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Real fans thoughts on this its a new problem that we have to solve


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The problem I see with ID checks is the time it takes...Lets say it takes an average of 10 seconds per attendee to check the ticket and ID (Some will be faster, having all paperwork ready and recognisable ID's, others will have to rummage through bags first finding their ID, etc) and you would have 10.000 attendees, that means it takes 100.000 seconds, being almost 28 hours of manpower to check tickets and let people in. Lets say you have three entryways with the usual two man at the door checking, this means it takes almost 5 hours before the last person is in!

 

Problems with photo's on tickets: Legal implications, I have no idea if an organiser is allowed to ask attendees to take their pictures, upload their pictures, store them and print them on tickets. Also, it means tickets can not be bought as gifts anymore. and of course lets not mention the possibility photo's on E-tickets are just part of the digital file and therefore can easily be edited and thus forged.

 

They did this with the Ryder Cup last year.

 

I had to upload photos of everyone in my party. So their photos appeared on the tickets I had brought for them.

 

As for editing and forgery. Way around that is, rather than having instant downloads, have the e-tickets released a week ahead of the event.

 

Like I said, it's just brain storming and food for thought for Showmaster.

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I think you need to somehow differentiate between people who bought a ticket & now can’t go, & someone buying a number of tickets solely to sell on. Last year I bought a photoshoot at double the price from a similar site to ebay along with a standard day ticket direct from Showmasters.

 

This year I bought a ticket for all 3 days well in advance, but knowing I’d be unlikely to want to or be able to go on all 3 days. It hadn’t dawned on me back then that it might sell out, I just wanted to make sure I could get auto’s/shoots that I wanted & accepted I'd lose out financially if I missed a day. I had a look at my tickets the other night with the thought of selling one that I don’t need, but with a list price of around £15 I decided it wasn’t worth bothering, though of course it hadn’t dawned on me then that with it selling out, that people would be that desperate & would pay well over the odds for just an entrance ticket (though bearing in mind I paid double for a shoot, I guess I should have realised!).

 

A few rock festivals have the buy back facility so people can go on a reserve list so maybe this is something that could be brought in next year so that people like me this year could sell back a ticket they don't require & that people like me last year could buy one without someone else profiting massively.

 

Easy to spot. Those who can't make it sell it at face value. Those who want to profit, sell it at £100+.

 

If Showmasters are keen to enforce their non-transferrable rule. They need to come up with ideas on what can make a ticket physically non-transferrable.

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A photo on a physical ticket might work, but on an electronic one it can be photoshopped.

 

Add a watermark over the photo. Any attempt to lift and paste the watermark will be obvious.

 

Like I said it's just a suggestion (adding a photo to a ticket). But doing something to help make them non-transferrable is better than doing nothing.

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Unfortunately, whenever you post out the tickets way in advance (as happened here) then some will find their way to online auction sites. And other places. That's just a fact of life.

 

Couple of events I've been to in the U.S., this problem has been totally eliminated by only giving the physical ticket/pass out on the day, or perhaps the day before. Despite very large crowds, there was literally only minimal delay in getting in.

As you get to certain points in the queue, you had to show/provide your receipt, proof of purchase, whatever. Soon as you got in the building - boom, there's your entry ticket, away you go.

 

Showmasters wants to help the real fans; fair play to them. However, if people have [imo] more money than sense and specifically want to pay hundreds and hundreds of pounds for something they know for a fact costs 10 or 20 times less, then, with all due respect, that is up to them.

 

If SM want to stop the touting of physical tickets, the only real deterrent method (sometimes employed by major sports teams) is to make sure everybody knows that any tickets found on certain online sites will be traced, & automatically cancelled without refund.

Edited by Mr Brownstone
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I'm just thankful that showmasters are actually doing something about this. :)

It will be interesting to see what they decide to do as many have tried over many years and failed to stop it from happening. I've been subject to all kinds of different ways of selling tickets and gaining entry to venues over the years and every time there have been ways around the system and tickets have still been sold at extortionate prices.

 

This is the instructions for a David Gilmour concert I'm going to at the Royal Albert Hall later this year:

• The lead booker must attend the concert and photo ID in its original format (no photocopies) will be required to gain entry to the venue. There will be no exceptions to this rule.

• The name cannot be changed once the booking has been made.

• If you are booking more than one ticket your guests must enter the concert at the same time as you. Failure to do so will result in the guests being turned away.

 

But obviously as one person can buy more than one ticket, it's possible to sell the others to anyone as long as they enter with the lead booker, so even these restrictions won't stop it. I've seen tickets in the area I'm sitting (face value £100) that people are asking over £1000 for.

 

It doesn't matter if tickets aren't sent out until nearer the event either as people still sell the promise of them and arrange to meet the buyer on the day.

 

Good luck on finding a system that's easy to manage, fair on the attendees and stops the reselling. No one else has managed it as far as I am aware and they've been trying an awful lot longer.

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What if there were checkpoints outside the venue? So when you buy the tickets online they will have your photo on them, a copy of your signature and 3 security questions. Upon getting to the venue you will be asked the answers to these questions, your barcode scanned, your picture checked, your signature checked, a quick phone call to the bank you are with will be made to authorise you are who you say you are and you live at the address stated on your reciept when you made payment.

 

 

I think it can be done. It'll take a lot of manpower and a big phone bill but it will certainly cut down on those pesky people that didn't have the money for tickets 12 months in advance lol. Those rascals waiting till their last pay day to buy tickets and then there's none left. How dare they! *shakes fist*.

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This is the instruction to purchase photo tickets for the Ryder Cup:

 

Before purchasing a ticket, each individual must upload a passport style photograph of themselves. Please do so by going to the Photo Upload system at the link below:

http://www.seetickets.com/rydercup/photo/?v=FRM_LOGIN_PRACTICE

When you have received confirmation that your photograph has been approved, please go to the exclusive link shown below to purchase tickets (subject to availability):

http://www.seetickets.com/rydercupsales

 

It's worth noting that the buyer had to go through a ballot (to purchase tickets). Lets hope Showmaster doesn't go down that route.

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What if there were checkpoints outside the venue? So when you buy the tickets online they will have your photo on them, a copy of your signature and 3 security questions. Upon getting to the venue you will be asked the answers to these questions, your barcode scanned, your picture checked, your signature checked, a quick phone call to the bank you are with will be made to authorise you are who you say you are and you live at the address stated on your reciept when you made payment.

 

 

I assume you're kidding? Personal phone calls to banks is asking for monumental trouble, as well as severe legal ramifications.

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i hope SM come up with something thats workable.British people love patiently queueing but hate it when they don't move on time or get held up especially when so many people are on the Bull run for VT tickets .lots of the ideas mentioned on here for checking would take an age if your going to do more than just scan barcodes and not very realistic..I think we have to accept some people will allways look to make money if they can, thats life. I would guess that management at Olympia will be on site at some point so its up to Jason to ask them how they deal with the problem at other events they host.It can be done if theres a will to do it because lets face it people buying LFCC tickets is hardly on the scale of dozens of ticket touts selling cup final tickets or the Wimbledon tennis ticket black market.

Edited by loveamyadams
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What if there were checkpoints outside the venue? So when you buy the tickets online they will have your photo on them, a copy of your signature and 3 security questions. Upon getting to the venue you will be asked the answers to these questions, your barcode scanned, your picture checked, your signature checked, a quick phone call to the bank you are with will be made to authorise you are who you say you are and you live at the address stated on your reciept when you made payment.

 

 

I think it can be done. It'll take a lot of manpower and a big phone bill but it will certainly cut down on those pesky people that didn't have the money for tickets 12 months in advance lol. Those rascals waiting till their last pay day to buy tickets and then there's none left. How dare they! *shakes fist*.

What's next ? Would you like me to provide a DNA swab ? Or perhaps a Retina Scan ? After all we all know finger prints can be faked right ? All you need is a Gummy Bear lol

 

No all joking aside I think the way forward is checking ID's before the event opens and having a legitimate platform to be able to sell unwanted tickets :)

 

I have no problem in bringing my bank card with me to use as ID as this is a less risky option in my view :) Although this does mean my over spending risk goes up lol Does anyone know if the site has a cash point ? If it does and you see me gravitating towards it you have my permission to stop me ! lol

There are cash points but they will be busy and likely be empty due to overuse. I would recommend loading up before you arrive.

 

I agree with ID checking with your entry tickets at the door.

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At this stage, in my opinion - a buy back/exchange/refund option for tickets would drastically reduce the secondary market for tickets.

 

My main concern with introducing a strict ID checking process, is how much slower the entry process would potentially be - others have mentioned additional problems with this (Cos-players etc).

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An exchange system would make things a whole lot easier. If people are being told that the ticket that they spent a small fortune for that they're no longer able to use is non-refundable and that they've just got o deal with losing that money, then of course they're going to try to get that back.

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while i think ticketless is probably the way to go, i kind of agree that the checking shouldn't get too intrusive; having to bring the card you used should be enough, i'm not sure what extra level of use also needing photo ID would bring? Edit ~ as some have pointed out, what if someone's in cosplay? passport might be no use if you've got full Darkman makeup on etc!

The other point is my being a saddo collector of tickets, lol - i have all my concert and cinema tickets and i'd be miffed if i didn't have a convention ticket - they'd have to have a printable one that you could access after the event! :-D

Edited by Wolfie138
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Having to upload a photo will cause chaos.

 

As people didn't see the big tick box where you need to add on the validation fee what are they chances they'd be able to upload a picture of themselves

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I wouldn't do anything that slows down entry or makes things more complicated...a badge/id system might work if you had the space and extra volunteers to process it more quickly.

 

Since the percentage of tickets that have ended up on ebay is tiny, why not devote one of your staff to regularly check and report ebay sales, citing the non-transferrable nature in your report.

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You do realise that not everyone reads this forum? It is unfair and impractical to introduce anything at this point because at best only 10% of people will know about it. I've bought all the tickets for both myself and my partner. Everything is in my name and if she needs to be at a different photo op to myself then the fact she has a ticket should be proof enough.

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You do realise that not everyone reads this forum? It is unfair and impractical to introduce anything at this point because at best only 10% of people will know about it. I've bought all the tickets for both myself and my partner. Everything is in my name and if she needs to be at a different photo op to myself then the fact she has a ticket should be proof enough.

i beleive they've already said this is for next year.

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You do realise that not everyone reads this forum? It is unfair and impractical to introduce anything at this point because at best only 10% of people will know about it. I've bought all the tickets for both myself and my partner. Everything is in my name and if she needs to be at a different photo op to myself then the fact she has a ticket should be proof enough.

 

i beleive they've already said this is for next year.
Yeah I read that but also read they are doing spot checks. So which is it?
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You do realise that not everyone reads this forum? It is unfair and impractical to introduce anything at this point because at best only 10% of people will know about it. I've bought all the tickets for both myself and my partner. Everything is in my name and if she needs to be at a different photo op to myself then the fact she has a ticket should be proof enough.

I would imagine the spot checks will be for entry, not during the photos, so in most cases like yours people who bought tickets together, will be together. Edited by Wrong Name
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I'm not sure if spot checks will stop the problem, if the event is sold out and someone is desperate to get in, they maybe willing to gamble on not being checked.

I think it's too close to the show now for SM to implement anything that will truly stop people, but spot checks may put some of them off or catch some. The real discussion is what they can do for next year.
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I agree it can't be stopped but SM have to limit the number of tickets being resold. If everyone bought two tickets, one for themselves and one to sell at an inflated price, where would that leave fans? If you are not quick enough to buy a ticket, then an inflated price one would be your only option.

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