Business News Gigs & Festivals Live Business

Grateful Dead farewell ticket prices soar on secondary sites

By | Published on Tuesday 3 March 2015

Grateful Dead 50th anniversary

People who resell concert tickets are just plucky entrepreneurs using the system to their advantage, according to the UK’s Secretary Of State For Culture, Media And Sport Sajid Javid. So I’m sure he’ll be pleased to see that some tickets for The Grateful Dead’s 50th anniversary shows are being listed for over $100,000 on secondary ticketing sites.

As previously reported, the surviving members of the band are set to reform for three shows this summer to mark the half century since they formed. The shows will also act as a farewell to fans, as band members take to stage for the final time together.

All three shows sold out in minutes when they went on sale last week, with tickets quickly appearing on secondary sites. And various publications have now noted that some of the best seats are being listed for resale on Stubhub at prices over $100,000 – the highest at $116,004.09 for a single ticket. Or you could buy a pair for $105,415.61, though it’s worth noting that those ones have no view of the stage.

Of course, a ticket being listed at that price does not mean it will be sold, but the cheapest of the nearly 800 tickets Stubhub currently has on its books – 20 rows back – is going for $1453.53, with tickets for around $1300 (with obstructed view) seemingly already sold. And inflated prices such of these also increase the likelihood that seats will go empty as fans are unable or unwilling to stump up for them.

Speaking to the New York Times, co-producer of the show Peter Shapiro said: “Technology brings good and bad. The secondary market did not exist like this for the last Dead shows, but what also didn’t exist was the ability to bring the show in high-quality audio and video to other venues and to your home at the same time”.

The face value prices for tickets ranged between $59.50 and $199.50.



READ MORE ABOUT: |