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AIBU?

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Taylor Swift tickets

254 replies

WonderWoman17 · 07/02/2024 09:09

I realise this will be frowned upon by a lot of people but hear me out. I'm lucky enough to have been able to buy 4 very decent tickets to see Taylor Swift in August this year in London. I'm a big fan, the plan was to go with family, although the 'kids' are grown they enjoy her music and are happy to come along for the experience more than being fans.

The dilemma I have is that tickets are so rare and the tour seems to be such a phenomenon that people are willing to pay an extortionate amount for them. As a family that are struggling with cost of living and have a bit of debt, I find myself in the position on considering whether to advertise these tickets for way above what I paid for them (£190 a ticket). I have seen them advertised for as much as over £2k a ticket, and I find myself thinking if there is a parent out there that has the funds/means and motivation to want to pay £8k for these tickets, would I be an idiot for not selling them?

OP posts:
Kerfuffleplunk · 08/02/2024 13:36

@WonderWoman17 you are starting to sound like a scammer yourself as you don’t seem to be aware of the resale policy at the moment…are you trying to elicit a sale on here?! These tickets are simply NOT available via stub hub and viagogo so please stop saying this.

WonderWoman17 · 08/02/2024 13:23

ForeverWinter · 08/02/2024 13:09

Couple of things to note here;

  1. Are you looking at US resale prices? There was a reason that all the VIP tickets had to be reduced and that was because the UK/European crowd simply refused to pay £600 for them. What makes you think they'll pay 2k? Just because tickets are listed for 2k doesn't mean anyone is buying them
  2. Anything on Viagogo/Stubhub ect is a very likely a scam, tickets aren't available for transfer and won't be until a week or two before each show.
  3. Axs and Ticketmaster can enforce this super easily. I've just looked in my app and as I expected they're "live tickets" It's a QR code that refreshes every 60 seconds, so no screenshots can be taken
  4. I'm not sure if you've read the T&C not only of AXS/Ticketmaster but also StubHub/Viagogo it's extremely common practice when reselling tickets to not be paid until after the event. So it won't really help you in the cost of living crisis when you won't see the money until late August...

As I've already mentioned, I'm very much aware on how to buy / sell tickets and don't need advice or guidance around doing so. I would say, whilst I stated 2k a ticket and have seen them advertised as such, that was very much a figure I put out there to state how much they are listed for and not what I would expect to sell them for exactly. And as much as I don't know for sure people are buying them at that price, I would counter that you don't know that they aren't.

Having bought tickets on Viagogo and Stubhub many times with no issue it feels highly misleading to say these are likely scam tickets. The buyer is way more protected on these sites than the seller. It's also not just common practice to withhold payment, it is the practice.

Having gone along with a friend who bought 2 resale tickets to Hyde Park last summer to see Pink, these were QR live tickets but they were simply transferred over using the app. You must risk assess who and where you are buying from, but it's completely doable. It also states on the official Ticketmaster resale details that this will be an option for people closer to the event. It's not a lead booker event so this will be the main option for people and widely used, particularly for those whose parents bought their tickets and need to transfer them over to the actual people attending.

OP posts:
ForeverWinter · 08/02/2024 13:09

Couple of things to note here;

  1. Are you looking at US resale prices? There was a reason that all the VIP tickets had to be reduced and that was because the UK/European crowd simply refused to pay £600 for them. What makes you think they'll pay 2k? Just because tickets are listed for 2k doesn't mean anyone is buying them
  2. Anything on Viagogo/Stubhub ect is a very likely a scam, tickets aren't available for transfer and won't be until a week or two before each show.
  3. Axs and Ticketmaster can enforce this super easily. I've just looked in my app and as I expected they're "live tickets" It's a QR code that refreshes every 60 seconds, so no screenshots can be taken
  4. I'm not sure if you've read the T&C not only of AXS/Ticketmaster but also StubHub/Viagogo it's extremely common practice when reselling tickets to not be paid until after the event. So it won't really help you in the cost of living crisis when you won't see the money until late August...
Floralnomad · 08/02/2024 13:00

@WonderWoman17 as soon as you sell on tickets at inflated prices you become a tout .

WonderWoman17 · 08/02/2024 12:56

Mnetcurious · 08/02/2024 12:33

I voted yabu as why would you spend close to £800 on tickets if you’re struggling with debt and the cost of living??!

I do understand and appreciate everyone who has mentioned this. I paid for the tickets on a credit card knowing that this tour is a one off experience and that by the time the concert actually happened (almost a year later) that it'd be paid off.

As a family we have an amount of manageable debt, necessary unexpected expenditures on credit cards for example that are paid off over a period of time. Cost of living is impacting us in the same way I imagine it is for everyone and we continue to tighten where we can, I did not mean to give off the impression we are drowning in debt or living stricken.

My point was that something I'd purchased seems to have risen extremely high in value and would I be an idiot for not considering selling these on to a willing and able person when it would certainly make our lives easier. In anything else in life this seems to be absolutely fine (art, media, property) however when it comes to tickets people do seem to have very strong feelings about it. I'm not a tout, I bought them as a fan and with every intention of going. Its just a thought process.

OP posts:
tralalalalalalalal · 08/02/2024 12:46

For 7k I would op

Wasbedeudetetdas · 08/02/2024 12:35

@itsnotabouthepasta I don't have 'a problem'. I just have a view on how the whole TS brand is marketed, just as those who idolise her also have a view.
@beguilingeyes yep, here I am responding to you when you tag me/quote me - how mad is that?
@CreatingChaos I'm glad that the songs helped your daughter - music can be a wonderful thing. I just personally find something about the whole TS brand disconcerting.

Mnetcurious · 08/02/2024 12:33

I voted yabu as why would you spend close to £800 on tickets if you’re struggling with debt and the cost of living??!

CreatingChaos · 08/02/2024 12:30

beguilingeyes · 08/02/2024 12:01

Why does this bother you so much? There are more things to get worked up about .
I go to 30 or 40 concerts a year, maybe more. Have done since I was a teenager. It's one of the best things in the world to do, for me. Last year there was one in a castle and one in someone's house in front of 12 people. There's room for everything. If you don't like Taylor Swift, move on. I don't like Ed Sheeran but I don't go onto threads about him and slag him off.

It is all quite strange. So what if a big singer markets herself? isn’t that what most performers want? To reach the maximum number of people with their music? Other than perhaps a few more pretentious types.

I don’t know any Taylor Swift songs other than the shake one, although I bet I would recognise some of her others. She has minimal impact on my day to day life. But I honestly could not care less if she is successful and if lots of people like her. Why would that be an issue?

She does not seem to be harmful and in many ways I think she is a good role model. I like the fact she has gained independence from her record company. I don’t love that the merch on her website is overpriced and poor quality. So she is not perfect, but I doubt she claims to be. What I dislike is the focus on her love life. She has experienced much misogyny in her public life which is completely unacceptable.

I don’t understand the appeal of Beatles songs, but I accept there is a market for them and ongoing hype. Again who cares?

anyway, her songs helped my daughter at a very low phase. It helped my teenager feel that she belonged and was part of something. It has helped her connect with new friends at university. I can’t see how that is a bad thing.

WonderWoman17 · 08/02/2024 12:24

Kerfuffleplunk · 08/02/2024 11:42

yes but you are saying tickets are available to buy for £££'s now.....tickets are not even available yet for purchasers to re-sell via the official means so nobody can be currently selling taylor swift tickets for next summer in the UK yet! if anybody is paying 8K out for tickets now then they are getting scammed.

This is simply not true. The official resale through TicketMaster and AXS are open now. There are just no tickets. A simply google will tell you as much.
You can buy a multitude of tickets through sites such as Viagogo, StubHub etc. however you are taking a risk (although they do claim to be 100 legitimate and protected). There are also dozens and dozens of other avenues you can go down to secure tickets, again, some that come with bigger risks than others. Simply do not send money to people over the internet that cannot satisfy your verifications.

OP posts:
beguilingeyes · 08/02/2024 12:13

And yet here you are...

Wasbedeudetetdas · 08/02/2024 12:02

beguilingeyes · 08/02/2024 12:01

Why does this bother you so much? There are more things to get worked up about .
I go to 30 or 40 concerts a year, maybe more. Have done since I was a teenager. It's one of the best things in the world to do, for me. Last year there was one in a castle and one in someone's house in front of 12 people. There's room for everything. If you don't like Taylor Swift, move on. I don't like Ed Sheeran but I don't go onto threads about him and slag him off.

I'm not sure I recall saying it bothered me.

beguilingeyes · 08/02/2024 12:01

Wasbedeudetetdas · 08/02/2024 10:08

I am shocked at how many folk idolise her tbh, even on this thread it's apparent.

Why does this bother you so much? There are more things to get worked up about .
I go to 30 or 40 concerts a year, maybe more. Have done since I was a teenager. It's one of the best things in the world to do, for me. Last year there was one in a castle and one in someone's house in front of 12 people. There's room for everything. If you don't like Taylor Swift, move on. I don't like Ed Sheeran but I don't go onto threads about him and slag him off.

Kerfuffleplunk · 08/02/2024 11:45

@WonderWoman17 you are also part of the problem if you choose to buy or sell tickets via other means as you are contributing to a. the scammer problem b. the ticket inflation problem.

Kerfuffleplunk · 08/02/2024 11:42

WonderWoman17 · 08/02/2024 11:31

Something that has become apparent through multiple replies is the amount of people that don't realise the ways and means of selling / acquiring resale tickets. I've been to a multitude of ticketed events where I have bought on resale sites or that were advertised on other platforms. I've attended lead booker events when I've never met the original buyer. I've been to iTunes festival multiple times way back when you had to provide named photo ID. I've sat in people's season ticketed seats without ever having their card. There is always a way.

Of course there is an official re-sale platform for these tickets, in the way they were sold there had to be, however it's very easy to buy or sell in other ways. Of course there's an element of risk but there's also ways of mitigating that risk. It's crazy to think that of the hundreds of thousand of people attending in the UK alone that some won't have bought their re-sold tickets somewhere other than the official platform.

If I did sell the tickets (again, I am very much likely not to) I would have no qualms in meeting the people at the venue to transfer them over. If there are genuine people selling and not scamming people with fake tickets they should do all they can to ensure the person felt secure in the purchase.

yes but you are saying tickets are available to buy for £££'s now.....tickets are not even available yet for purchasers to re-sell via the official means so nobody can be currently selling taylor swift tickets for next summer in the UK yet! if anybody is paying 8K out for tickets now then they are getting scammed.

beguilingeyes · 08/02/2024 11:38

If you're standing up for Kanye West then you know you've got to be in the wrong.

beguilingeyes · 08/02/2024 11:37

"I am not an expert, but there have been different interpretations upthread about the Kim/Kanye 'thing'."

Kanye's behaviour at the VMAs that started the whole thing was crass. He then wrote a song saying he could sleep with her because he 'made that bitch famous' and then doctored a recording of a phone call to imply that she consented to it.
She was called a snake and a liar for a long time before she was proved right. None of this makes her the bad guy in this mess.

itsnotabouthepasta · 08/02/2024 11:34

I still dont get what your problem is @Wasbedeudetetdas

You say Marketing isn't actually about someone writing your songs for you, it's about taking an already fairly talented person and marketing every positive aspect of that person (and researching what fans might respond positively to). Her public image is cultivated to show her in a positive light and to encourage us to feel a certain way about her

But what's the actual issue? You admit yourself that she's talented, so what's the problem that she's being positioned in the best possible light? Every single person in the world puts themselves in their best light when they go to work. I know the "professional" me, is very different to "mum me" - there's a lot less swearing to start!

The reason I like Taylor (I don't have all her albums, I'm not obsessive) is that I can relate to her lyrics. I like her simple melodies that I can sing along to. My 8yr old is learning her songs on the guitar and has been inspired to learn music BECAUSE of her love of Taylor. She's not pictured falling out of clubs or behaving badly. Right now, she just seems to be making music and supporting her boyfriend.

And as for your claim that "I am not an expert, but there have been different interpretations upthread about the Kim/Kanye 'thing'"

You do know that Taylor was vindicated in that? Kim released an edited version of a voice message - when the full conversation was leaked, it was proven that Taylor had been telling the truth the whole time.

WonderWoman17 · 08/02/2024 11:31

Kerfuffleplunk · 08/02/2024 10:06

OP@WonderWoman17 those tickets selling for ££££'s are not real......i have tickets too and you must know you can only re-sell them through the official agencies?

Something that has become apparent through multiple replies is the amount of people that don't realise the ways and means of selling / acquiring resale tickets. I've been to a multitude of ticketed events where I have bought on resale sites or that were advertised on other platforms. I've attended lead booker events when I've never met the original buyer. I've been to iTunes festival multiple times way back when you had to provide named photo ID. I've sat in people's season ticketed seats without ever having their card. There is always a way.

Of course there is an official re-sale platform for these tickets, in the way they were sold there had to be, however it's very easy to buy or sell in other ways. Of course there's an element of risk but there's also ways of mitigating that risk. It's crazy to think that of the hundreds of thousand of people attending in the UK alone that some won't have bought their re-sold tickets somewhere other than the official platform.

If I did sell the tickets (again, I am very much likely not to) I would have no qualms in meeting the people at the venue to transfer them over. If there are genuine people selling and not scamming people with fake tickets they should do all they can to ensure the person felt secure in the purchase.

OP posts:
Wasbedeudetetdas · 08/02/2024 10:08

TinkerTiger · 08/02/2024 09:42

I agree, I'm not going myself, but have been shocked at the hoops people have been required (and willing) to jump through to get them. Her music is ok at best.

I am shocked at how many folk idolise her tbh, even on this thread it's apparent.

Kerfuffleplunk · 08/02/2024 10:06

OP@WonderWoman17 those tickets selling for ££££'s are not real......i have tickets too and you must know you can only re-sell them through the official agencies?

TinkerTiger · 08/02/2024 09:42

Wasbedeudetetdas · 08/02/2024 08:47

Well that and the ridiculous hype about one person!

I agree, I'm not going myself, but have been shocked at the hoops people have been required (and willing) to jump through to get them. Her music is ok at best.

Wasbedeudetetdas · 08/02/2024 08:47

TinkerTiger · 08/02/2024 08:45

YABVU. Also find it hard to see how you're struggling with the CoL crisis when you forked out £190 x 4.

People like you are the reason that it's been so hard to get tickets.

Well that and the ridiculous hype about one person!

TinkerTiger · 08/02/2024 08:45

YABVU. Also find it hard to see how you're struggling with the CoL crisis when you forked out £190 x 4.

People like you are the reason that it's been so hard to get tickets.

3luckystars · 08/02/2024 08:41

I don’t think you will be able to do it anyway, I have a feeling it will be impossible to sell them except through Ticketmaster etc.

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