Fan frustration: Elton John tickets sell out fast, then turn up on resale sites at huge markup

More than a few Elton John fans were irked after more than 14,000 tickets for his June 11 appearance at Wells Fargo Arena sold out within an hour Friday, then turned up on resale sites for hundreds — even thousands — of dollars more.

Tickets to the rock 'n' roll legend’s farewell tour show at the Iowa Events Center originally were priced from $69.50 to $224.50.

By Monday, some secondary sale sites like StubHub and Ticketmaster were asking $300 to $680 apiece. 

“I went online Friday at 10 a.m. to buy tickets from the authorized seller Hy-Vee Tix.com, waited an hour in a virtual waiting room and had to log off due to another commitment,” wrote upset reader Katie Roth of West Des Moines. “When I returned an hour later, tickets were no longer available. I then went on Ticketmaster and, lo and behold, they had a tremendous amount of tickets but at two to three times the regular price advertised.”

Roth, 64, asked if the Iowa Events Center got a kickback for selling so many tickets to secondary sales sites.

Chris Connolly, general manager of the Iowa Events Center, says that doesn’t happen. The events center tries to cap sales at eight tickets per credit card, but the resale sites still manage to buy up tickets, anyway.

Ticketmaster and American Express also had pre-sale events under agreements with the artist, he said.

“It’s just extremely high demand,” he said. “We try to keep them out of brokers’ hands, but it’s part of the business.”

Connolly said some fans benefit when they sign up for the Iowa Events Center’s Cyber Club, which hosts periodic pre-sales for fans.

But those may not happen with artists as big as Elton John or Garth Brooks, who sold out six shows at Well Fargo Arena.

Fans also need to take care to avoid getting overcharged on secondary sites when buying tickets to such shows.

The problem is so bad, folks at the Des Moines Civic Center reached out to Watchdog in 2014, warning consumers that they were likely paying too much if they weren’t using the center’s official website.

Nationally, online ticket brokering has exploded in the past decade, pitting primary ticket sellers, performers and promoters against those who milk billions of dollars from the secondary market, and straight-up scammers who pawn off fake tickets online.

Connolly said those who really want tickets to a high-demand concert like Elton John should figure out what they need to do to take part in any pre-sales, like being an American Express cardholder or becoming a verified fan at EltonJohn.com.

But, he added: "Honestly, the demand was so strong for this show that I firmly believe that we could have sold two shows out at just over 28,000 total paid tickets. These kinds of shows are rare, but the demand was through the roof."

Lee Rood's Reader's Watchdog column helps Iowans get answers and accountability from public officials, the justice system, businesses and nonprofits. Reach her at lrood@dmreg.com or 515-284-8549. Follow her on Twitter at @leerood and on Facebook at Facebook.com/readerswatchdog. Our subscribers make the Reader's Watchdog possible.

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