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| F this goddamned commercial that is shown approximately 17 times during each game telecast. |
I knew that I wasn't going to buy the tickets from the 49ers directly for a number of reasons (most notably, my refusal to directly give the Yorks any more of my money). My first choice was to try the NFL Ticket Exchange program, figuring that I would have a better opportunity to find a good seat at a decent price from an actual season ticketholder.
Sure enough, we found some great seats in the Lower East section near the 30-yard line. The price that the seller was asking for was reasonable, too - only about 75 bucks over the face value of $199 . I immediately began the purchasing process. When it came time to enter my credit card information and get the final total, I was flabbergasted. The league was charging a $51 handling fee - FOR EACH TICKET. That's over 100 bucks the league would receive for tickets that they have already sold!
I don't even know how that can be legal. Sounds worse than ticket scalping to me.
Needless to say, I stopped the transaction and picked up my tickets on StubHub, where I've always had success as both a buyer and seller. Hooray for StubHub, and a hearty "F You" to the NFL Ticket Exchange, which is really just another opportunity for the league to fleece fans of their hard-earned money. "Snatch and grab it" my ass.
It shouldn't come as a surprise since NFL Ticket Exchange is part of TicketMaster, who's made a fortune from "handling fees" alone.
ReplyDeleteDid you ever hear of 49ertickets4sale.com? It's a site where actual 49er season ticket holders go to sell tix for games they can't attend at pretty reasonable prices.
BTW, did you get a good deal on StubHub?
Yeah, should've known better, but I was totally surprised by the service charge for previously sold inventory! What kills me is that the service charge is based on the price of the ticket - yet it costs the same to "service" a $15 dollar ticket as it does for a $500 ticket. Ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of when I sold some tickets on an earlier version of the Niners' official reselling service about 5-6 years ago and instead of getting paid out, they would only credit my ticket account for the following year. Bastards.
I usually have good experiences on StubHub as both a buyer and a seller. Since we picked up the tickets before the playoff seedings (and byes) were determined (during the week prior to the Week 17 schedule), I'm guessing we got a better deal than we would have if we waited until the Niners locked down the #2 seed.
Oh, and thanks for the info about 49ertickets4sale.com - I'll definitely check them out next time!
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