3,321 posts
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Post by david on Jul 22, 2019 7:15:10 GMT
Carl Woodward has tweeted the Times report -
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Post by londonpostie on Jul 22, 2019 7:17:01 GMT
I was pondering pricing after seeing SWEAT on Saturday on its last day. 550 at the matinee and 700 for the evening. They had been enthusiastically discounting to the point row J in the stalls could be had, three days earlier, for £12.50. Obv.of no consolation for those who booked at standard prices.
However, if we assume an average ticket price of £40, they made £50,000 gross from a 2/3 full theatre just on Saturday - with a cast of perhaps 9. No idea of overheads but you have to think there's money being made somewhere.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2019 7:27:02 GMT
Interesting piece although having tried google searches for Phantom of the Opera and Book of Mormon, the official booking sites are at or near the top of the search results after the promoted ads. I agree though that it must be very difficult for the average punter to spot which one the official site is, particularly since (for instance) Ticketmaster IS the official site for Hamilton but for others it is reselling with a big fee added.
On the other hand, I booked a nice stalls seat for Night of the Iguana for £25 on Saturday through TodayTix and when I was queuing to pick it up half an hour before the show a couple in their early 20s were in front of me asking what seats were available and were being offered £90 front stall seats.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2019 7:52:15 GMT
Good to read there is a push for an investigation into it.
I was reading recently that it's been discovered some bands/Ticketmaster actually have a hand in the resale market. In a belief that their cut of the sales isn't enough, a certain amount of tickets get sidelined per show, put on resale sites and the additional money goes back to them. I don't know how systemic this issue is, I doubt Cam Mac is in - the Hamilton approach seems to suggest not - but does make me wonder whether the big corporate US producers or smaller producers with lower profit margins may be veering into this.
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19,793 posts
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jul 22, 2019 8:03:46 GMT
I suppose that if a tourist has knowledge of Broadway prices they might think that £240 to see Lion King was comparable and just the way things are. Seems that the greedy people behind these reseller operations are seeking to bring prices up to an upper ceiling and to normalise it. I don’t know how they sleep at night.
I always but from the theatre or on a couple of occasions advance sales on TT. I don’t get discounts because I have to plan London way ahead, but at least I know I’m paying face value.
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1,863 posts
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Post by NeilVHughes on Jul 22, 2019 17:00:55 GMT
Another advantage of dealing direct is that it can be easier to change dates or resolve issues as they have more options and for the few times I have had to change a date (schoolboy double booking error) they have been able to accommodate the change without any issues.
It is a bit of a trawl to find the official site and can understand how people can be caught out, nowadays I bookmark the official sites to make it easier and remove the risk of inadvertently booking with an agent.
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