Collectors' items

[Dave B]

AEG, the promotors of the Michael Jackson concerts, have hit upon an ingenious idea to minimise their uninsured lossed by announcing that fans may hold on to their tickets provided they forgo the right to a refund - claiming that the tickets could become valuable collectors' items.

Now, is it just me? 800,000 tickets printed and sold, and many fans will no be deliberately looking after them - keeping them safe and pristine. I might as well claim that my washing machine is a bloody collectors' item.

These £75 tickets, if you keep hold of them for several decades, might be worth a couple of quid; but surely given the volume produced you're better off getting thre refund and sticking the money in the bank.

Or am I wrong? Is there a boyant market for this sort of stuff?

[Mark]

AEG, the promotors of the Michael Jackson concerts, have hit upon an ingenious idea to minimise their uninsured lossed by announcing that fans may hold on to their tickets provided they forgo the right to a refund - claiming that the tickets could become valuable collectors' items.

Now, is it just me? 800,000 tickets printed and sold, and many fans will no be deliberately looking after them - keeping them safe and pristine. I might as well claim that my washing machine is a bloody collectors' item.

These £75 tickets, if you keep hold of them for several decades, might be worth a couple of quid; but surely given the volume produced you're better off getting thre refund and sticking the money in the bank.

Or am I wrong? Is there a boyant market for this sort of stuff?


For £75 (realisically £150 unless you want to go on your own), would I be holding onto them? No way, I'd want my money back!

Very smart of them to think that way mind! Apparently it was this tour that killed him off, he thought it was signing up for 10 dates, not 50, and so was rather concerned!

[schmenke]

... I might as well claim that my washing machine is a bloody collectors' item...

It would be had it been used to wash MJ's glove :D

[Tazio]

It's my opinion that with the economic situation as it is today.
Many people have to make choices between entertainment, and leisure activity expenses, and dedicate money to their decisions.
I think these people will most definitely want their money back, in order to dedicate it to another activity!

[Hazell B]

As somebody who trawls the auctions almost daily, I'd say there will be some demand for these tickets over the years, but there's a massive "but" involved as usual.

There are 8 designs to the tickets, so collectors who are daft enough to see them as investments will have to get all 8. At least one of the 8 will be limited to VIP only tickets, so almost impossible to get a hold of (probably because they've not been sent out at all yet and won't have to be ordered pre-event as they are give aways). That means nobody will get a whole set in reality, except the promoters.

When the promoters arrange to auction a full set (with themselves the bidders buying them back, which is perfectly legal) they'll sell for several thousand pounds. As a result lots of normal holders will assume their ticket is worth the sale 'value' divided by 8, per ticket. They won't be worth anything like that much, of course. Normal holder will try to sell at the falsely inflated price (and fail) and the promoters will flood the market with all the ones they've paid cash back on .... and make as much as if the gigs went ahead.

Not that I'm a cynic, of course :p :

[Robinho]

get your money back and invest in undated 20p's