Service Fees Drive Up Purchase Prices

It is almost impossible to purchase a ticket at face value to a concert anywhere in Southern California these days--even if you do not shop at a broker.

Why do concert tickets so frequently end up costing more than the advertised price?

Sellers add a variety of service fees, which profit the ticket agency handling the transaction and the venue staging the event.

Take the March 31 environmental benefit, “Concert for Walden Woods,” at the Universal Amphitheatre. The official ticket price is $35, but good luck finding one for that amount.

If you buy it at the Universal box office, the venue adds $2 as a facility fee. Bypass the box office and purchase it at a TicketMaster outlet, and the price jumps to $40.25--which covers the $2 facility fee plus a $3.25 “convenience” fee.

If you order a ticket by phone, the cost leaps to $42.75. That figure includes the $2 facility fee, a $5 phone convenience fee and a 75 processing fee--a 22% markup over the $35 face value.

Tonight, in an effort to discourage scalpers, U2 asked TicketMaster for a phone order-only policy on ticket sales. As a result, each $25 ticket will cost $31.25--a figure that includes a $5.50 phone convenience fee and a 75 processing fee per ticket.

“Most fans we speak to would prefer to purchase tickets by phone rather than wait endlessly in line,” says U2 manager Paul McGuinness. “That is, as long as they are convinced that the tickets are being distributed fairly.”

Not everyone is convinced.

Three weeks ago, state Sen. Milton Marks (D-San Francisco)--who introduced a bill this session seeking to place a 15% cap on ticket service charges--asked the California attorney general to launch an investigation into what he calls TicketMaster’s “monopoly” over the ticket service market.

TicketMaster, the largest ticket agency in the country, bought out its principal rival Ticketron last February. The deal was unopposed by the Justice Department.

“I’ve received numerous consumer complaints about inflated ticket service fees,” Marks said. “I believe the government needs to step in and do something about it.”

Responding to the senator’s complaints, a TicketMaster spokesman said: “Candidate Marks’ accusations are the ravings of an out-of-touch politician desperately searching for a reelection platform.”