Unfortunately it did not quite work out that way. Her tour tickets, reported in
Billboard as a “messy” pre-sale, sold out in about four hours. PerezHilton reported that despite her team’s efforts to control the market, on the first day for European sales the ticket prices were already going for ten times their original prices.In the United States, Adele’s management has decided to control ticket prices by partnering with the biggest ticket reseller in the world,
Ticketmaster. That does not seem to be working out well for the average fans either.
On December 16, the day before the general public on sales began, Ticketmaster was listing tickets priced between $39.50 and $233.00. VIP packages, are listed between $250 and $750. In the major markets most of those were sold out, despite the 300 percent plus mark ups on face value. These prices do not seem to be very “regular” fan friendly.
And that is before those tickets reach the secondary market.
Perhaps it is her management’s attempts to control the market which are actually causing the high ticket prices. In the free market, supply and demand generally determines prices. There are two clear factors that are impacting Adele ticket prices in an upward climb. First, the primary ticket seller holding back tickets, as well as selling these “VIP” packages, which inflates the prices. Second, the more you try to control access to tickets, the higher the prices will climb. It is human nature for that lucky fan holding a $39 ticket to sell it when offered $400.
Fans are only going to buy tickets at the prices they desire or can afford. If Adele wants to help her fans get reasonably priced tickets, perhaps she should begin by severing her relationship with the world’s biggest reseller, and instead let the free market operate like it is designed to do.
Darnell Goldson: [email protected], 860-993-3906
