Originally Posted by WinglessLovers:
Maybe I am missing something but when I click on usactickets.com to purchase 2 general admission tickets for Sunday at $20 each the total at the end comes up at $50.90!! Why would anyone purchase them in advance when the total is higher than walking up and buying them at the ticket booth??
I see there is $1 ticket fee on each ticket which should raise it to $42 but the sub total comes up as $47.40. Then there is an additional bank fee of $3.50 raising the grand total up to $50.90. That seems to me to be 90 cents more than buying them at the ticket window.
Can someone explain?
Bruce Eckel
Alright let me explain the ticket fees.
#1 no one owns a system to sell their own tickets. So basically, tracks or series rent the system from whomever. There is a fee to that. The track or series is always going to pass that fee on to the customer. You either A. build it into your ticket price, or B it gets tacked on at the end.
#2 digital footprint. Several of these ticket companies go ahead and collect sales tax. When you purchase at the gate, that fee is normally already built in to set price. SOME TRACKS DO ADD IT ON AT THE GATE depending on state.
#3 certain facilities rent the track out to different series or promoters. They force these groups to use their ticket system. There is an added facility charge in on the ticket. Often the promoter will pay x amount of dollars up front. The rest of the rent will come from these fees. (I have leased places that cost x amount or once xx,xxx is sold they get x%)
Fees are they good or bad? In most cases for the fan they seem bad. 1 thing to remember, online sales save on gate help. Its far easier to have people scanning to taking tickets vs. selling ticks. You also do not have to worry about those employees with sticky fingers. We as fans have to pay for the staff at the tracks. More staff, more $.
1 other stupid thing I want to bring up to you guys is insurance. Everyone has to have it, and we all try to get it as cheap as possible. 1 thing the concert world figured out, if they can limit the time people are on the grounds, they can reduce insurance cost. I.E. insurance companies has said the less time you are in a place the less likely you are to get hurt. Concerts do not open until 1 hour before tart time. (think about how many employees it would take to get 6,000 to 10,000 people to buy tickets and get through the gate in 1 hour). This is also a big reason why security starts pushing people out after the show. Many places if your fighting in the parking lot, you are on someone else's property. My motorsports insurance has started asking for my time windows
Fans need to start preparing for more of this. My daughter plays high school sports year-round. About 25% of the events we go to are cashless now. I really can't see that number decreasing. Big Brother does not like us using cash either. They lose the ability to track us.
