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Re: Tout
From: John Hughes <john@pureneasy.fsnet.co.uk>
"What Jeff may be referring to is a debate of sorts about a lister on O&S
who..."
John,
Somewhat. I was looking for a ticket for one of the RAH shows and had an
email exchange with one of your countrymen. The chap was horrified that I
might think him to be a tout. Of course, I couldn't have thought him to be
a tout as I didn't know what that meant. The O&S discussion came up after
my episode.
"Would you deliberately buy excess tickets and then try and sell them to
friends at prices higher than you paid?"
No. This is not how I would define friendship.
In this country we have also call touts Ticketmaster and SFX/Clear Channel.
My biggest gripe with the ticket distribution for Who 2K was with these
guys. The venue in Boston is a shed/ampitheater. There was a large price
difference between tickets in the front and back of the shed. The first
tickets that went on sale were in the very back rows. The front sections
were withheld for the outrageously expensive "VIP packages". Some of the
front section seats were released when the VIP packages didn't sell.
I realize they do this to maximize the marketability and profitability of
the seats. They can draw the line between the $160 and $70 seats as things
progress, and help ensure a sellout with maximum profits. It did piss me
off that the nuts like me who were scrambling for seats as soon as they went
on sale ended up with the worst seats.
There are ways around this, but it seems The Who and Clear Channel/SFX chose
to avoid these. U2 and Elton John have been inventive about giving their
serious fans first shot at the good seats, as I am sure other artists have.
I hope The Who uses some of the techniques this year.
Jeff
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