Your Opinion- Ticket Sales on CP

[topfiverecords]

I kind of lean face value max because I like the idea of community over classified ads but for playoffs there must be a way we can achieve both.

I like knowing that currently the majority of sellers are STHs that are trying to recoup costs for games they can’t attend and they’re not ticket holders who only purchased them for the sake of reselling them. User history doesn’t technically mean that much right now as you get the sense the sellers that have little interaction on the rest of the forum are still STHs who just aren’t the posting type. Maybe they’re active lurkers, or maybe not. Sure I’d like to recognize the user with 3000 posts that’s listing tickets but there’s some built in credibility right now even with users that mostly are just unloading their extra tickets. My worry of getting scammed is nearly NIL.

On the other hand, you still achieve credibility in a for profit market here whether the user is a regular poster or not by the ability to see a users previous listings.

What about having two ticket sections during playoffs? One titled Face Value Max and one Above Face. Sellers that don’t feel the need/want to make a profit and buyers who aren’t interested in paying above face prices can use the first one. The sellers that want to sell above face here because the demand warrants it and they want buyers to have them without 3rd party fees can use the other.

See how the sales, post and view counts differ in the end and evaluate which way to go for next year’s playoffs.

It would also be nice to find a way to encourage a small token donation to the site if you’ve sold for a profit here.

[Enoch Root]

^ that doesn't require two sections - people could just, wait for it, do what they want

[Macindoc]

Originally Posted by ST20

There's a lot of talk about voting yes in regards to:
1. Hurting the community... How? Most of us come on this site to read the fire and ice forum for news (thanks sure loss), game talks, post game talks, and the ATL (thanks Gaskal) or many of the other forums. How is that hurt by more tickets available for purchase? I get the feeling that scalpers aren't here to contribute to the threads on this site we all love discussing.
2. It raises prices... Again how? The tickets you buy on this site aren't lower than other places aside from fees and taxes. Guess what if you got a really good deal under "face" on this site you could've gotten the same on TM or StubHub. All this does is limit the number of tickets on the site. I wish you were stupid enough to buy my tickets at a higher price than you could've gotten on TM or StubHub.
3. This will turn CP into Kijiji 2.0... what does this even mean? Is anything other than ticket exchange impacted? If it's about ticket exchange are you worried about people ripping you off?!? If you are just look at their posting history and age of account. You can tell who the season ticket holders are.

This honestly baffles me. If anyone can explain why more tickets for a hockey community is a bad thing I'm all ears. Also please logically explain how ticket prices will rise because of this. Multiple posters have already explained why they will not and I haven't seen one person explain why it will.

This is honestly confusing to me and would love to hear someone explain their reasons rather than just say I don't like scalpers, I don't think people should earn a profit (but apparently they should subsidize you), and this will ruin the spirit of CP without replying with any justification.

Sorry for the Grammer typing this on my phone and am too lazy to go back to properly edit.

I think the concern is that currently, tickets are sold and bought by individual Flames fans. If money can be made by selling tickets on CP, then corporate interests like StubHub that buy and sell tickets for profit will use the site to expand their sales network (if you don't think StubHub would do this, you haven't been following their tactics, they have been colluding with TicketMaster to monopolize the ticket market). Their only purpose is to buy tickets and sell them at a profit. They typically buy up all the reasonably-priced tickets and then re-list them at a higher price. This is why prices will go up.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Macindoc

I think the concern is that currently, tickets are sold and bought by individual Flames fans. If money can be made by selling tickets on CP, then corporate interests like StubHub that buy and sell tickets for profit will use the site to expand their sales network (if you don't think StubHub would do this, you haven't been following their tactics, they have been colluding with TicketMaster to monopolize the ticket market). Their only purpose is to buy tickets and sell them at a profit. They typically buy up all the reasonably-priced tickets and then re-list them at a higher price. This is why prices will go up.

But if you put a ceiling on prices here, you make that easier for them. They come here, buy tickets at face, then roll them out higher.

If they are offered at market here, there is much less ability for them to do that (and they don't want to be stuck holding piles of seats)

[SmoggyFlamesFan]

There are other avenues scalpers can go to sell their tickets. There are apps, kijiji and Facebook posts, and of course, scalpers outside the door of the dome. CP is a community that I love dearly, and I don't feel it would be right to have posters whose only posts are to sell tickets with an insane markup during playoffs. Price should be fair, and as someone else mentioned, you know that a hardcore fan is attending the game if you can't, and you are helping contribute to the C of Red. Just my 2 cents.

[GullFoss]

I list tickets 30% higher on Kijiji than Calgary puck and find they sell on kijiji first anyways.

[memphusk]

I received a warning this week for selling tickets over face value. It was a mere dollar difference, but my fault. Why not just have a ticket listing without price and work from there? Ticket owner can let the inquirer know price.

[Macindoc]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

But if you put a ceiling on prices here, you make that easier for them. They come here, buy tickets at face, then roll them out higher.

If they are offered at market here, there is much less ability for them to do that (and they don't want to be stuck holding piles of seats)

I'm worried about them SELLING them here, it's an extra platform at no cost. Most of the individual sales on CP could be replaced by StubHub sales in disguise. Right now, they have no interest, because there's little money to be made. That will change if there's a profit to be had here.

[GullFoss]

FWIW I know scalpers who buy on calgarypuck and resell on kijiji - even more so in the playoffs!

[Fighting Banana Slug]

Season ticket holder and have never listed here, partly because of the face value rule, but mostly because I split tickets with friends and don't have much need to sell. Honest question: are any playoff tickets/premium games for sale on CP? I have to think there would be a better supply if the rules changed. I like the folks around here, but there is no way I would list playoff tickets unless there was some upside financially for doing so.

[Ace]

I’ve bought several mid week games at the fraction of a face value over the years. Those same sellers should be able to make that up on the good games.

Even at market value I’m likely still getting a better deal here without a bunch of fees.

A little moderation will handle those that are circumventing the community. Maybe there should be a minimum post count for buying and selling if possible. Can the buy sell be a hidden forum that only signed in users can see? That could be the trick to making this work.

[bettercallbettman]

Leave it how it is. Shocked at all the whiners saying “face value only”, if they aren’t sold on CP they will be elsewhere. I personally feel more confident buying from this forum vs. Kijji etc

[calgarywinning]

This thread is misguided and should be about all the seats actually sold at or below FV. The real poll is: Should we let people PM the sellers to take even $30 less on CP or $15 less on tickets we are already listing below STH cost.

I am joking. CP has been a great place to sell tickets and usually know they are winding up to some great people who appreciate it.

I would consider keeping the standards of CP to be at Face or STH, or less. The rest will look after itself. Once the forum is diluted with "ask" pricing, it loses it's charm as a place to buy good tickets within a controlled forum.

[Macindoc]

I get how STHs may want to sell playoff tickets at a profit to offset losses from regular season games that they couldn't go to and had to sell at a loss. But I am quite concerned that if there is profit to be made by posting tickets here, regular posters may find that their tickets are lost in a sea of tickets posted by commercial for-profit resellers.

You may gather from my posts on this thread that I have an axe to grind here, and you would be right. I think that Ticketmaster and its subsidiary StubHub are evil monopolistic companies that artificially inflate the prices of tickets, preventing many fans from attending events while at the same time preventing artists from benefiting from tickets that sell for three times the list price. The technology exists for Ticketmaster to prevent bots from purchasing all of the tickets for an event the moment they go on sale, but they choose not to do this, because when those bots list the tickets on its subsidiary StubHub, Ticketmaster profits from selling them a second time and charging its exorbitant fees twice.

If there's anything we as fans can do to limit StubHub's dominance of the marketplace, we should do it, to try to break up this ticket monopoly.

[Barnet Flame]

I voted no and posted my reasons earlier.

As I’ve read through the thread, my opinion has been slightly fluid.

I completely understand why the question has been asked and have a lot of empathy for those that have tried to unload a ticket to see the Wild on a Tuesday night.

My concern now is the risk of unintended consequences.

There are upsides and downsides to whatever option is finally decided upon. I guess you could trial a removal of the cap and see how it works and how it impacts upon the forum.

There are many ways to get tickets.

There is only one CP.

[Futzee]

If any price is allowed then the Ticket Exchange forum gets overrun with scalpers and becomes mostly useless. Isn't it just kijiji then? I much prefer this.

[Futzee]

Originally Posted by Macindoc

You may gather from my posts on this thread that I have an axe to grind here, and you would be right. I think that Ticketmaster and its subsidiary StubHub are evil monopolistic companies that artificially inflate the prices of tickets, preventing many fans from attending events while at the same time preventing artists from benefiting from tickets that sell for three times the list price. The technology exists for Ticketmaster to prevent bots from purchasing all of the tickets for an event the moment they go on sale, but they choose not to do this, because when those bots list the tickets on its subsidiary StubHub, Ticketmaster profits from selling them a second time and charging its exorbitant fees twice.

Stubhub is owned by eBay. Ticketmaster and Stubhub are both still evil - just not related.

[Macindoc]

Originally Posted by Futzee

Stubhub is owned by eBay. Ticketmaster and Stubhub are both still evil - just not related.

Oh, that's right, not sure why I thought it was Ticketmaster. Thanks for the correction.

[It's a great day 4 hockey]

Originally Posted by GullFoss

FWIW I know scalpers who buy on calgarypuck and resell on kijiji - even more so in the playoffs!

Another great reason to change it to only season ticket holders selling on here for whatever they want for whatever game they want.

It maybe A LOT of extra work for those volunteers on here to implement but if they need to ask for more help to accomplish it I'm sure they would get it. I would gladly help. I would consider it a way to give back to those individuals who financially support the team the most.

[getbak]

The problem with the "face value" limit in recent years is that it's so hard to determine what "face value" actually is anymore. It's not something the Flames make readily available, so the only way to find it is to actually search for comparable tickets on Ticketmaster.

For example, the Flames have 4 home games remaining this season. I found a seat that is available for each game for regular price, not resale (Sec 223, Row 26, Seat 11 -- high in the Blue section). It has a different price for each of the remaining 4 games.

• Monday vs LA : $87 face value
• Wednesday vs Dallas: $119 face value
• Friday vs Anaheim: $141 face value
• April 6 vs Edmonton: $164 face value

On top of those prices, each ticket has a $6.25 "fee" added on, plus each ticket order adds another $3.35 processing fee (this amount seems to be the same regardless of how many tickets you buy).


Long gone are the days when there were a half a dozen different price levels around the building, and every ticket for every game was the same price within each level. It seems like it would be a big pain in the butt for the mods to even try to keep a handle on all the different prices now.


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This is what I would suggest for the rules of posting in the Ticket Exchange:

• Exact section, row, and number of seats available (seat numbers available on request)
• Best estimate for face value of the ticket based on non-resale prices for similar seats in same section for same game
• Exact (maximum) asking price, and indication if price is firm or open to lower offers

Any posting that doesn't have at least those pieces of information should be closed. Open bids/auctions or "make me an offer" type posts should not be allowed. All posts must have a maximum asking price. If the seller repeatedly fails to follow these rules, they should be temporarily suspended from posting in the Ticket Exchange forum.

If the post indicates the listed price is firm, any poster sending lower offers or otherwise harassing the seller because they think the seller is asking for too much should be subject to suspension.

If someone contacts a seller offering the listed price and the seller responds asking for more money or if the seller reneges on an agreed-upon sale, the seller should be permanently banned from posting in the Ticket Exchange forum.