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TOUTING OUT
The Guardian's money pages featured a plaintive wail from a reader whose son wanted to see the Kaiser Chiefs but hadn't got a ticket. How can he avoid paying tout prices, she wanted to know?
The replies were mixed, ranging from the useless (I would recommend your son spend his cash on a ticket to Leeds or Reading Festival where he will get to see the Kaiser Chiefs (almost certain to play) and a hundred other bands for the price of a ticket off Ebay - he has an ace time and doesn't line the touts' pockets.) to the wise (If you can't get a ticket, and you really, really want to see a band, then go to the venue and you just might find someone with a spare ticket or two, and you can always haggle with the touts.), but the most interesting ones were recommendations to try Scarlet Mist.
This is a site encouraging ethical (i.e. face value) exchange. It's a nice idea, although it won't exactly beat the touts - after all, they're buying up the tickets in the first place and won't be looking to share them on Scarlet Mist. However, if you have tickets, or want tickets, and don't want to add any more middlemen on top of the middlemen in Ticketmaster or wherever, it's worth a try.
[Thanks to Eleanor G for pointing out the article in the supplement we usually shove unopened into the recycling bin]
5 comments:
The reply missing from the online edition is the Kaiser's manager's husband, offering the poor kids 2 tickets for the gig. Awww.
I only got around to reading the Money supplement today.
TBH, I normally don't bother with the Money section of Grauniad online (haven't got any money to worry about managing :-) ), but this week's question (my friend's getting married in Barcelona and has asked me to be bridesmaid, but I'm skint and can't afford to go there or to the hen party in Dublin) caught my eye and then I saw this one about the tickets problem, so I thought I'd pass it on, as the "tickets all bought up by touts" issue is a perennial subject here.
Eleanor G
I'm so sick of people complaining about people selling tickets on eBay. It's not illegal, it's just supply and demand, and that's all there is to it. I've been happy to pay over the odds for shows when I haven't been clued-in enough to buy tickets on time.
Aaron, I've got an idea. Why don't bands auction all their tickets for all their shows on ebay to the highest bidders- then only rich bastards like yourself can afford to go. After all, it is just supply and demand.
Why don't bands auction all their tickets for all their shows on ebay to the highest bidders- then only rich bastards like yourself can afford to go
Frankly, I'm surprised that doesn't happen already. And I'm not a 'rich bastard', just a realist.
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