cards offer special presale codes exclusively for their members. .
You can also check in at kvia.com, where webmaster Leonard Martinez often posts presale codes.
