Joining the fan club to buy tickets - bit of a rip off?

k115810 · #1 05-11-2004, 02:28 PM

Ok...after all this time, the Say You Will tour is coming to Iowa. So, I joined the fan club for the ticket purchasing capabilities. It has turned out to be a bit of a ripoff. Why?

1) I joined at the $50 level for the ticket purchasing capabilities. That level promised a $20 coupon. I thought, "oh, good, that will save me $20 on the tickets." However, I have seen no coupon. If one is coming, it didn't arrive in time for any ticket purchase.

2) THEN, the site mentions that the only fees are a $10 service charge per ticket, which is ridiculous, as all of my fees should be covered in the $50 fan club membership.

3) THEN, after you've already selected your tickets, you are given outrageous shipping options to choose from. The cheapest being $12 for UPS ground. It costs $12 to ship my 2 concert tickets? I'd be glad to send them a SASE. It would cost me less than a dollar.

The entire experience has left me feeling a bit ripped off and that this entire organization is leeching $$$ off of its fans.

-Matt

hayley · #2 05-11-2004, 02:49 PM

1) I recalled that the $20 was a coupon for merch off the site, not applicable to tickets.

2) The service charge is not ridiculous. Only a small portion goes to the fan club. A larger portion goes to Ticketmaster and the promoter for providing the service to the fan club of allowing them a block of tickets. It does take manpower and consumes time and resources to allow for that. If you'd bought the same tickets off of Ticketmaster, you very likely would've paid upwards of $20-25 (if not more) per ticket in Ticketmaster fees.

3) Ticketmaster charges up to $2.50 a ticket for you to use your OWN printer and ink to print out your tickets at home all by yourself. That's much stupider, in my opinion. Sending via UPS allows for better control over the tickets, easier shipping, and helps the fan club keep under control and organize for the inevitability of purchasers not receiving their tickets.

Feel free to feel you've been ripped off, because you have. But everyone signed up for this. The new management of the fan club has handled presales and tickets much more capably than the previous management, and I think they've done nearly the best job they can. It's not perfect, these deals for ANY band are never perfect, but. The fan club already got your (and my, and everyone else's) $50, but no one had to continue to work with them this go around.

The fan club will only leech your $50 off you if you allow them to and willingly join the club. You registered as a Ledgie in March of last year, and more than likely saw the total idiocy of the fan club then.

Personally, I feel more leeched about the $125+ tickets than I do about the fan club also trying to take my cash.

SRhiannon · #3 05-11-2004, 02:58 PM

All I can say is "Welcome to the FAN CLUB" K!

btw ~ where are you from in Iowa? I graduated from High School in Sloan and got married in Charles City.

k115810 · #4 05-11-2004, 03:26 PM

A few follow-up points:

1) I never saw anything telling me that the coupon could not go to the tickets. It might be in the fine print somewhere, but they certainly don't want you to find that information easily.

2) The service charge IS high. I go to a lot of concerts, and I use Ticketmaster a lot. They are greedy bastards for sure, but they don't charge $10/ticket in fees. Ticketmaster charges NOTHING for shipping if you choose to receive your tickets via regular mail. $12 to ship 2 paper tickets? Unforgivable.

Let's be honest...the reason that 90% of fan club members joined is to ensure great tickets. That's really the only value of the fan club. There's no way that I'm getting my $50 worth in special merchandise or tour updates.

The ticket prices and fees are an insult to the fans. It sends a pretty clear signal about the level of respect that FM feels for their fans.

-Matt

k115810 · #5 05-11-2004, 03:27 PM

ps...I'm from Ankeny, Iowa, a suburb of Des Moines.

dissention · #6 05-11-2004, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by k115810

The ticket prices and fees are an insult to the fans. It sends a pretty clear signal about the level of respect that FM feels for their fans.

That's what I've been screaming for over a year.

diamondsnake · #7 05-11-2004, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by k115810

The ticket prices and fees are an insult to the fans. It sends a pretty clear signal about the level of respect that FM feels for their fans.

That is a little harsh. First of all, I am sure that it is Fleetwood Mac's management that handles the pricing of tickets. Secondly, they are one of the few really great rock and roll bands still touring and people really want to see them. It is all about supply/demand.

And Dissention, didn't you say you were an interior decorator and your fees started in the several thousands? I am sure you could charge less, but you don't do that because you can charge more. Fleetwood Mac are only doing the same thing. It would be insane for them to charge twenty bucks a ticket, when they can sell out a show charging 125 dollars a ticket.

k115810 · #8 05-11-2004, 05:03 PM

Can charge $125 and should charge $125 are two different things.

I saw Aerosmith last week for $58.

The idea that Fleetwood Mac are just pawns to their management is certainly not giving the band enough credit. If they were outraged at the ticket prices, I'm sure they would have the power to do something about it.

hayley · #9 05-11-2004, 05:06 PM

Christopher- FM's management sets the ticket prices by setting the band's guarantee (i.e.- what they demand to make from each show). Promoters then have to set high ticket prices to help cover that. The promoters are making very little, if ANYTHING, off these shows.

A lot of fans DID get great tickets. Personally, we were INCREDIBLY lucky. Two sets of front row center seats to two different shows on the first leg through pre-sales, sixth row from the new club for the new leg. Some people got shafted, but most did not. It certainly sucks to be one that was shafted.

As for Ticketmaster fees- they're HUGE! I go to shows all the time, and work for a record company that buys large batches of tickets from Ticketmaster constantly. Last week I paid $43.50 for a $25.00 seat, minus shipping. And the week before, I paid $25 for a $12 ticket. Over 200% markup isn't high?? It's high.

chiliD · #10 05-11-2004, 05:09 PM

Sure, times have changed. I saw Fleetwood Mac, third row center in 1975 for $7. (face value of ticket)

dissention · #11 05-11-2004, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by diamondsnake

That is a little harsh. First of all, I am sure that it is Fleetwood Mac's management that handles the pricing of tickets. Secondly, they are one of the few really great rock and roll bands still touring and people really want to see them. It is all about supply/demand.

And Dissention, didn't you say you were an interior decorator and your fees started in the several thousands? I am sure you could charge less, but you don't do that because you can charge more. Fleetwood Mac are only doing the same thing. It would be insane for them to charge twenty bucks a ticket, when they can sell out a show charging 125 dollars a ticket.

Yeah, the management negotiates the guarantee for each night, which drives the ticket prices up. If the band didn't demand so much of a guarantee, the prices would be lower. Get it?

And how can I charge less for what I do? The clients choose what they want, they choose the materials, they choose what color shirt I wear when I show up, for cripes sake. If they can afford to buy a pair of curtains for $750, they can afford to pay me for the time it takes to develop a design, hire contractors, order the materials, get the building inspected every time something new happens; it ain't cheap and it takes months to finish many jobs. My fees are so small compared to others that they look like night and day. It would be insane to charge $1,000 for a job that's going to take eight weeks and my out of pocket expenses are more than that.

With the Mac, it comes off as pure greed.

dissention · #12 05-11-2004, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by k115810

Can charge $125 and should charge $125 are two different things.

I saw Aerosmith last week for $58.

The idea that Fleetwood Mac are just pawns to their management is certainly not giving the band enough credit. If they were outraged at the ticket prices, I'm sure they would have the power to do something about it.

Exactly! Did you read the interview with Lindsey where he claimed to not even know what the ticket prices for the Mac shows were? What a liar. And if he wasn't lying, he was being an ignorant asshole. "You can't plant no seed where there's only greed" my ass. He and the rest of them planted a whole field and when the last show rolls around, they'll be out there picking up all the fruits of their greed.

And I saw Blondie on Saturday for $30.

strandinthewind · #13 05-11-2004, 06:17 PM

They clearly are out to: (1) pay back the record company for the advance and cost of SYW, which did not sell as well as they thought (mind you it may be paid for now adter 106 shows). But, even considering that, they are in it for the money and are travelling in style. I have no problem with that because there were cheap seats for almost every show. Do, I wish they would have charged less - yes. But, that is not the way they do it. So . . . . the market sets the price and they follow the market.

dissention · #14 05-11-2004, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

They clearly are out to: (1) pay back the record company for the advance and cost of SYW, which did not sell as well as they thought (mind you it may be paid for now adter 106 shows). But, even considering that, they are in it for the money and are travelling in style. I have no problem with that because there were cheap seats for almost every show. Do, I wish they would have charged less - yes. But, that is not the way they do it. So . . . . the market sets the price and they follow the market.

Just out of curiosity, how big of an advance do you think they got? I have no clue, honestly.

strandinthewind · #15 05-11-2004, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dissention

Just out of curiosity, how big of an advance do you think they got? I have no clue, honestly.

I think with the cost of that house and the moving of the studio equipment and the fact that they are FM, I would guess $2 million - maybe and probably more. Again, they (FM and the execs) were all talking about or at least contemplating a record that was going to sell around four million copies. So, the advance in those terms is not that outrageous.