Getmein - hypocracy and lunacy in a single venue Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Whilst emailing some friends about the possibility of going along to one or more of the concerts being held at Excel alongside the British Motor Show, I saw a Google ad for Getmein, the ticketing secondary market that was acquired by Ticketmaster.
If you recall, Ticketmaster had been vociferous in its opposition to secondary markets, strongly arguing to the UK Parliamentary select committee that such exchanges were wrong on numerous grounds, citing profiteering and exploitation of fans amongst them. Evidently, these views have been dropped now that it owns several such exchanges.
Out of curiosity, I looked up the gigs I was interested in and saw tickets were indeed listed on Getmein for the events at prices, including a 10% mark-up for Getmein, up to £82.50. Yet the primary market, in the form of See Tickets, was offering the same tickets at £30, including their £3 fee.
Since listings are free on Getmein, silly priced sale ads can be posted on Getmein with no downside and only upside if someone gullibly buys at an inflated price - or put another way if an ignorant fan parts with more money than they need to.
Don't worry, I'm not performing an about face on secondary markets, but simply noting the hypocracy of certain companies and the lunacy surrounding the opaque nature of the ticketing market.
Most noteworthy was the accompanying T&Cs on the See Tickets booking page.
All tickets purchased on this site are governed by our terms and conditions. In particular, we draw your attention to the fact that all tickets are for personal use only and cannot be resold under any circumstances. Resale or attempted resale is grounds for seizure or cancellation without refund or other compensation. The Event Partner and its affiliates, successors, or assigns may enforce these terms in accordance with the provisions of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 (the Act).
So Ticketmaster seems to be complicit in breaching such conditions, a matter that it presumably understands.
Separately, the US division of Ticketmaster is now issuing paperless tickets citing consumer convenience and the disruption to touts as being major reasons for their introduction. Unfortunately, this has met a considerable consumer backlash, in the main because they have continued to charge the same high level of fees despite the evident savings from paperless ticketing and because people recognise it has damaged their ability to transfer the tickets should they need to.
Labels: Getmein, secondary markets, ticketing, Ticketmaster
posted by John Wilson @ 11:09 PM Permanent Link
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3 Comments:
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At 3:40 PM,
said...
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Bonjour,
Je vous écris en français en espérant que vous pourrez me lire.
Merci pour votre article que j'ai trouvé ce matin sur internet. Je viens justement de commander des billets de concert pour ac-dc à Londres, puisque je n'ai pas réussi à en obtenir pour Paris (2 dates), Milan (2 dates), Zurich.
La transaction débute avec Ticketmaster et est redirigé vers Getmein sans que l'on y prête trop attention dans l'euphorie du moment.
Mais voilà, quand on a passé des heures à essayer de trouver la connexion pour une transaction sur des sites français, italiens ou suisse, etc... et qu'avec Ticketmaster... hourra... la connexion se fait, dans la précipitation ( puisqu'il faut faire très vite) je suis tombé dans le piège et je suis très fachée. 460£ au lieu de 90£, merci London.
Ces entreprises sont sur la place publique. C'est inadmissible et on les laisse faire. C'est du vol autorisé.
Merci pour vos articles.
Mary -
At 3:42 PM,
said...
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Bonjour,
Je vous écris en français en espérant que vous pourrez me lire.
Merci pour votre article que j'ai trouvé ce matin sur internet. Je viens justement de commander des billets de concert pour ac-dc à Londres, puisque je n'ai pas réussi à en obtenir pour Paris (2 dates), Milan (2 dates), Zurich.
La transaction débute avec Ticketmaster et est redirigé vers Getmein sans que l'on y prête trop attention dans l'euphorie du moment.
Mais voilà, quand on a passé des heures à essayer de trouver la connexion pour une transaction sur des sites français, italiens ou suisse, etc... et qu'avec Ticketmaster... hourra... la connexion se fait, dans la précipitation ( puisqu'il faut faire très vite) je suis tombé dans le piège et je suis très fachée. 460£ au lieu de 90£, merci London.
Ces entreprises sont sur la place publique. C'est inadmissible et on les laisse faire. C'est du vol autorisé.
Merci pour vos articles.
Mary -
At 5:02 PM,
John Wilson said...
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Unaltered English translation of Mary's comment courtesy of Babelfish
Hello, I write to you in French by hoping that you will be able to read me. Thank you for your article that j' found this morning on Internet. I precisely have just ordered tickets in concert for ac-cd. in London, since I n' did not succeed in obtaining some for Paris (2 dates), Milan (2 dates), Zurich. The transaction beginning with Ticketmaster and is redirected towards Getmein without l' one pays to it too attention in l' euphoria of the moment. But here, when one spent the hours to try to find connection for a transaction on French, Italian sites or Switzerland, etc… and qu' with Ticketmaster… hurrah… connection is done, in precipitation (puisqu' it is necessary to make very quickly) I fell into the trap and I am very annoyed. 460£ instead of 90£, thank you London. These companies are on the public place. C' is inadmissible and one lets them make. C' is authorized flight. Thank you for your articles.
