With almost 100 Ebay listings for the Normal, IL show alone ($1300 for 2 front row tix), and countless others for the other shows, should they have made the whole tour will call only?

Will call only does not completely eliminate scalping, but it is FAR harder to scalp this way, and most scalpers don't even bother, as evidenced by the scant Fillmore tickets on Ebay.

Of course it raises problems for people who buy tickets and then can't make it to a show, but this is a small inconvenience. Most people buy tix and know they are going. Yes, it would be better if they somehow had a system for refunding in special cases (the Orange Peel posted about this on their message board), but I'm not sure how they'd handle it, since it may open some loopholes for scalping.

If they forced you to purchase tickets with a credit card you could cancel by giving the credit card number you used for the tickets as well as the 3 digit security code on the back of the card (which is how they are suppose to know that you actually possess the card). Then the tickets would just be released to the next person that calls for tickets or shows up at the box office. If you purchase tickets at the box office with cash then there could be some sort of receipt that would need to be returned to the box office for credit (or refund). But then again, once you buy tickets you're usually stuck with them (unless you re-sell them). However, if you have no hard tix and they only allow the will-call system (to prevent scalping)... they would have to make some changes to the current system to allow refunds. Afterall... those tickets would be re-sold to someone else. But that wouldn't be very profitable for the ticket outlets/ box offices. Anyone who was simply "busy" that night could call up and cancel their tickets (which may not get re-sold). Then they would be losing money. I don't know... just a thought.

What we need is some kind fan club ticketing process. Reserve the first x% of rows for the fanclub, do it completely in house to avoid Asheville situation/iTunes presale codes and make it will call only. Make an official ticket trading board part of the fan club, and if you get caught selling on eBay you get your tickets cancelled and kicked out for good. There'd be problems with this too, but I still think other bands get it right (DMB, Pearl Jam) in regards to this.

At this point, there is no real way to keep this from happening. The only way would be to price the seats themselves according to row, which would be a true market value of the seat itself. Right now, getting in at the right time on ticketmaster.com looks like it might be profitable. I know, I'm going to test it out myself, I've got 19 tickets total for Fri and Sun Philly shows. I'm hoping to pay for my entire trip up for the Sunday show. I just happened to be on ticketmaster.com at 10:20 am Saturday when they added the Friday show and said..."to hell with it, I might as well just keep buying these awesome single tickets" - at the worst I'll still get face value on Stubhub. Don't fault me, I'm still a diehard SP fan and I will make sure I only sell tickets to people actually going to the show. I'm not going to be too greedy either....but paying $100 a ticket for a really good L/C or R/C orchestra seat is going to worth the price for someone who decides last minute they want to go to see SP. With Stubhub and Ticketmaster, it's just too easy.

If they forced you to purchase tickets with a credit card you could cancel by giving the credit card number you used for the tickets as well as the 3 digit security code on the back of the card (which is how they are suppose to know that you actually possess the card). Then the tickets would just be released to the next person that calls for tickets or shows up at the box office.

Yeah. I'm all for the will call, as long as there's a way for someone to return the tickets they've purchased to the box office, who would in turn sell them to someone else. Maybe doing the returns with only a partial refund to discourage people from randomly picking up tickets to shows they're wishy washy about seeing.

I've got 19 tickets total for Fri and Sun Philly shows.
Isn't there a 4 ticket limit per show?

That's what I thought too, but I just kept getting single tickets and opening a new browser each time.

At the very least they should have a limit on the number of tickets someone can purchase. Letting people buy up to 50 tickets at a time is a terrible idea and really only helps the scalpers...

That's what I thought too, but I just kept getting single tickets and opening a new browser each time.

Just because it lets you buy them doesn't mean that they'll let you keep them:

Please adhere to published ticket limits. Persons who exceed the ticket limit may have any or all of their orders and tickets cancelled without notice by Ticketmaster in its discretion. This in.cludes orders associated with the same name, e-mail address, billing address, credit card number or other information.

At the very least they should have a limit on the number of tickets someone can purchase. Letting people buy up to 50 tickets at a time is a terrible idea and really only helps the scalpers...

There are limits even if they screwed up and didn't limit the number you could actually select in the box on the ticketing page. This is not specific to Pumpkins, I see a bunch of shows like this.

but paying $100 a ticket for a really good L/C or R/C orchestra seat is going to worth the price for someone who decides last minute they want to go to see SP. With Stubhub and Ticketmaster, it's just too easy.

Um.... how much were the tickets originally? If they were like $40 like at the Normal show, then I'm sorry but I think it's ridiculous and greedy for you to sell them for any more than face value. Maybe I'm just not understanding what you're saying, but I don't think that's right at all.

What we need is some kind fan club ticketing process. Reserve the first x% of rows for the fanclub, do it completely in house to avoid Asheville situation/iTunes presale codes and make it will call only. Make an official ticket trading board part of the fan club, and if you get caught selling on eBay you get your tickets cancelled and kicked out for good. There'd be problems with this too, but I still think other bands get it right (DMB, Pearl Jam) in regards to this.

I support this idea... why the hell don't they do something like this? Billy's always talking about how much he loves the fans, this would be a good way to show us some of that love. Surely he's aware of the problem with scalpers, and it's the big fans who get screwed the most in this situation. The fans are the ones who either miss out because they can't afford to pay a scalper if they didn't get tickets in time, or they end up spending an assload of money that some random fucker gets all of the profit from. A fan club deal would be perfect. I honestly can't figure out any good reason that they wouldn't do this.

it would also be nice if ebay and craigslist would ban scalping.

If they forced you to purchase tickets with a credit card you could cancel by giving the credit card number you used for the tickets as well as the 3 digit security code on the back of the card (which is how they are suppose to know that you actually possess the card).

It would be great if they could do something like this, especially for people who got crappy tickets for the presale & better tickets for the regular sale. I for one would rather not go through the hassle of selling them for face value.

Ticketmaster has a program where they'll sell the tickets for you, but you have to mail in the tickets and wait for the money. They probably invest your money in the meantime like a rebate. No thank you.

What we need is some kind fan club ticketing process. Reserve the first x% of rows for the fanclub, do it completely in house to avoid Asheville situation/iTunes presale codes and make it will call only. Make an official ticket trading board part of the fan club, and if you get caught selling on eBay you get your tickets cancelled and kicked out for good. There'd be problems with this too, but I still think other bands get it right (DMB, Pearl Jam) in regards to this.
exactly, something like the NIN fan club would be great.

I would love it if they did will call. I went on ebay after getting my tix and though I knew I would find this, it pissed me off to see people from TX and CA selling 2 tickets to Boston at $200-300+. All those a**holes prevent me and others from getting better seats and make a ton of money at the diehard fans' (the only ones who will pay that much) expense.

Will Call Sucks! :banging: They should abolish it. I can't get a ticket for the Fillmore shows because they are all sold out or have the potential of getting screwed by someone who has an extra ticket but doesn't show up. :cool:

I like control of my destiny. :p

i was curious if it was a hassle for the staff at the venue, so i asked the ladies last night who were checking IDs how they found this process to be. they said they liked it, it wasn't difficult or an extra burden

Right now, getting in at the right time on ticketmaster.com looks like it might be profitable. I know, I'm going to test it out myself, I've got 19 tickets total for Fri and Sun Philly shows.

Ticketmaster will cancel any over the limit and possibly all of them. You are an idiot.

I'm hoping to pay for my entire trip up for the Sunday show. I just happened to be on ticketmaster.com at 10:20 am Saturday when they added the Friday show and said..."to hell with it, I might as well just keep buying these awesome single tickets" - at the worst I'll still get face value on Stubhub.

And "at best" you'd be ripping people off.

Don't fault me, I'm still a diehard SP fan and I will make sure I only sell tickets to people actually going to the show. I'm not going to be too greedy either

Anything over face value is wrong.

but paying $100 a ticket for a really good L/C or R/C orchestra seat is going to worth the price for someone who decides last minute they want to go to see SP. With Stubhub and Ticketmaster, it's just too easy.

If a true fan were dying to see the show and couldn't get tix on TM, and this was their only chance to see the SP (i.e. not able to travel or something), then I wouldn't fault them too much for paying over face so they could get in. They are giving the scalpers more business, which isn't good, but the scalpers would be doing good business anyway with all the other bands out there besides SP's return (i.e. getting rich on $250 face value Police tickets).

But for someone who claims to be a "diehard SP fan" to enter the scalping game, there is a big problem here. You are part of it.

Will call only is needed.

^ Yes.