Viagogo Ripoff

[melonhead]

lol

your ticket. perfectly justified in getting whatever you can for it

roll em elsewhere

if you have a problem, dont use em.
dontimpose your own moral compass on me


IM BEING OPRESSED!

[Rex]

It's not misplaced at all, and you admit profiteering at the expense of fellow readingfans. Some fans can't get to many games for financial reasons, or because they work Saturdays, or because they live a long way away. You can't justify making money from these people just because you are lucky enough to have a season ticket.

It's a service which is voluntary. Who says that home support have exclusive access to these tickets.

[Jay o/]

The current ticket process can be abused and tickets touted.
Viagogo can be abused and tickets touted.

It happens. Deal with it! The good thing here is season ticket holders can get some money on tickets they would otherwise lose. I like it, and will use it again if we come back up and renew the partnership.

[Wimb]

lol

your ticket. perfectly justified in getting whatever you can for it

roll em elsewhere

if you have a problem, dont use em.
dontimpose your own moral compass on me


IM BEING OPRESSED!

If people are happy making money off football fans then that's fair enough, I just know that if the roles were reversed I'd feel a lot happier buying at face value rather than inflated prices just because somebody else wants to make money towards next year's ST.

Like I said, I've used ViaGoGo for a game this season, it's a good service but it's something that the club could and should have kept in house to keep prices fair for all and lessen the potential for the type of touting/season ticket buying, that others have suggested.

[winchester_royal]

How many 'genuine' Reading fans end up needing to go on Viagogo to find a ticket though? Most with even a small number of loyalty points would be able to buy tickets from the club before they sell out. A few people around me have sold their ticket on Viagogo for the odd game and without fail the person sitting in their seat is either a neutral/opposition fan.

Viagogo is just a mechanism for matching demand with supply, if you don't like it then I suggest you shouldn't be living in a capitalist country.

[melonhead]

roll em elsewhere

if you have a problem, dont use em.
dontimpose your own moral compass on me


IM BEING OPRESSED!

If people are happy making money off football fans then that's fair enough, I just know that if the roles were reversed I'd feel a lot happier buying at face value rather than inflated prices just because somebody else wants to make money towards next year's ST.

.

see thats the thing

if i was without a ticket, and i could get one that was 80 quid, i wouldnt buy it either
but someone will, its a choice, you dont have to sell them, or buy them.

but if i did i wouldnt feel ripped off in any way

[Alexander Litvinenko]

But why does this have to be outsourced so that such an odious company as Viagogo gets to keep the extra money.

Yes, it's a great service if you have a ST and can't go to games - but there's absolutely no reason this can't be done in-house by the football club, so that tickets sell for a flat fee - ideally first of all to those on the RFC database so you don't have the problems with breaking segregation rules.

What really sticks in the craw is that if supporters did this themselves they'd be prosecuted - because the resale of tickets to designated football matches is a criminal offence. But because an overseas company is paying RFC a backhander it's suddenly alright ....

[Haag Royal]

I have used it twice this year to sell tickets to games I could not go to and it works fine.

Yes - the price paid was more than what a person would pay face value but not a huge amount and anyway isn't it about free markets? I am not forcing people to buy them and if they really were determined to go to the games I can't go to then we are both happy.

Not sure I understand why people on here are getting so worked up about it.

[melonhead]

But why does this have to be outsourced so that such an odious company as Viagogo gets to keep the extra money.

Yes, it's a great service if you have a ST and can't go to games - but there's absolutely no reason this can't be done in-house by the football club, so that tickets sell for a flat fee - ideally first of all to those on the RFC database so you don't have the problems with breaking segregation rules.

What really sticks in the craw is that if supporters did this themselves they'd be prosecuted - because the resale of tickets to designated football matches is a criminal offence. But because an overseas company is paying RFC a backhander it's suddenly alright ....

im happy that the football clubas a business took the decision to use a ticket selling company to sell tickets rather than try and set itall up on its own

[Alexander Litvinenko]

But why does this have to be outsourced so that such an odious company as Viagogo gets to keep the extra money.

Yes, it's a great service if you have a ST and can't go to games - but there's absolutely no reason this can't be done in-house by the football club, so that tickets sell for a flat fee - ideally first of all to those on the RFC database so you don't have the problems with breaking segregation rules.

What really sticks in the craw is that if supporters did this themselves they'd be prosecuted - because the resale of tickets to designated football matches is a criminal offence. But because an overseas company is paying RFC a backhander it's suddenly alright ....

im happy that the football clubas a business took the decision to use a ticket selling company to sell tickets rather than try and set itall up on its own

So you'd be equally happy if they gave up the idea of selling tickets altogether, and outsourced it all to Viagogo? They could then sell all tickets on an auction basis - and never mind Royalty points, the ticket criteria could be how much you were prepared to pay :

Selling Schedule

Monday 25th March: People prepared to pay £125 per ticket
Tuesday 26th March: People prepared to pay £100 per ticket
Wednesday 27th March: People prepared to pay £75 per ticket
Thursday 28th March: People prepared to pay £50 per ticket
Friday 29th March: People prepared to pay £40 per ticket

It's only a question of degree.....

[Silver Fox]

OMG! Is that what they're planning!?!? Anton out!

[winchester_royal]

Couldn't. Make. It. Up.

[mr_number]

im happy that the football clubas a business took the decision to use a ticket selling company to sell tickets rather than try and set itall up on its own

You must presumably be outraged then that they continue to sell the majority of tickets through the ticket office, and have done so for the last century WITHOUT BLOODY LEARNING

[melonhead]

im happy that the football clubas a business took the decision to use a ticket selling company to sell tickets rather than try and set itall up on its own

You must presumably be outraged then that they continue to sell the majority of tickets through the ticket office, and have done so for the last century WITHOUT BLOODY LEARNING

agreed


WE ARE NOT A TICKET MANUFACTURER


we should concentr8 on our core business which is hot dog sales

[Royal With Cheese]

I always thought it was pissing people off by making them wait an extraordinary long time to buy a hot dog.

[Wycombe Royal]

But why does this have to be outsourced so that such an odious company as Viagogo gets to keep the extra money.

Yes, it's a great service if you have a ST and can't go to games - but there's absolutely no reason this can't be done in-house by the football club, so that tickets sell for a flat fee - ideally first of all to those on the RFC database so you don't have the problems with breaking segregation rules.

What really sticks in the craw is that if supporters did this themselves they'd be prosecuted - because the resale of tickets to designated football matches is a criminal offence. But because an overseas company is paying RFC a backhander it's suddenly alright ....

Because they don't have the systems to do it and there is no financial benefit to them for forking out for a system that CAN do it. Viagogo have the system to do it and therefore it ianother facility for people to buy tickets for seats that would otherwise be empty.

Do you have any business sense at all?

[peterroyal76]

I always thought it was pissing people off by making them wait an extraordinary long time to buy a hot dog.

I thought that was Lager?

[AthleticoSpizz]

I always thought it was pissing people off by making them wait an extraordinary long time to buy a hot dog.

I thought that was Lager?

really?

[Wimb]

But why does this have to be outsourced so that such an odious company as Viagogo gets to keep the extra money.

Yes, it's a great service if you have a ST and can't go to games - but there's absolutely no reason this can't be done in-house by the football club, so that tickets sell for a flat fee - ideally first of all to those on the RFC database so you don't have the problems with breaking segregation rules.

What really sticks in the craw is that if supporters did this themselves they'd be prosecuted - because the resale of tickets to designated football matches is a criminal offence. But because an overseas company is paying RFC a backhander it's suddenly alright ....

Because they don't have the systems to do it and there is no financial benefit to them for forking out for a system that CAN do it. Viagogo have the system to do it and therefore it ianother facility for people to buy tickets for seats that would otherwise be empty.

Do you have any business sense at all?

What system would they need to do it though?

Person A phones up the ticket office and says I'd like to list my ticket for game X

Ticket of person A then shows up on the online ticketing system or is shown as available when people phone up to buy tickets.

Club then takes money from the buyer as normal.

Club then issues a refund or sends the seller the money.

I'm no technical expert but it doesn't seem something thats overly difficult to set up and administer, given that they already have a ticket office. I'm sure a flat admin fee of £5 would be reasonable and that fee could help fund another staff member to help run it.

I don't think the fact that using Viagogo makes the club money and is a sound business move from the club is in dispute. I think what Dirk, myself and others are frustrated with is that the club are happy to let another company and its own fanbase rip each other off when they could run a much simpler and fairer ticket resale scheme themselves, not to make a profit but to help its fans out.

[melonhead]

I always thought it was pissing people off by making them wait an extraordinary long time to buy a hot dog.

done on purpose to build excitement and anticipation