When a $250 show ticket is made the norm, it’s practically a luxury to be able to attend, denounces host Tania Di Sei.
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In an interview with QUB radio, the host of music shows mentioned having bought a ticket to see the music group Muse next March at the Bell Center and that the price has more than doubled. “In 2019, I paid $125 for the ticket. It will be double in a few months and I am located in the same place”, she told the microphone of Richard Martineau.
To try to save at the next concert she will attend next May, Ms. Di Sei has decided to take a ticket to the balcony. “I said to myself that at $250 a ticket, it doesn’t make sense. I made the choice to be higher to pay less.”
On average, two tickets will cost him $400-450 plus travel and dinner. “I gave up on the merchandise sold on site, because it is very expensive.”
Without naming her, Tania Di Sei talked about a major ticket sales platform that uses the supply and demand model for ticket prices. “A window impossible to read with the naked eye quickly opens. I filmed with my cell phone to read well. It is written that the platform gives itself the right to modify the price according to supply and demand. The prices will not be the same in presale or during the regular sale”, she pointed out, adding that some of her friends find themselves in the same section as her for the Muse concert but that the prices they paid are different.
Regarding the resale of tickets, she mentions that some individuals will ask for five times the original value. Although there is a limit of eight tickets per person, resellers will sign up for pre-sales and try to sell them at an exorbitant price. “A ticket for Blink-182 is returned to $500. It’s sad, because people will go into debt to buy one.
Exaggerated charges?
In his QUB radio show, Benoît Dutrizac said he bought tickets for the Revolution show at a cost of $79 each and that Ticketpro added $10.50 for each electronic ticket. On this subject, the lawyer at Option consommateurs, Sylvie De Bellefeuille affirms that it is necessary to refer to the information of the departure. “A trader cannot charge more than advertised. When we shop for tickets, we should have the information before arriving at the checkout.
In the same breath, she said that the Consumer Protection Act provides for the all-inclusive price. “A product that costs $50 is a legitimate expectation to pay that amount excluding applicable taxes. What we want to avoid is that we advertise something at a price and that in the end it is not possible to have it at that price because of mandatory fees. You can have a lot of imagination when it’s time to increase costs,” she noted.
Finally, Ms. De Bellefeuille recommends that consumers carefully check who is selling the tickets before making the purchase from an individual, as there may be counterfeit tickets in circulation.