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GravityBoy
They should have sold all the tickets on eBay.

I mentioned something similar on the DC thread:


They should have an auction for all seats with bids beginning at $1.00.
That would be the only legitimate way to see how much people are willing to pay.
Sure the Pit might reach the $1,000 mark for several tickets, but I bet all nosebleeds wouldn't go past $50 at most.

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

This guy is full of shit,flex pricing my ass,they knew the places would have been half empty unless they sold cheap tickets and that s what they did to save face...

"No dope smoking no beer sold after 12 o'clock"

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SWAYZ

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gotdablouse
What he probably means is that you can't specifically buy a former $600 ticket for $85...but you can win one in the lottery...or get one from the Box Office Manager if you're not happy with your lottery win.

Thats exactly what he means. I didnt agree with what he says about flex prices. Flex pricing is usually mentioned BEFORE tix go onsale. Many think this tour is a bust, but I dont. These 18 shows will gross close to $100 mil. Thousands of seat sold for $600, many more at $1,500,$1,200, $2,000 etc. In the end EVERBODY will get their fare share of $$$$.

Ridiculous. At the rate you mention Mick Jagger will clear more money than AEG from this fiasco. Being that MickJ will be paid straight after Stones expenses while AEG's theoretical profits will be eaten up by lots of overhead and downward pricing of tickets. AEG would not mind making zero if this was a reputation enhancer (hey we ran a Stones tour!!) but this will not be a reputaion enhancer. AEG will be seen as dupes who paid the Stones an $80 million guarantee and lost money. This assumes the $80 million is not performance (sales) based. Some industry people have said it is performance based

The media guy on MSNBC said there was a small upside for the Stones if sales reached a certain level, above that it's 50/50 with the promoter. Looks like they're not getting that upside.

So that leaves them $80 million to play with, including the $20 million line of credit Dainty/Branson didn't want to give them...but no one knows what their costs are, obviously all the musicians, the roadies, the stage (that was paid for last year, remember when Mick said on the BBC it had to be amortized over 5 shows?) but then you have...all the logistics, they probably pay for that, the lighting, etc...as well as many other hidden costs. I wouldn't be surprised if we're talking $20 million there, so that still leaves them a ton to share of course.

But yes, the bottom line with this flex pricing is that the biggest fans are those who were screwed, by paying top price to be sure to lock in a ticket early and make travel arrangements, and I won't even talk about those who paid $1500 for the pit and guaranteeing them a $600,000 gross for 400 tickets. The only mitigating factor is the $85 lottery, but we know why they did that...

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Hairball

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GravityBoy
They should have sold all the tickets on eBay.

I mentioned something similar on the DC thread:


They should have an auction for all seats with bids beginning at $1.00.
That would be the only legitimate way to see how much people are willing to pay.
Sure the Pit might reach the $1,000 mark for several tickets, but I bet all nosebleeds wouldn't go past $50 at most.

I have thought/wondered just how exactly an auction would work. They couldnt do all the tickets at one time, because some people are going to get out bid and not win... so maybe they would auction the first 5 rows in every section, and maybe 20% of the pits at a time.... and then auction the next 5 rows in every section.... something like that?

Or maybe... they could allow people to reauction their tickets after a winning bid, that way people who missed out could buy on the second go round... or something

I also wonder if the majotiy of people would be willing/liking (would put up with the hassle) to go to all the extra efforts/attention required when bidding and keeping track, and then getting out-bid and having to re-bid.

Anyone who has ever "chased" items (over several auctions) on ebay knows how frustrating it can get.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-05-08 00:53 by Max'sKansasCity.

AEG's "flex ticket" is analogous to the Hotwire/Priceline business model of fluid prices for airline tickets and hotel rooms.

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bye bye johnny
AEG's "flex ticket" is analogous to the Hotwire/Priceline business model of fluid prices for airline tickets and hotel rooms.

Thats what got me thinking of the auction idea....kind of like priceline's "bid your own price".

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

It's actually not a new idea. Irving Azoff advocated "dynamic pricing" as CEO of Ticketmaster and (post merger) Live Nation.

Comments from AEG's Meglen could certainly be viewed as spin, since flex ticketing likely wouldn't be necessary had ticket sales been a bit more brisk.

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rebelrebel
Can anyone explain the difference between discounting and flex pricing to me please?

With Flex pricing, if you go on a ticket site and put that you want a $450 seat, you might end up where the $600 seats were. If you put in that you are interested in a $600 seat, you will get that $600 seat.

If you just discount the seat, then the $600 seat is no longer available, so flex pricing gives the fan the opportunity to pay top $$$ for their seats.

When a person buys a 600 ticket, and then they sell it for 168 dollars (sect. 106, 107 in San Jose), it is not just the ticket broker that is pissed off. IT is the thosands of fans who were ripped off.

Very poor planning! They should have fessed up and done something right. Not keep on shoveling crap.

Sad situation! And, they keep on making it worse. But, if they fill the seats, they do not care. The stones get their money. Only the people spending a weeks wage get burned.

... for the hard working people...

If you go back and read every post in this thread, you see that the real spin was...The tickets WERE $450 in their books already.

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BluzDude

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rebelrebel
Can anyone explain the difference between discounting and flex pricing to me please?

With Flex pricing, if you go on a ticket site and put that you want a $450 seat, you might end up where the $600 seats were. If you put in that you are interested in a $600 seat, you will get that $600 seat.

If you just discount the seat, then the $600 seat is no longer available, so flex pricing gives the fan the opportunity to pay top $$$ for their seats.

Ah, that makes sense. Thanks!

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bye bye johnny
AEG's "flex ticket" is analogous to the Hotwire/Priceline business model of fluid prices for airline tickets and hotel rooms.

Which reminds me of airline pricing (your neighbor hasn't paid the same price as you) but I think that works the other way round, book early and you get the best price because as the plane fills up the price goes up, here it's clearly the other way round and it's not fair! That's the kind of stunt you can only pull off once...

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gotdablouse

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bye bye johnny
AEG's "flex ticket" is analogous to the Hotwire/Priceline business model of fluid prices for airline tickets and hotel rooms.

Which reminds me of airline pricing (your neighbor hasn't paid the same price as you) but I think that works the other way round, book early and you get the best price because as the plane fills up the price goes up, here it's clearly the other way round and it's not fair! That's the kind of stunt you can only pull off once...

airlines also will drop the prices immediately before a flight if it makes sense. They have gotten pretty good at not taking off without a 90% full plane, which of course is the same goal as an arena concert.

I'm torn on this. I paid top tier for tickets to 3 shows and bought $85 tix to two more and will buy a ticket for 1 more. I get what they are doing. I would be pissed if people were profiting off my work and that is what the scalpers are doing. I go to a ton of shows every year and have gotten to know several of the scalpers here in L.A. The reputable ones, yes they exist, didn't touch this tour because of the price point. The band accomplished exactly what they wanted to. Am I pissed that I paid face for the high priced tix? Not really, because my seats have been amazing. Sure I could have maybe gotten a seat that sold for $600 originally for $450 in the back of the arena, but being that close to the band at LA1 and Oakland was worth the extra cash to me. Sure, I would love for all the seats to be $85, but if that were the case, so many of the best tix would end up in the scalpers hands selling for 10X that. We wouldn't get them. I get what they are doing. However, I think they overestimated the price point in this economy.

I don't think an auction on EBAY is the solution. In fact, it's just the opposite. Brokers would be bidding and getting the best seats in that system or at the very least, driving the price up until the price point makes it not worth it for them, resulting in very pricey seats and leaving us exactly where we are now.

Now as far as everyone talking about how they papered the arenas with the $85 tix, I'm not sure how true that is. Just look at the reports on this site and others about where those tix ended up being. Sure there were people who got pit, but so far that seems to be the exception not the rule. Most people ended up with nosebleeds and nosebleeds on the side/behind the stage. Maybe the ones that got crappy seats are more vocal, but I've been looking at the posts, mainly because I want good seats for the shows I have the $85 tix for, and after reading everyone's seat locations, I am not expecting good seats. The results just don't match the numbers. If they are papering with $85, I haven't seen proof. Again, yes there are exceptions, but the vast majority it seems have not gotten great seats near the front of the arena.

I'm going to one more show that I don't have a ticket for. I like that tickets are going slow because I may way and try to get a deal. Haven't decided yet. For me, a good Stones ticket is priceless. Unfortunately, I don't have the funds to buy a good seat to every show I'm going to. Either way, I'm going to enjoy whether or not AEG takes a bath or not. In fact, I could give a shit what AEG makes or loses. Doesn't affect me one bit. However, the music and this band affects me quite a bit and if AEG has to lose their shirt, so be it. I'll be rocking either way.

Jomo's post is right on. I went to the Oakland show and had nosebleed seats in section 211 row 13. The people in front of me and behind me in line got sections behind the stage in sections 222 or similar seats as mine. The best seats I saw of the 14 or so ticket pairs were in one set in section 109 (tickets that were $600 at one time but had dropped to $147 the day of the show. I am sure there were a few tongue pit tickets or prime $600 tickets but I believe they were rare.

I go to over 20 shows a year, there is a big difference between good seats up front and those where you have to watch the monitor (if you can see it).

I am going to the San Jose show on the floor section 1 row 8. I would be upset if the $85 tickets got you prime tickets except for the rare exception.

I often wondered what happened to Tony Blair's spin machine.....now I know !!!

Satisfied since 1976

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Woz
Kwit yer bitchin' and just have fun. I had a fabulous time on Sunday at the Oakland show and am going again to San Jose tomorrow. Money comes, money goes bit there is only one Rolling Stones......see 'em while you can.

I woz gonna say Kwit yer cheerin' but then i'd be bitchin'