How are ticket prices determined?
We sell tickets on behalf of our clients, including artists, venues, and event organisers. Our clients decide the face value price of their tickets and when a ticket is sold we pay our clients the money collected from the sale of that ticket.
Similarly all per ticket service charges and per booking order processing fees are decided in consultation with our clients. Ticketmaster does not set these fees without the agreement of our clients.
Here is the breakdown of a ticket purchase:
Face Value Price
The ticket face value price is always set by our clients. The only exception is for Auctions, where the winning bid is the final price and for Platinum Tickets, where we work with our clients to decide an appropriate market based price. In most circumstances, Ticketmaster sends the amount it collects on the face value of the tickets to its clients. In certain circumstances, for example where Ticketmaster presents "all-in-pricing" or in an auction setting, Ticketmaster may retain some portion of that face value for its services and remit the balance to the client.
Service Charge
This per-ticket service charge is the main income for Ticketmaster and this cost varies from event to event, but it is always agreed in consultation with our client. This fee contributes to our credit/debit card processing services, merchant fees and distribution costs and also helps pay for the technology, including installation and maintenance of computer hardware and software, telephone lines, associated labour in addition to access control at venues that makes it possible to provide the most convenient - and safest - ticket buying options available. The amount of these fees used by Ticketmaster helps us cover getting you your tickets and technology costs. With other revenues it helps us to stay a profitable business, which in turn allows us to reinvest in our technology and the services we provide.
Order Processing Fee
We offer our customers a variety of convenient delivery options. For the majority of delivery options, customers are not required to pay an order processing fee. However in some instances such as where International Mail or Secure Mail is offered on an event a per-order fee (regardless of how many tickets are purchased) may be added to the cost of a customer's purchase.
