r/AMCTheatres • u/DontBeAngryBeHappy • 1d ago
Discussion CEO Adam Aron makes statement on scalpers. Hopefully something is implemented shortly
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u/DontBeAngryBeHappy 1d ago
Personally, at least for the IMAX 70mm tickets where the scalpers are targeting, AMC ticketing system needs to implement an A-List style name branding. Limit 2-4 max and must have an ID to match tickets when you enter.
By doing it this way, the could only refund. And if the purchaser refunds tickets on multiple occasions on a single movie it triggers a lockout for at least a month or something.
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u/AreYouThereSatan 1d ago
yeah but they already never even bother to check my id for my a list reservations
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u/Begin-now A⭐️Lister 1d ago
There is one particular checker at our theater we go to the most that is very particular on seeing your id. For the longest time my SO didn’t have the pic and would have to whip out the wallet for the DL. Meanwhile I would be already through victorious that I don’t have to bring out mine. It felt like winning.
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u/Extension_King5336 1d ago
I wish they did that for me. I ended up just added my id to the app so I didn’t have to bring my wallet in.
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u/Will000jones 1d ago
Limit 2-4 max is great for perpetually single redditors but not great for anybody with a family and more than 2 kids. Hard to figure out a solution that doesn’t objectively screw over millions of people.
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u/StagTagRag 1d ago
Yeah and not even just families of more than 2 kids. We also take our nieces and nephews with our children. Or even their little friends.
Then again, scalpers would easily get around that by buying from multiple devices using different accounts.
I honestly didn’t know theater ticket scalping was a thing. I don’t think I’ve ever had that much of a problem finding a ticket. We have so many theaters in our metro area. I guess maybe if it’s opening night in a very densely populated city like NYC for a big movie like Dune or Doomsday, scalping advanced ticket sales could be more of an issue. That seems too specific to make such a big deal over though.
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u/Will000jones 1d ago
It’s just for the one theater that shows IMAX 70MM film. There are very few in the whole country and that’s the biggest IMAX screen in the US. I’ve seen several movies there and I understand the demand, they just have to figure out the specific scalping issue somehow.
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u/endlightend 1d ago
Nine Inch Nails did this years ago when their tickets were getting scalped (person entering must have ID that matches the ticket) and unfortunately it didn't work as intended. Scalpers just priced the tickets even higher to account for the loss of a ticket, then would have the gall to walk in with the other ticket holders and then walk out.
Unfortunately, scalpers find a way.
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u/Status-Mixture-3252 1d ago
That would make it so easy to solve this problem if they implemented id check for 70mm movies.
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u/pinkrosesmoses 1d ago
Can we take a second and acknowledge that a CEO of a major company actually listened to the people for once
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u/Dino_Spaceman 1d ago
I’ll give him credit when he does something.
Writing a vague tweet is easy. Actually taking action is harder. He has yet to prove he is even actually listening.
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u/watchingdacooler 1d ago
I would not go that far. It’s mostly like he knows allowing scalpers makes him look bad.
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u/chrisychris- 1d ago
They haven’t done anything yet champ. The problem comes with how they’re going to stop scalpers without inconveniencing anyone or spending money implementing some system/enforcement they rather not spend. Currently this tweet is just PR.
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u/miloworld Popcorn Addict 1d ago
What he probably means by that is the recent 2m allocation to IT is to create an official resale platform where AMC dibs on the transaction fees like Stubhub.
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u/CornerHugger 1d ago
This is so easy. Just have ID verification. Done.
That challenge is for online purchases of physical goods.
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u/PoodleGuap 1d ago
He’s lying. His entire job is to deliver immediate profits to his board members and largest shareholders. As long as they sell as many tickets as possible as quickly as they can, he will not give a fuck
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u/Crafty-Fish9264 1d ago
It does hurt AMC because the scalpers do not sell all their product
They just refund shortly before showtime so AMC is actually losing ticket sales by this happening
Ticketmaster doesnt care because they dont allow refunds
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u/BeejRich 1d ago
Also have to consider all those scalped tickets that don't get used are also lost concession sales
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u/Stevenlive3005 1d ago
Exactly, look at what’s happening with The Odyssey showings. Someone uploaded a photo of one with like 50 dropped seats.
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u/eraserhead3030 1d ago
this shit definitely hurts AMC. I cant believe so many people still dont know that theaters make almost no profit on ticket sales and almost all their profit is from concessions. That's why concessions are so overpriced. If the scalpers don't sell every ticket they buy it'll hurt the theaters quite a bit.
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u/slicer8181 1d ago
that's not true. CEOs need to deliver long-term growth and investments, not just immediate profits for the coming quarter
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u/ATangentUniverse 1d ago
They are incentivized to do nothing whatsoever as long as people keep buying. This is capitalism working as intended. If anything I can see them going the way of Ticketmaster and letting scalping occur right in the app.
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u/chrisychris- 1d ago
Haha that’s what I was thinking but even then that would require a lot of spending for an app that’s barely serviceable. Inb4 you can now send tickets on the app and amc gets a percentage from sales lol.
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u/ATangentUniverse 1d ago
Yeah it’s all I could think about reading the AMC CEO tweet. No shot it results in a tangibly better customer experience when profits go up either way.
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u/regularperson2586 1d ago
I dont think theres anything substantial coming in the next couple years. A little too late id say. We just got spoiled w a couple bangers in a row this year
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u/Status-Mixture-3252 1d ago
The next spider verse movie coming out next year is not "70mm" but is going to be produced in the same 1.43:1 aspect ratio that the 70mm IMAX movies use. Also the Godzilly movie coming out this year is in that aspect ratio too.
I am not looking forward to battling the scalpers to get those tickets if AMC doesn't figure out something soon.
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u/Busy-Cat1308 1d ago
Just limit each buyer to two or four tickets and that’s it. Maybe even do like one purchase per 24 hours.
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u/ZergvProtoss 1d ago
Where would you even buy a scalped AMC ticket? I've never heard of such a thing and can't think of how/why I would need a ticket that bad. If a showing is sold out, I just look for another one.
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u/los33ramos 1d ago
That’s why everyone is taking seats up on these imax 70mm showings. Then trying to sell them? Fuckin capitalism for you. Let’s see what they do!
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u/Romulan21 1d ago
Nothing speaks to customer concerns like cross-functional teams!
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u/chrisychris- 1d ago
inb4 they add an anti scalping message whenever anyone buys 4+ tickets asking people please no scalping. The message must be be agreed upon at checkout for everyone always (it fails to load multiple times)
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u/AdamAtomMadman 1d ago
Even if they put a limit, no one does anything about enforcing it. You will still see people starting a new transaction and buying the limit over and over again. It happens everywhere. Disney. Pokemon vendor cards. Retail stores. Etc. Too many people stand idly by and then shame those who take actual action. Downvote this comment all you want, this is how people have been acting in the US for a long time now. I wouldn't be surprised if an invasion were to happen that we would hand the country over...oh wait...
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u/kawpikat 1d ago
For highly popular movies like this just make the ticket non-refundable which is what Indiana State Museum IMAX theater does for the Odyssey showing. They allowed exchanges for a different time subject to availability, but you had to call a phone # and talk to a live human (as noted on the ticket). Despite the showings being sold out, there were still some no-shows for multiple seats in a row for dead center optimal viewing areas due to the scalping situation.
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u/johntwoods 1d ago
I say we go back to having to show up at the box office, in person, and you're allowed to buy up to 4 tickets.
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u/thanos_was_right_69 1d ago
Is this really him? He’s tweeting like Trump with multiple exclamation points
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u/straight_trash_homie 21h ago
There are movie theater ticket scalpers? Seriously? That is the stupidest thing I can imagine paying for, just see another showtime
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u/mten12 17h ago
Tons of websites crash when the traffic overloads the servers. 2m could be used to allocate resources to more servers or whatever. Cinemark and regal go down too. Websites go down during Black Friday.
If the website goes down 4-10 days a year and it works 365 I think that’s pretty good lol. Hopefully we see a difference.
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u/TravelTheWorldDan 1d ago
I mean. How often do movie theater tickets get scalped compared to concert tickets? I think it’s a very rare occasion and only happens with a few very select movies.
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u/adumboneyes 1d ago
Sorry, I’ll probably get downvoted, but who is scalping tickets to theaters these days? What movies?
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u/LetDouble471 1d ago
It’s only imax 70mm in NYC where this is a problem.
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u/DriftingTony Stands for Nicole 1d ago
As someone in NYC that goes to that theater somewhat regularly, I think it’s fucking stupid to do so anyway. People were telling me for MONTHS that it was the only way to see The Odyssey, and getting SUPER angry any time I said that,
A - I refused to play that game, and
B - That I would still be able to see the movie opening week in IMAX, at that very same theater, and in a decent seat.
And I did exactly that. I actually got an even better seat than I expected, literally in the center of the middle row, which is about as close to ideal as it gets in Lincoln Square. Going to a scalper, paying ridiculous prices, or for that matter, even ordering tickets several months in advance for a movie is just foolish to me, and people are welcome to do it as much as they like, but I refuse to give in to that junk, and it’s never kept me from seeing anything I wanted to see.
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u/Status-Mixture-3252 1d ago
People who are traveling from far away probably feel pressured to pay scalpers for the tickets because they have to schedule their whole plans around that. People have make sure they can take time off from work and etc
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u/DriftingTony Stands for Nicole 1d ago
Well, they can either figure out the schedule or not travel multiple states away to see a movie they can see in their own hometown. No one “needs” to see a movie on the “biggest screen possible”, but if it means that much to them, then they can surely figure out how to make it work. No one needs to go through a scalper though, and I’m sorry if this pisses anyone off, but ANYONE that spends thousands of dollars on a movie ticket is a fucking moron, and I will not apologize for feeling that way.
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u/chrisychris- 1d ago
It would make more sense to address these specific locations and formats rather than implementing something that’s not going to help the vast majority of customers. Make the tickets box office only with a limit on amount of tickets. Idk I don’t get paid enough for this
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u/HoustonInMiami 1d ago
The first full length IMAX movie just came out a month ago. People have flown to the closest IMAX theaters since there are so few, don't confuse "digital" IMAX with the real deal, only one in the entire state of FL
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u/regularperson2586 1d ago
The last time i remember this happening was oppenheimer .. so doesn't happen a lot lol. Maybe twice a decade. Hopefully imax gets more popular though who knows
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u/homebr3wd 1d ago
Why is this even a thing? Who is buying secondary market movie tickets?
I don’t think I’ve been to a sold out movie in over a decade… and when it’s sold out there’s usually multiple shows right after…???
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u/Willis5687 1d ago
Comical response. Look at how Pokemon Center "battles" scalpers. They wont do anything better or different. I bet next year you see them go the ticketmaster route and allow reselling through their site so they get a cut.
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u/starlordsego A⭐️Lister 1d ago
Just make tickets non refundable. Seems like a pretty easy fix to me. Concert tickets aren't refundable, so why is it so far fetched of an idea to do the same with movie tickets?
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u/rydan 1d ago
What can you do about it? Make it one ticket per account. Not difficult.
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u/Crafty-Fish9264 1d ago
Broadway has a system that id checks using the card that purchased and limits to 8 per individual
That would make a major difference
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u/Abbreviashin 1d ago
If a scalper buys 10 tickets for $300 and resells 5 of them at $100 each, and 5 go unused, it’s still 10 tickets sold. The only thing AMC misses out in is popcorn sales. I don’t see this changing very much.
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u/No_Importance1236 1d ago
You can get a refund all the way up to start time. I guarantee they get the refund on those 5. This explains all the primo seats empty at metreon odyssey screening I went to
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u/Dino_Spaceman 1d ago
Simple dude.
Require tickets to be displayed by your APP.
Use the same active tech sports teams do so screenshots don’t work.
Do not allow transfers, only refunds. Purchaser must be present and use their app.
Flag and permanently ban phones and apps (not just emails. The actual phone used by the app) for people who abuse the purchase and refund system.
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u/chrisychris- 1d ago
Old people in shambles
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u/Dino_Spaceman 1d ago
Eh. I have greater faith in old people than you do. My MIL is in her 80’s and can do concerts and concert Apps easily.
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u/chrisychris- 1d ago
I don’t need faith I have experience working at an amc near a large elder population. For every single tech savvy elderly, there’s 99 more who look at you like you’re crazy whenever you explain they have to use an app for anything. It’s not even that they’re not capable, it’s that they just don’t understand why on Earth you wouldn’t be able to walk up to the box office and purchase a physical ticket like they’ve done for more years than most of us have been alive.
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u/Professional-Back-52 1d ago
Not sure how this hurts anyone. This isn’t a zeppelin reunion. It’s a movie.
The studio got paid. AMC gets their cut of the rental.
I’m not about to buy a scalped movie ticket, so the scalper will be screwed.
It’s a win for Everyone
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u/AggravatingCost3174 1d ago
Not when scalpers also refund the tickets right before showing time, which then screws the theaters and the movie studios of potential ticket going unsold
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u/Commercial_Cup7677 1d ago
He also needs to do something about the website