The Joys of Ordering Tickets Online
Ah the joys of ordering things online. I like ordering stuff online because I usually get a pretty good price on things and I love the feeling I get when I receive something good in the mail. It sucks getting bills in the mail (which is why I have changed most of my bills to paperless statements) but love getting useful and fun stuff. I got my Zune, my digital camera (first one I got not counting the camera on my phones, which is amazing considering how into tech I am), lots of cell phones, and well lot’s of other stuff. It sucks paying shipping charges but these are usually balanced out by the lower prices so its ok.
However, the one notable exception to all this is buying tickets to event’s like plays and sporting events. These places do NOT give you a discount for ordering online. In fact, they make you pay MORE for the tickets. They also make it race to buy them. First you go to the site to find the event. Then after you have found it (if you can), you have only a few minutes to buy the tickets before you lose them or have to start over. If you can manage to buy them in the precious few minutes you are given, you are charged fees up the ying yang. First there is a convenience fee of a few dollars - convenience for ordering online? They are saving money because they don’t have to have a ticket sales person manning the box office 24/7 and they charge us for their savings? Talk about a double profit. Then there is a processing fee, and a printing fee (for printing on your own printer no less).
Just to give an example, I bought tickets to an A’s game today at mlb.com but it looks like it’s using the same system as Ticketmaster. Here’s a breakdown of what I payed:
- Tickets: 2 x $13 (bleacher seats because that’s where my date wanted to sit and we are going to be late so didn’t want to pay for the really good seats for half a game)
- Convenience fee: 2 x $4.50 (1/3 the price of the ticket for the convenience of ordering at home)
- Order Processing fee: $4 (It’s a computer taking and process the order. I wonder how much that computer makes an hour)
- Delivery fee: $2.50 (This is so I can print the ticket on my printer, using my ink and paper and then handing it to myself. I love how they charge me to give myself my ticket)
So the grand total for this order was: $41.50. $41.50 for tickets that cost by themselves $26. A nice 60% markup (I think that’s what it is). Unbelievable.
Tags: A's, MLB, Ticketmaster, Tickets