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

[redjohn]

Welldone to Showmasters for a sold out event :-)

 

I want to go but unfortunately I will be in LA.

 

However, can I point out a few things:

 

1. What happened to good old event where everyone can get in and pay on the day, you could have half on sale on website and other half on the day?

 

2. What about those who does not have credit or debit and only use cash form to pay?

 

3. I think you have too many A-stars coming, that is the one of the reason why it got sold out, making it seem unfair to other who are simple want to browse stalls, buying toys, figures etc and not interested in autograph or photo op.

 

4. Would it be better to have two events in separate buildings at the same time, so if we want to buy something or browse stalls, they can go in one event, pay a small entry fee. If we want to meet, autograph and photo op, we can pay the tickets that includes the cost of entry to other building? That way, it would be easier to control crowd and can let in buyers who just want to look around and buy something, if you get my idea? It would be good for sellers too.

 

5. Would a bigger venue be good? London Expo, much bigger than what we going. That would be perfect for above.

 

6. As there is no pay on the door ( am I correct, due to conflict information? ) what will happen to people who arrive to find no entry without tickets? I'm sure there are lot of people who does not online often and on hearsay.

 

7. As the line up of stars for autograph and photos get larger, you will need better barriers, fencing etc to control crowd, I have been to load of events and seeing a few jumpers, wrong queue, and misused of number system.

 

8. Tickets, if someone is unable to go, for photos op, I can't see why it can't be transfer to other who want it but sold out, why can't it be transfer to other at same value and Showmasters doesn't lose out.

 

9. Stalls setup, last time I went, the crowd was ridiculous, too many in corridor way between stalls, the stalls need to be moved wide and give enough space.

 

10. The solution to tickets tout problem is to have on site check-in where you ordered tickets on line but does not get tickets yet till arrive on the day and get tickets from machine that need credit or debit card to prove you bought the tickets, like the one in cinema?

 

11. On the spot check, that will not work. Because one could order tickets as a gift for member of family to go.

 

I am sorry to point out but it must be said, please do not be offended.

 

Thanks for the great past shows.

 

Daniel.

thanks daniel -some good positive suggestions and questions there.

but as showmaster have lots of other smaller events around the country all year round, i think their main aim is to make LFCC the biggest convention in the UK if not Europe each year(which i think they have achieved)

like your ideas about a bigger venue, better crowd control, maybe some sort of ticket transfer scheme for sold out tickets.

but LFCC has become a victim of its own success's and will probably get bigger and bigger- and will sell out each year so will no doubt in future will just be a advance tickets sale only event!(like all big live events) with people buying their tickets weeks if not months in advance

[stormtrooper1976]

I bought my ticket last November for this julys lfcc because I was advised by a crew member not to hang about and leave it too late its always best to prepare early then leave it too late!!! cant wait for this years event its going to be really cool !!!

Edited July 9, 2015 by stormtrooper1976

[Tony1975]

Got my tickets back in February. Looking forward to it! My only concern are the spot checks. What forms of ID are acceptable? I am not keen on the idea of bringing my card with me and I don't have photo ID.

[welcome_earthling]

There seems to be many ideas on this very many different view points.

 

I agree it would be nice that the refund option could be turned on in Eventbrite. However I do have some concerns with this as I can see people abusing this and cancelling tickets on whims. Also I see people buying up tickets for guests they 'may' want a photoshoot with but haven't really decided and holding on to the ticket until the last minute knowing they can get their money back when they finally make a choice, no fair to someone who generally wants that ticket. Same with entry tickets.

 

Linking into that is the issue that someone in the office will need to sit there and confirm each one, yes only a simple click but where as now when there is a cancellation of a guest theres the 200 tickets I can see people chopping and changing their choices causing the number to be quite large. As Eventbrite is also supposed to work across the weekend this refund option may also cause problems in that people are returning and requesting refunds on the day but there will be no one to make the confirmation in the office as they are all busy working at the show.

 

My solution to that is to maybe have the first 5 days of the month be the refund/resell day, depending on how easy it is to turn the refund feature on and off. That way people only have a few days in the month to return the tickets hopefully cutting down on people who have a panic they have spent too much and start cancelling things, where as if they have to wait a week they may actually have time to think it over. I also think the refund option should be turned off a week prior to the show so that there are no refunds held up in the system and people aren't requesting refunds over the show days. Exceptions to this rule, if you are able to turn on refunds for certain tickets but not others is entry tickets which could be refunded up with the day before the show.

 

I think the suggestion of having peoples names on the tickets may work but it would again depend on what you are able to do with the Eventbrite system. Also I don't think the system on putting peoples pictures is really something that can yet happen.

 

Another thought is that Showmasters work in credit vouchers. For example if you cannot make it to LFCC Summer you return your ticket and Showmasters hold on file a credit for you to use at another show rather than refunding the money. The ticket you return can then still be sold on to someone that wants to go but again it would perhaps make people more cautious with what they are buying. No doubt this idea is not as popular as people would want their money back but isn't it better to receive a credit voucher to spend later than loose your money completely? This is something retails stores do quite often.

[elgone]

Well after about 10 years of attending these events and reading the forums I finally feel I have to post something. I will use the term tout but many of these people will not be people in it to make a few quid, most will be selling their ticket(s) for genuine reasons and would have gone if circumstances hadn't changed

 

Personally I cant see what all the fuss is about, touting is a problem that will never go away when tickets are presold and events sold out. Yes its annoying but any actions to counter it will ultimately prove futile. Is this really a big problem? how many tickets are being sold on ebay? 100 max? out of say 30,000 please lets keep this in perspective

 

Even in the unlikely event you are able to stop tickets being touted online then there will still be touts selling the tickets at the venue - unfortunately I forsee a number of people turning up unaware that the event is sold out and the touts will be there offering admission. Having been to football world cups in Germany and South Africa, and concerts etc in the UK I can honestly say Ive seen touts at all of them freely selling tickets, which people are happy to snap up and easily gain admittance and I have no qualms in saying I have bought of these touts myself

 

Showmasters events are however different from these as their prime income comes from sales inside the venue, it is not in their interests to not let a ticket holder in. Also any delay in letting people in by checking id etc will cause problems as people will be rushing for vt's and a delay of a few minutes means those inside can grab all they need whilst people outside will potentially miss out on everything

 

This year Showmasters have created part of the problem by refusing to buy back unwanted tickets from genuine sellers. There are a number of reasons why people might not be able to attend. Also the nature of Showmasters business is that guests cancel and therefore people may then not want to attend, if the show hasn't sold out then that's unfortunate on the buyer but when there's a sell out its crazy to not allow it as it just drives the situation underground. I must admit I was disappointed in the 'hounding' of people on this forum who weren't going for various reasons and were offering their tickets to others that did want to go

 

So what can be done to minimise resales -

 

Allow resales through 'official' channels if the event sells out

Consider a membership scheme and allow members priority in buying tickets and at a discounted price if there is a membership charge

Have a maximum number of sales per person

Get the names of the attendee printed on the ticket (it may deter buyers off touts)

 

If Football World Cups, Commonwealth Games, Festivals etc with huge Police presences cant stop it then please be real, what hope have Showmasters got

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[nickycooper]

Just spotted a sigourney weaver diamond pass for £600... it's disgraceful. Luckily its unsold but seriously? A genuine fan could have bought that for your original price.

[eccheetham]

 

 

I like the idea of checking ID while in the queue, stamping your hand once it has been checked.

 

It makes sense when you think about it :)

 

I don't have any photo ID other than my passport.

 

i only have a passport too. but that should be enough.

[MissShell]

Just spotted a sigourney weaver diamond pass for £600... it's disgraceful. Luckily its unsold but seriously? A genuine fan could have bought that for your original price.

If it's the same seller, their first auction was taken down, so hopefully this one will be too

[Queen_Sindel]

Guys, as it is only spot checks being done this time please don't panic about ID. Breathe. I am away from the computer for some hours and find more posts here plus over 2 dozen e-mails asking "is A/B/C/D going to work?"

 

If you have some way to identify yourself you'll be fine. There's no definite list (yet) of what's acceptable. Passport or anything with a picture is of course ideal, but you are not going to be turned away if you have no passport.

[eccheetham]

what happens re: I.D if the ticket was bought as a gift, and the gift buyer isn't in attendance?

If i were you i would contact showmasters via email and tell them your situation your name the buyers name the ticket you have.

[eccheetham]

You can only buy tickets in the building on the day and once you are inside you can't leave until close time.

 

Would love to see the touts try and get past that one

this would not be a good idea. for those of us staying in the hotel nextdoor or with health issues this would be a worst case scenario. i have epilepsy so have to get outside from time to time and my friend has anxiety issues meaning she needs to get outside every so often. If they even attempted to do this they would be jeopardizing the safety of their attendees. Plus the amount of people who turned up on the day to try and get in could cause a crush and would upset so many more people.

[tompain100]

 

You can only buy tickets in the building on the day and once you are inside you can't leave until close time.

 

Would love to see the touts try and get past that one

this would not be a good idea. for those of us staying in the hotel nextdoor or with health issues this would be a worst case scenario. i have epilepsy so have to get outside from time to time and my friend has anxiety issues meaning she needs to get outside every so often. If they even attempted to do this they would be jeopardizing the safety of their attendees. Plus the amount of people who turned up on the day to try and get in could cause a crush and would upset so many more people.

 

 

It wasn't actually a legit suggestion It was just one which would be totally tout-proof.

[eccheetham]

I think every ticket should have a code and a name on it. if a ticket is put up on ebay or another auction site then showmaster should take down that code and deny entry at the gate to the person holding that ticket. that way people wont want to by tickets they know will just get denied. I don't mind the idea of carrying ID and i already have to take it to chevron so it will be no problem if i need to bring it to LFCC. I don't want to see it get hard for the fans to get tickets. I can't attend every year so don't want it to get to the point where because i didnt attend last year i cant get a ticket this year. That would just be disastrous. Anyone caught selling tickets on the day(s) in the morning should automatically be banned from the event.

[rjw499]

One of the biggest issues with con going is that you're usually buying tickets semi-blind

ie you dont know who is going to actually be there and, until the schedule is announced (after the tickets have sold out) you dont have any idea whether you can go to all of the things you've bought tickets for.

It sounds like there will be an official reselling route going forward which will be a really positive step

[Kuato_Lives]

Here's an LFCC ticket listing that cracked me up. It has the "Free click and collect from your local Argos" option bwahaha. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/London-Film-and-Comic-Con-Saturday-July-18-Entry-last-one-/151739715728?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2354645090

Edited July 9, 2015 by Kuato_Lives

[biggarysson]

Hello Showmasters,

 

Congratulations on making your event so successful It's unfotunate that some unscrupulous people are trying to take advatage of your success by reselling tickets at high prices

 

I wish I could offer some brilliant suggestion that would prevent it, but probably anything I could think of you already have, or someone would find a way around....

 

Here are a couple of suggestions I thought of, though for next year. Maybe they would help limit toutes (is that really what you call them? We call them scalpers here, but I think it's the same idea)

 

1. Limit the number of tickets are person can buy in one transaction. I just checked in Eventbright and it would let me order 30 Friday tickets if I wanted to. What legimate person needs 30 tickets? I would say limit it to two or three. This may not stop the toutes, but would at least slow them down. Yet it would still let couples or small groups of friends order together. Also if you noticed you had 10 orders of three tickets come from the same address, it would be suspicious and could be investiagted....

 

2. Right now when you buy a ticket you put in the Name of the purchaser. My suggestions is to also have a box where a person can put "Name on Ticket" and make it a required field, one for each ticket bought. For many people who are buying tickets for themseles it would merely mean typing their name twice (not a big deal - although I'm sure some would grouse...) It would, however, help alleviate the panicked messages we are seeing about "I bought the ticket for my spouse, child, bff, bae, etc. can they still use it if I'm not with them?". When a person buys the tickets they can put those people's names on them. That way if there is a problem you can check the ticket name against I.D.. If someone buys a ticket off of eBay, then they are running the risk that they will get asked for I.D. and it won't match the name on the ticket.

 

3. The worst people are those who are going to sell illegimate tickets. I can see some bad people buying one ticket and then selling it multiple times. There is nothing really you can do to prevent that and it's not your fault, but you can help prevent some people getting taken in by giving them lots of warning. When the tickets show as "Sold Out" on your website put a disclaimer underneath that tickets are not-transferable; tickets purchased from secondary sources may not be honoured at the event. You could also add a line similar to that to your tickets, or maybe include something about "You may be required to show photo I.D. that matches the name on this ticket or be denied entry". Like I said, this probably won't stop the unscrupulous, but at least it will hopefully stop some people from making foolish purchases on eBay (yes I know that some people will still do it anyway no matter how often warned, but when they do it also gives you more ammunition for when you have to tell them, sorry - this ticket has already been scanned through you cannot use it). This way if I bought a photo ticket for my best friend Fred and now suddenly he can't go, I could go with my new best friend Joe. Yes, his name won't match the name on the ticket, but since we're not unscrupulous people and are only using the ticket once, it won't even be noticed. My neighbour, though, who foolishy bought his ticket from a scalper on eBay, however, has to hope that the scalper was honest and didn't sell the ticket to five other people since it would come back as an error and his ID would not match the ticket (so he would be SOL).

 

4. As you suggested you would do, offer a buy back program so honest people have a way to return their tickets, get their money back and let other people legitmately have them. However, as you also mentioned the time right before the show is your busiest time. Therefore I suggest having a cut-off date maybe two or three weeks before the show when you can no longer return your tickets. Yes I know some people won't be happy because life happens and things could happen right before the show, but there needs to come a point when we, the customer, need to recognize that there are limits to how much we can expect. This might take some pressure off the sell outs as there wouldn't be any "wasted" tickets (ie tickets bought but then not used), or at less there would be fewer. (Although I suspect the numbers of tickets bought that now a person realizes they can't use would actually be quite low, since up to this year it has been all sales are final.)

 

5. Continue to work with eBay and similar reselling sites. Tell them that tickets are not transferable (and would not be honoured) and ask them to take the auctions or listings down. Mention on your rules and regulations that tickets are not resellable and any tickets that are resold will be null and void. And if anyone is foolish enough to post a picture that shows the barcode or some other identifying information about the ticket - cancel it in your system.

 

6. Post lots of warnings about fake tickets and scams around your entry so people will know they will not be honoured. Yes I'm sure someone will find a way to make fake tickets, even with their own names on them, so when these get scanned and you get an error reading you can point to the warnings about fake tickets and remind them caveat emptor.

 

Anyway, I don't know if any of those ideas are of any use to you or not, but they were all I could think of. Again, congratulations on how popular you have made your show. It looks like it will be a fantastic one! I can't wait to see it next week.

Edited July 10, 2015 by biggarysson

[loveamyadams]

these resellers of tickets need to be punished!

i still feel the only way forward is to copy the big American conventions and have this event as membership/registration only! (also for security)

and have a ticket buy back scheme! (mainly for entrance tickets)

 

so people have to register their checkable details(including some sort of bank/credit card and e-mail address) once registered only then can they buy tickets.

and all tickets would have buyers name & members number on it.

and if buying for other people those people will need to be registered as well(like children) and input their names and numbers to be printed off on their tickets but linked to the buyer.

 

and if anyone is found guilty of breaking any rules (like reselling tickets) -they could be banned from all future events easily by not been able to register ever again!

 

also you could take it up another level as well - by having a members photo I.D pass made for each member(for a small fee) and no ticket would be valid without a members pass, and this would be easier then to do I.D and ticket spot checks.

I should point out that alot of bank/credit cards these days ( including allmost all the prepaid ones) don't carry your name and details on the front for security reasons. Its only the chips that carry your ID.

[loveamyadams]

 

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.

 

yep and i'd love someone to get through to my Bank within 30 minutes! i've been trying that for years and no luck yet. Last time i phoned my bank it took 40 minutes.

[StuartG2198]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hayley-Atwell-London-Film-and-Comic-Con-Photo-shoot-Sun-19-7-SOLD-OUT-/281744766735?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item41994bf70f

Just thought I'd bring this to your attention as it's a ticket for Hayley's shoot. They're charging more than it's worth and lying about her shoots being sold out.

Thank you

[Queen_Sindel]

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hayley-Atwell-London-Film-and-Comic-Con-Photo-shoot-Sun-19-7-SOLD-OUT-/281744766735?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item41994bf70f

Just thought I'd bring this to your attention as it's a ticket for Hayley's shoot. They're charging more than it's worth and lying about her shoots being sold out.

Thank you

 

 

Forwarded as appropriate.

[angelstorm]

The buy back plan is a good idea - for sure ! :)

[lesleynile]

Isn't there a way Showmasters can work with ebay can stop people using certain words in a title and if someone tries to post flags it up. I mean ebay doesn't let people sell food or pets for example so if somebody tries to write 'Golden Retriever Pedigree' as a title it knows it shouldn't be there and flags it. Must be a way to stop!'london film and comic con' 'lfcc' etc. I know they can go under a different category but it still must be able to.

[uncle.disorder]

This is indeed a shame. One of the cons of the new ticket system is; should you buy sold-on tickets, there's no guarantee that the bar code is genuine until you get your tickets scanned. It's awful that people have exploited a gap here. The trouble is, if for whatever reason you can't go to an event and can't give your friend the tickets, what are the options? Lose money completely or try and make your money back. Thing is, as terrible as it is selling tickets on etc, etc..with no buy back scheme, who's going to lose money simple because its frowned upon. I've bought gig tickets previously on eBay for a reasonable price. There's no gun to the Head to fork out hundreds of pounds for anything... apart from selling fake tickets...I can't see what all the fuss is about.

[mrvega]

I completely understand this, as there is a limited amount of tickets available it should only go to people who really want to go, not people trying to get money out of "us" the true fans....

 

I always buy tickets as soon as they become available, and see from there which guests are announced later on.... Frankly always did that and there where always at least a few guests I was interested in each year, with the con getting bigger I can not see it going any different in the future, and even in the unlikely event there shouldn't be any guests I would be interested in, I would rather have take my chance than pass on a hypothetical opportunity.

 

With that said sometimes event in life makes it that as you bought tickets, you couldn't attend for personnal reason on the day, there should be a way to get those ticket back to the market.

 

This year I first bought Saturday entry tickets, for the many years I attended LFCC I so far always attended Saturday's , but as there was no a Delorean photoshoots tickets on Saturday for Christopher Lloyd, I bought the photoshoot and a new couple of tickets for Sunday, as the guests announcement continued to unfold I bought all my other tickets for Sunday too, meaning now I will only attend a Sunday, and have two tickets for Saturday that will probably go to waste, shame I couldn't make someone happy with them.

[duwain]

what if you have a loyalty showmasters account

you can book entry and prebook guest ticket so showmasters know numbers coming,

this way ticket stay with showmasters, if guest cancel,

when time table out you do the final e validation pay for all tickets in one go

given a deadline to pay, any not been paid e validation

ticket goes straight back on showmasters site or sold at event

if your unable to go maybe account can have a return you can offer ticket to be resold only on showmasters site eventbrite page