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An Antidote to Corporate Media
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1
Tenpoundbass
2025 Nov 4, 8:04am
Tenpoundbass
2025 Nov 4, 8:04am
Don't tell me this town aint got no heart, you just got to poke around.
2
Tenpoundbass
2025 Nov 4, 8:07am
Tenpoundbass
2025 Nov 4, 8:07am
Also the problem is everyone is looking for a side hustle and 90% of anything that gains popularity. Is always snatched up by people with the capital to flip it, and make money from other people's desires. Even when that investor has no use for said item/s.
3
zzyzzx
2025 Nov 4, 8:14am
zzyzzx
2025 Nov 4, 8:14am
Don't buy tickets from resellers.
It's as simple as that.
If buying from a reseller is the only way to get a ticket, then you don't go.
It's as simple as that.
If buying from a reseller is the only way to get a ticket, then you don't go.
4
GNL
2025 Nov 4, 8:56am
GNL
2025 Nov 4, 8:56am
Tenpoundbass says
I'm hoping others will share their examples of this type of thing.
Here's a personal story of mine...
I got my oil changed at one of those Jiffy Lube type places recently. Yes, I am used to them offering filters and wipers but, this time I asked beforehand how much the cabin filter costs. They told my $59.99. I laughed and said no. Without missing a beat, the "tech" said what if I take $20 off of the price? I still said no.
WTF is that? They actually scam a higher price? I think this is slimy, scammy used car salesman bullshit. This is a terrible business practice. Should I tell them their oil change is too high also and expect a better price?
Ultimately, I went on Amazon and bought one for the low low price of $8.99. I'll do it myself.
Don't tell me this town aint got no heart, you just got to poke around.
I'm hoping others will share their examples of this type of thing.
Here's a personal story of mine...
I got my oil changed at one of those Jiffy Lube type places recently. Yes, I am used to them offering filters and wipers but, this time I asked beforehand how much the cabin filter costs. They told my $59.99. I laughed and said no. Without missing a beat, the "tech" said what if I take $20 off of the price? I still said no.
WTF is that? They actually scam a higher price? I think this is slimy, scammy used car salesman bullshit. This is a terrible business practice. Should I tell them their oil change is too high also and expect a better price?
Ultimately, I went on Amazon and bought one for the low low price of $8.99. I'll do it myself.
5
Eric Holder
2025 Nov 4, 9:25am
Eric Holder
2025 Nov 4, 9:25am
I have a similar story: booked a hotel via Expedia in a college town for a "parents week" at least 6 months in advance to secure reasonable pricing, because rooms can go as high as $500 during these kinds of events. Lo and behold: on the day of check-in they "don't have my reservation" but will gladly give me a room for $400 and change (instead of orginal $150 or so). Expedia offered to either refund my $150 or plop me in some incredible dumpy Quality Inn 40 minutes away which goes for $50 on a good day.
The moral of the story is the same as in OP: avoid intermediaries and resellers as much as possible.
PS. The motel where we sometimes stay on skiing trips told me they would give me much better price if I just called them instead of booking through Expedia.
The moral of the story is the same as in OP: avoid intermediaries and resellers as much as possible.
PS. The motel where we sometimes stay on skiing trips told me they would give me much better price if I just called them instead of booking through Expedia.
6
SunnyvaleCA
2025 Nov 4, 9:56am
The concert ticket market is absolutely screwed up. Freakonomics has a podcast on the subject. (Unfortunately, for the literate people, there's no transcription that I could find.) https://freakonomics.com/podcast/why-is-the-live-event-ticket-market-so-screwed-up/
If I remember, this podcast outlines Taylor Swift's bout with them where she insisted her tickets be offered at a set price through ticketmaster so that her "less well off" followers could have a fighting chance. Predictably, the result was that organized scalper-types bought huge blocks (each individually through bots) and then made a fortune re-selling to rich people.
If I remember, this podcast outlines Taylor Swift's bout with them where she insisted her tickets be offered at a set price through ticketmaster so that her "less well off" followers could have a fighting chance. Predictably, the result was that organized scalper-types bought huge blocks (each individually through bots) and then made a fortune re-selling to rich people.
8
zzyzzx
2025 Nov 4, 11:14am
zzyzzx
2025 Nov 4, 11:14am
Eric Holder says
Don't do that either. I only always book directly and always get the room I booked or better. The only time I can think of where I would want to use an aggregator is if I am a road trip and intentionally not booked anything and just looking for something for the night when I felt like I wanted to stop driving for the day.
booked a hotel via Expedia
Don't do that either. I only always book directly and always get the room I booked or better. The only time I can think of where I would want to use an aggregator is if I am a road trip and intentionally not booked anything and just looking for something for the night when I felt like I wanted to stop driving for the day.
9
zzyzzx
2025 Nov 4, 11:19am
zzyzzx
2025 Nov 4, 11:19am
The fact that you have to go through Ticketmaster all by itself is reason enough to not go.
Last time I went to any type of show, which was in Atlantic City, there was no Ticketmaster involved.
Last time I went to any type of show, which was in Atlantic City, there was no Ticketmaster involved.
10
Patrick
2025 Nov 4, 7:57pm
Patrick
2025 Nov 4, 7:57pm
Similar thing with hotels. WTF is a "resort fee" except an attempt to charge a higher price than the listed price?
Fuck that shit. I will never book anywhere with any "resort fee".
And around here, the restaurants now have a "living wage surcharge" more often than not, around 3% to 5%. Nope, not doing that either.
One price and no extra bullshit fees or I'm just not going to be a customer.
Fuck that shit. I will never book anywhere with any "resort fee".
And around here, the restaurants now have a "living wage surcharge" more often than not, around 3% to 5%. Nope, not doing that either.
One price and no extra bullshit fees or I'm just not going to be a customer.
11
DemoralizerOfPanicans
2025 Nov 4, 8:10pm
DemoralizerOfPanicans
2025 Nov 4, 8:10pm
Eric Holder says
Yep. A lot of restaurants just need to pony up a few hundred bucks for a website or have a kid set one up using a template site. Pretty sure there are template sites just for restaurants if your willing to have menus.com/yournamehere
"You know, we're much cheaper off doordash."
(Yes, I'm far enough behind the times I didn't think of just calling)
So Have your site or microsite listed on google maps or bing maps instead of the doordash link.
PS. The motel where we sometimes stay on skiing trips told me they would give me much better price if I just called them instead of booking through Expedia.
Yep. A lot of restaurants just need to pony up a few hundred bucks for a website or have a kid set one up using a template site. Pretty sure there are template sites just for restaurants if your willing to have menus.com/yournamehere
"You know, we're much cheaper off doordash."
(Yes, I'm far enough behind the times I didn't think of just calling)
So Have your site or microsite listed on google maps or bing maps instead of the doordash link.
12
HeadSet
2025 Nov 5, 2:20pm
HeadSet
2025 Nov 5, 2:20pm
Patrick says
Remember "lot rent" when buying a car?
Similar thing with hotels. WTF is a "resort fee" except an attempt to charge a higher price than the listed price?
Remember "lot rent" when buying a car?
" In September 2025, I bought tickets for a musician I’d been dying to see. Something I’d looked forward to for years. I was ready to pay what it took to make it happen. I entered the presale process only to confirm what I already knew: the system is rigged. There were no real tickets available through Ticketmaster, not for presale and not for the general public. Those tickets had already been swallowed up by third-party bots—StubHub, SeatGeek, Vivid, and the rest of them.
Knowing it was all a scam, I went straight to StubHub during the presale process, and of course—tickets were already listed for resale. Not wanting to miss out or get “robbed” any further (since Ticketmaster takes its cut with inflated fees and StubHub resells at double with more fees—likely with Ticketmaster’s blessing), I bought them.
The tickets were purchased, my card was charged, and StubHub proudly displayed them in my app. I was happy—for a while.
The show was Saturday, November 1st. About an hour before it started, I opened the app to pull up my barcode—anticipating trouble, as always—and there it was: “Oops, sorry, tickets unavailable.”
I went to will call at the venue, but Ticketmaster couldn’t help me—they had no obligation since I purchased through StubHub. StubHub’s so-called “Fan Guarantee” promised me either comparable tickets or a refund. And since it was a sold-out show, let’s be honest—they weren’t about to offer me anything “comparable” at their own expense. So I got the refund.
Let’s be honest about what really happened here: I made a legitimate point-of-sale transaction. StubHub was supposed to act as a fiduciary—someone holding my purchase in trust and good faith. Instead, they resold my tickets. I’d been monitoring prices from the moment I bought them up until a week or two before the show. They had doubled. Why honor my tickets when they could flip them again for a bigger profit and simply refund me?
That’s the scam. The buyer gets manipulated by both the platform and the middlemen."