Wednesday 27 February 2013

http://www.asa.org.uk/News-resources/Media-Centre/2013/Misleading-ticket-prices.aspx

Good news, but not quite far enough. The way the ticketing industry does business, with its spurious distinctions between "Outside" fees (fees added on top of the mythical "Face Value") and "Inside" fees (commission included in the "Face Value") remains pointlessly and unnecessarily complicated.

There might have been a time where the Outside fee went straight from the buyer to the box office to pay for the cost of sale, and the Inside commissions were between the venue and the promoter, but these days, they're all just money. Sometimes promoters will take a cut of the booking fee from the agent. Sometimes the agent takes a cut of the inside commission in addition to the booking fees. And there's a number called the "Face Value" in between that no one ever pays and no one ever gets and means nothing at all.

There's a cost that someone has to pay to get hold of a ticket. It's no business of the ticket buyer's where that money is going, and which bit goes to the agent and which bit to the promoter and which bit to the venue. They should just see a price, and pay it, or not.

Displaying the full price is a good start; changing the mindset away from ticket fees, booking fees, restoration levies, and so on a bigger job.