Hi all,
Just a quick note to clarify our intention with the pre-sale tickets on the Vault Pre-Sales page. These tickets are meant for members who are on the Vault for the same reasons that we hope all fans and followers are so dedicated to Third Man: for sincere and genuine interest in Third Man artists and releases, vinyl, historic recordings and reissues, art, film, literature, challenging normalcy in the antiquated music industry, analog recording, high-quality collectible products, etc. An intention that is not encouraged (and, in fact, not tolerated) is turning a profit off of our members' genuine interests in such creative works.
Although it would be impossible for us to filter members by intention upon purchasing a product, it becomes pretty clear on the secondhand market whose intentions are less than honorable. If and when a break in this policy occurs, really for any offer extended to Vault members, the Vault member(s) and any outstanding store orders will immediately be canceled from the Vault and membership will be revoked.
We hate to be so strict about this policy but feel that it is our responsibility to stick up for the members who have been so loyal, supportive and kind over the years since this whole crazy experiment began. Hope to have you all on board for years to come.
Vault News
Vault Ticketing Policy Note
I have to Agree with Michael B. A email would be huge so we know when the tickets go up. I pay a good chunk of change for this and the ability to buy tickets is a HUGE part of my reasons for joining the Vault. Please post a response to all the Vault members on this comments thread. thank you for doing what you do….
Just want to say it would have been nice to get a fucking email alerting me to the presale in the first place because I had no idea it was happening for vault members and I just struck out on tickets through ticketmaster. So thanks for that. Contemplating cancelling this bullshit now.
The other interesting & frustrating thing I noticed is that there were over 60 tickets available on resale sites yesterday so where did those tickets come from?
Joined the Vault for the purpose of presales to find they were already sold out & could not get tickets through Live Nation online or through the mobile app, had tix in my mobile app cart twice & the app crashed. Really disappointed here in NC right now.
Radiohead has done it for years at all their shows—incl. the Auditorium in Chicago and much larger venues I know they don’t “own”. There’s normally not that many presale tix to begin with so it’s not a big ordeal to simply look up a name on a list and hand the tickets out. Queens/Stone Age just did it for all tickets to their show at an 1100 capacity theater—-the line moved swiftly with no issue.
@fsutall – Ticketmaster would not transfer or refund my tickets either. You have to contact the venue. They would not release the tickets but they were more than willing to change the credit card number so my friend could use the tickets. I agree there has to be a solution like a refund option in case something happens for a fan who can not legitimately make the show. But I think that can easily be worked out. They can offer a refund policy and sell those refunded tickets the day of the show. I actually have upgraded my tickets for a couple of shows from fans who had their tickets refunded.
@Cathryn You were fortunate to be able to transfer your tickets. With rare exceptions I refuse to purchase paperless or will-call tickets if there is no option to transfer them. I had purchased tickets to see Jack in Chattanooga in 2012 but had a work trip come up. I contacted crowd surge and the venue but they would not give me a refund or allow me to transfer the tickets to anybody else, so I ended up losing approx. $150. I hate scalpers too but there has to be a solution that doesn’t punish fans that have to miss shows for legitimate reasons.
Thank you for writing this. I just moved to Nashville for work and to get closer to the Third Man experience. I was devastated that I missed out on the Record Store Day tickets. I am with the vault, live in Nashville, an AVID Jack White fan, and I still failed to get tickets!. This would have been a dream come true. It breaks my heart to know my tickets were probably sold to a scalper. Hopefully you can weed them out.
@Ben Swank, Kudos to you for catching the scalper on eBay and craigslist! I am grateful that I was able to get 2 tickets to the Masonic Temple show in Detroit! In 2012, I was not one of the lucky ones that got tickets through the pre-sale or Ticketmaster on opening day. Thankfully, Jack added a second matinee show, and I was able to get tickets in person at UHF Record Store in Royal Oak (I was early in line). I got to stand front and center in front of the stage. The show was AMAZING!!!
Thank you for looking out for the real fans; it is much appreciated!
Thank you Third Man for trying to keep the scalpers away.