Fee Happy

[LCHIEN]

I recently bought some tickets on-line to see a professional sports team that will remain anonymous but features a 7'-6" chinese center.

Apparently they have new balls.

On top of the expensive ticket price, they added
1. $3.50 processing fee
2. $16.00 convenience fee
3. $3.50 e-mail fee
4. $12 parking fee. (well, this was optional)

I would think that fully automated on-line ticket sales was more efficient and saved them a lot of manpower, but you wouln't know it the way they charged the heck out of fees. I mean, how much does it cost them to send automated e-mail???

[cpritchard]

I can see the processing fee, but geesh, how convenient is 16 dollars being added to your price, and will you get to personally email the players with that email charge?

[LarryG]

A fellow my dad grew up with owned and operated a little convenience store downtown. For the last few years before he finally retired and closed the place down, he opened the store at 10:00am and closed it at 4:00pm.

Which caused someone to ask, "How can you call this a convenience store when you're only open six hours a day, when most people are at work? Where's the 'convenience' in that?"

The owner smiled and said: "My convenience."

I'm thinking maybe there's a similar principal in play with your fees ...

[JR]

Not only is it exorbitant, but they've managed to recently defend these charges in court. They're activities are clearly (in my mind) monopolistic. These charges are taking advantage of their position as sole supplier in this market.

Death to the blood-sucking capitalists!

JR

[Kristofor]

You might avoid the e-mail fee, but what burns me is that you still pay the convenience fee if you get in your car, drive to the site, and buy direct from the ticket office of venue hosting the event!

College atheletics are the only escape around here, but who knows with a new football stadium being built maybe they'll outsource that to the evil Ticketmaster too.

[cabinetman]

There is a huge auditorium near here that can seat nearly 10,000 people. It's so large they can have sports events there. A lot of the performances there are celebrity bands, singers and performers. The place is across the street from a very large shopping mall. On site parking for the auditorium is 15.00, which I feel is a rip off anyway.

Now they are charging people who park in the shopping mall parking lot (free) and walk across the street to the auditorium $5.00.

[germdoc]

Are those leather or synthetic balls?

I don't follow professional sports much these days and wouldn't pay to go to a pro game. I'm nostalgic for the days when we used to go see the Atlanta Braves for $2.50, and you could bring your own beer or wine, provided it wasn't in a glass container. Those were the days...

[jackellis]

I tend to vote for things like this with my feet, which is to say I don't attend professional sporting events or live performances largely because they don't offer good value for money.

On the other hand, I understand how business works and smart businesspeople are going to charge what the market will bear, just like we want to get the best price we can when we sell a home (or surplus tools) or the fruits of our labor or anything else. The notion of price gouging, especially when it comes to discretionary expenditures like entertainment, is purely in the eyes of the buyer.

I agree that the fees are absurd but if attendance starts dropping off, prices will follow. This is already happening in some places and a few promoters, performing groups and venues are making appropriate adjustments. If you're unhappy about the fees, a letter-writing campaign will also help get the message across.

[Pappy]

Are those leather or synthetic balls?

Brass, and HUGE!

[Slik Geek]

I took my wife to see a popular play in Chicago last year. The ticket price was steep, plus several inane "fees" were added on top of it. I didn't go for the cheap seats, I got tickets in the upper 1/3 of the price spectrum, and searched for a show where I could get "dead center" in the auditorium.

My impression of the show? It was probably very good. However, the dialogue was hard to hear and the stage was so far away that I felt detached from the drama. I pity the multitude of folks who were behind us, I can't imagine how poor their experience must have been.

Contrast this with a play that we attended in Lincolnshire, IL. There wasn't a bad seat in the house. Most seats were within "spitting distance" of the stage. I felt immersed in the event and had no problem hearing or seeing the action. And best of all, the ticket price was significantly less and lacked the unexplainable additional fees. We shall return there.

You can be sure that I'll be voting with my feet - and not attending the over-priced, long-distance venue again. (Unless, of course, SWMBO insists that we go see a production that can only be seen at the outrageously expensive theater!)

[LCHIEN]

My point is that they want more money they should be man enough to include it in the up-front price, not being sneaky and tacking on (without prior warning) three additional levies in the guise of so called fees. They are, really, jacking up the prices for the cheap seats who can probably least afford it. $22 in fees on top of a $30 ticket vs. $22 in fees on top of a $200 ticket...

[JR]

They are, really, jacking up the prices for the cheap seats who can probably least afford it. $22 in fees on top of a $30 ticket vs. $22 in fees on top of a $200 ticket...

And the sports team in question, who already has enough trouble trying to justify their $22 seat, has no vote in it. There is nothing they can do to influence the middle man to control costs. Once they sign up that middle man they are contracturally bound to use them exclusively.

What a racket.

Viva Che!

JR

[jhart]

I use to be an avid sports fan, and went to a number of Twins and Vikings games. Haven't attended a live one in years as I'm just unwilling to pay the prices, although the Twins do have some fairly good promotions and reasonably priced for families.

Gotten to the point that I really couldn't care if they pack up and leave town, and let someone else pay for the new stadiums.

[Richard in Smithville]

I have bought tickets for the 2008 Monster Jam at the Rogers Centre(Sky Dome) in Toronto Canada. The ticket price was reasonable for the quality and quantity that you receive duing the show. The 2007 show had ten monster trucks, pro truck racing, and super cross free style. This year I paid $96 for three adults, and one child. When all the taxes and extra fees were added, I paid $135.
My older daughter will be fourteen when the event arrives. I had to pay an adult price for her ticket as they don't have youth prices. I could only buy tickets from Ticket Master.

On the plus side, I will park my van at the Burlington train station(parking is free) and ride the train in to Toronto($30 return for four of us). It would cost around that to park in Toronto, plus what I would pay in gas for more that 100 mile round trip, plus the aggravation of all the other morons on the city streets.

[BrazosJake]

Are those leather or synthetic balls?

I don't follow professional sports much these days and wouldn't pay to go to a pro game. I'm nostalgic for the days when we used to go see the Atlanta Braves for $2.50, and you could bring your own beer or wine, provided it wasn't in a glass container. Those were the days...

Ditto that, Germdoc. Somewhere in my parent's attic is a 1970 Dallas Cowboys game program, signed by just about every member of their first SuperBowl team. Tickets between the 30-yard-lines could be purchased by anyone for $7.00 (this was in the Cotton Bowl, btw, a REAL football stadium). We kids preferred the end-zone seats for $2, so we could get quickly to the locker room after the game for autographs.

Fees have simply become a method of deceptive advertising, e.g. "Free checking", where they ding you everytime you talk to a real person.