The problem with concert tickets...

[ZeppelinDT]

Portugal the Man is playing at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in April.  The venue has a capacity of 550.  Tickets are $25 each and went on sale at noon today.  By 12:10 the show was sold out.  By 12:20, StubHub had 91 tickets to the show for sale.  The cheapest ticket on StubHub was $59.00

:/

[obscure]

I feel your pain... been there... I just bought the ticket and forgot about the price instantly... it worked....

[ZeppelinDT]

I generally refuse to do that.  This particular situation is especially painful because I had the tickets in my cart, but due to a ticketmaster glitch, it wasn't recognizing my credit card info (kept telling me that that my "name" field was blank, even though it wasn't).  By the time I was able to fix it, the show was sold out and I couldn't get tickets.

But I refuse to take part in the StubHub scalping game.  I'd rather just skip the show then encourage that shit.  The only time I ever will buy from StubHub is if there are still tickets available the day of the show, because by then the sellers usually realize they need to cut their losses and the prices drop dramatically, often to the point where the sellers are losing money.

[Dr. DTVT]

I refuse to help scalpers as well.  The lot of them should be herded up and set on fire.

[ZeppelinDT]

This is why I'm 100% in favor of a paperless ticketing system.

[King Postwhore]

Got in a fight in the 90's in line waiting for ticket. (The old school way waiting overnight)  We had a list goning and we were all taking naps in our cars and this guy told us the list was bogus.  Well nobody cuts me off for a Rush show.

[ZeppelinDT]

Ahh.. the good old days, when you could actually confront the scalpers face to face...

[King Postwhore]

Yup.  Him and the bushes he was in took a beating.

[Beowulf]

Got in a fight in the 90's in line waiting for ticket. (The old school way waiting overnight)  We had a list goning and we were all taking naps in our cars and this guy told us the list was bogus.  Well nobody cuts me off for a Rush show.

I used to work at a regional record store (anyone remember Sound Warehouse?) back in the 90s.  I was the one who was the fastest in town on the ticket machine.  And with a loud voice, I always set the line.  To avoid having all the bums and homeless people hired by the scalpers to camp out overnight for tickets, we would distribute lottery tickets with a copy of the ticket that went into a hopper.  Then I'd pick the winning number, then set the line accordingly.  It was much more fair than camping out.

I hated camping out for tickets, though.  In the 80s, I camped out overnight at a Sears (they used to sell tickets there) for Genesis tickets.  But the ticket machine broke down 3 times!!  By the time I got to the front of the line, all that was left was upper balcony.  Being MUCH younger back then, I was just happy that I didn't get jumped and mugged!

[Phoenix87x]

But I refuse to take part in the StubHub scalping game.  I'd rather just skip the show then encourage that shit. 

StubHub can burn in hell.

I was just barely able to get Tool tickets, even though I was online the moment they went on sale. The show sold out with-in hours and then I look on stubHub and realize where they all went 

[King Postwhore]

Got in a fight in the 90's in line waiting for ticket. (The old school way waiting overnight)  We had a list goning and we were all taking naps in our cars and this guy told us the list was bogus.  Well nobody cuts me off for a Rush show.

I used to work at a regional record store (anyone remember Sound Warehouse?) back in the 90s.  I was the one who was the fastest in town on the ticket machine.  And with a loud voice, I always set the line.  To avoid having all the bums and homeless people hired by the scalpers to camp out overnight for tickets, we would distribute lottery tickets with a copy of the ticket that went into a hopper.  Then I'd pick the winning number, then set the line accordingly.  It was much more fair than camping out.

I hated camping out for tickets, though.  In the 80s, I camped out overnight at a Sears (they used to sell tickets there) for Genesis tickets.  But the ticket machine broke down 3 times!!  By the time I got to the front of the line, all that was left was upper balcony.  Being MUCH younger back then, I was just happy that I didn't get jumped and mugged!

Yeah, I would do an all nighter in the old days.  Not anymore.  Thing was, there was an unwritten rule that the first person there would start a list and we'd write our names in the book.  Scalpers would allways try to work their way around it.  Never mind I had a buddy like you that would pull a few tickets for himself before everybody else.

[KevShmev]

That happened to me and my brother with a Flaming Lips concert a few years ago.  It sold out immediately (and neither of us were around to buy them the minute they went on sale), and scalpers were immediately charging nearly $100 for them (when the ticket price was in the $30 range).  We said to hell with it and skipped the show.  We had just seen them the year before, so we were good.

Also, back in the day, I loved places that would give out line tickets during the week, like the old Streetside Records.  We'd have a group going to a concert, so we would strategically have someone go get a new line ticket every day, so say they gave out 60 of them, we might have numbers 8, 14, 22, 36, 45 and 52, so no matter what number they pulled to start from, we were always among the first five or six people in line (since others did the same thing, so there were never that many people in line to buy tickets).  Worked like a charm every time.  Got us 7th row for Rush once.

[TAC]

Reading this thread bring back a lot of memories of waiting for tickets.

[Ħ]

What's the difference between StupHub and say, Ticketmaster?

[El Barto]

I read a great thread in a different forum that was 25 pages of "ask a scalper."  Something to keep in mind is that the 91 listings on stubhub might only represent 12 pairs of tickets.    Scalpers speculate a great deal.  That's why you'll see listings pop up on eBay 2 or 3 days ahead of the onsale. 

They also eat some tickets,  and sell plenty of others at a loss.  What they're counting on is that one yuppie douchebag that'll spend $2200 on 3rd row seats for something to impress his skanky girlfriend.  Beyond that,  concerts aren't a particularly profitable aspect of scalping.  They make their money with sports and season tickets.  Probably most of what you see online are amateurs.  People who bought extras along with their own,  and are selling them to recoup their cost.

I've had some great purchases from scalpers,  and generally less than face value.  Three of us actually scored Maiden tickets for $15 total in Denver a few years back.  We actually tipped him the change from the twenty.  If nothing else, you can frequently get tickets at face, minus all the service charges.  The key is to go to the venue and buy them in person,  rather than buy them online. 

Buying scalper tickets at the venue is an interesting thing.  Even after the show starts,  you'll frequently see these guys looking to buy tickets.  As for getting a good deal,  once it gets close to show time,  they'll usually sell you a cheap seat for pretty cheap.  IIRC,  the price point seems to be about 1/3 of face value.  Lower than that,  it's more valuable to them as a tax write off.  The biggest factor in the whole thing is just being cool to them.  If they think you're a dick, they'll eat the ticket and laugh at you.  If they think you're a good guy who, maybe offered him a smoke while you dealt with business,  he'd like to see you get in.  He's probably already earned his money anyway.  As with all things,  attitude counts a great deal.


As for nostalgia,  growing up a friends mom worked for Sears.   She'd pull the max tickets a day or two before they went on sale for him.  He'd scalp some and sell some to us for face.  Most of the 84-87 shows we had first ten rows for. 

Also did the camping out thing a few times.  Frankly,  it sucked balls.  Met some cool people doing it,  but never got good seats out of it.  Our best trick was to go to the Sound Warehouse in the blackest part of town to buy tickets.  Not too many Slayer fans hanging out in the hood. 

[Dr. DTVT]

The "go to the venue" method for scalpers isn't really an option when the closest venue is 3.5 hours away.

I really need to get a job in/near a city.

[El Barto]

By the way,  here's a nice article describing how a lot of this works.  The scalpers,  while problematic,  aren't the biggest problem.  The artist and promoters are.
https://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=11481431

But internal ticketing documents show that, out of more than 13,000 seats at her Nashville show, there were really only 1,600 set aside for sale to the general public.

edit:

The "go to the venue" method for scalpers isn't really an option when the closest venue is 3.5 hours away.

Then check on stubhub the day of the show.  If it's not a high demand show,  prices will have plummeted. 

[bout to crash]

Interesting thread. I generally won't buy from scalpers but I was not going to miss Tool at Red Rocks so I sucked it up and paid $80-90 a ticket, which wasn't so bad compared to some of the other prices I saw.

[Sigz]

edit:

The "go to the venue" method for scalpers isn't really an option when the closest venue is 3.5 hours away.

Then check on stubhub the day of the show.  If it's not a high demand show,  prices will have plummeted.

Yup. Back in October I got my ticket for Tiesto at the SB Bowl (Ticketmaster was selling them for 60 bucks) for 9 dollars on stubhub the morning before the show. It was awesome.

[El Barto]

Yeah,  people think that all of those tickets listed for $585/ea will actually sell for that.  Not even close.  Plenty of them will go for a loss.

The problem with Stubhub is the markup they tack on.  I bought a Rangers ticket a while ago for $2, that actually cost $16 buy the time I printed it out myself. 

And somebody mentioned paperless tickets earlier.  It won't do anything to deter scalping.  It'll only insure that all the scalpers have to go back through TM's resell site to scalp their tickets.  TM's only trying to get back into the resell market,  and this is actually a damn good idea on their part. 

[ytserush]

Except for Rush, Dream Theater and Marillion, I'm done with ticketbastard.

Other than those bands, I haven't bought a ticket from them since Transatlantic in 2010. I've seen about 50 shows since then.

No scalpers either.


Will it hurt to miss Roger Waters? You better believe it.

But I'd rather see 12 other bands I like than to help Ticketbastard/Jive Nation's bottom line. I'm just done with them.


If you really want to go to a show. Start looking at Ticketbastard about three weeks before the show date or show up the day of the show.

You WILL get tickets. Unless it's Springsteen, U2 or something like that.

[El Barto]

I've actually lessened my anti-TM stance quite a bit.  I've come to the realization that A:  their competitors,  now that they have plenty,  are worse.  And B:  they're not the cause of the problem.  Bands and promoters are the biggest problem with our ability to get decent tickets.  That Taylor Swift article I posted pretty much nails the ticketing situation in this country.

And it's not limited to her hot, country ass, either.  Consider DT's last tour.  I was online at 9:55 for each of those onsales.  For the Dallas show,  the front sections were never released to the general public.  I refreshed probably 15 or 20 times before settling on tickets in the 200 level,  which was the only area ever offered.*  I had friends also looking at the moment they went onsale.  There was no fanclub.  While there was some scalper activity,  not enough to matter.  Fact is,  they were playing in a venue with double the capacity they could expect to sell.  Truth is,  all of the 100 level seats were held back for a variety of groups to be sold at much greater than face.  I suspect most of them were released back to TM at some point,  but not the day of the onsale.

This is a recurring thing for the last year or two.  The band keeps the best seats for VIP packages,  which is nothing but them getting in on the scalping action.  Those VIP packages are often administered by TM or LN, BTW.  They keep some decent to poor seats for their fanclubs (guess who often administers those).  American Express keeps great seats from each price bracket.  Promoters do the same.  Plenty of times the promoters will turn them over to scalpers for a cut of the markup.  The whole thing is pretty much a crooked mess.

The truth is,  everybody is scalping tickets because they have greater value on the secondary market.  They're being aided by the band and it's tour promoters.  The only people who really aren't helping the scalpers out is Ticketmaster,  and that's only because they're desperately trying to get in on the action themselves. 

*By a freak coincidence,  Metty purchased tickets a couple of weeks after the onsale,  and wound up with the seats right next to me.  Proving that it really doesn't matter when you buy tickets.

[AcidLameLTE]

This is true. I've had my mother's aunt's friend (who works for a ticket agent...or something in Scotland) get me tickets for festivals/gigs after they were supposedly sold out.

[ZeppelinDT]

I've had some great purchases from scalpers,  and generally less than face value.  Three of us actually scored Maiden tickets for $15 total in Denver a few years back.  We actually tipped him the change from the twenty.  If nothing else, you can frequently get tickets at face, minus all the service charges.  The key is to go to the venue and buy them in person,  rather than buy them online. 

Buying scalper tickets at the venue is an interesting thing.  Even after the show starts,  you'll frequently see these guys looking to buy tickets.  As for getting a good deal,  once it gets close to show time,  they'll usually sell you a cheap seat for pretty cheap.  IIRC,  the price point seems to be about 1/3 of face value.  Lower than that,  it's more valuable to them as a tax write off.  The biggest factor in the whole thing is just being cool to them.  If they think you're a dick, they'll eat the ticket and laugh at you.  If they think you're a good guy who, maybe offered him a smoke while you dealt with business,  he'd like to see you get in.  He's probably already earned his money anyway.  As with all things,  attitude counts a great deal.

This is probably true, but I don't find it especially practical to just rely on going to the venue and hoping to find somebody selling tickets and also hoping they're at a reasonable price.  I mean... for large arena type shows, sure, there will probably always be some tickets available.  But for a show like the one that inspired this thread, I'd actually be pretty surprised to find scalpers hanging out outside with tickets for sale.  I mean, it's a $25 face value ticket at a 550 capacity venue.  Sometimes you can buy them online at the last minute when the prices start dropping, but that's not always possible and also isn't worth relying on.

By the way,  here's a nice article describing how a lot of this works.  The scalpers,  while problematic,  aren't the biggest problem.  The artist and promoters are.
https://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=11481431

I think they're all a problem.  I think it also varies from concert to concert.

And somebody mentioned paperless tickets earlier.  It won't do anything to deter scalping.  It'll only insure that all the scalpers have to go back through TM's resell site to scalp their tickets.  TM's only trying to get back into the resell market,  and this is actually a damn good idea on their part. 

I guess I don't have a total understanding of how paperless ticketing works, but I was under the impression that it makes it significantly more difficult and cumbersome to resell tickets for a profit (or makes it not possible at all).  Doesn't the person purchasing the ticket have use their ID/credit card to get into the show?  I would be in favor of a paperless ticketing system that makes tickets non-transferrable.  Or that at least limits the price you can resell them for through ticketmaster.  I don't see any reason why that wouldn't work.

Consider DT's last tour.  I was online at 9:55 for each of those onsales.  For the Dallas show,  the front sections were never released to the general public.  I refreshed probably 15 or 20 times before settling on tickets in the 200 level,  which was the only area ever offered.

Hmm... that seems odd.  Not at all like my DT ticket experiences.  I've gotten great seats through ticketmaster or other online ticketing sites plenty of times for DT.  The last time I saw them in CT (a few years ago) I even pulled third row seats.  On multiple occasions I've actually managed to buy regular ticketmaster tickets and I've ended up with seats better than people who had bought Gold and Platinum packages.

American Express keeps great seats from each price bracket.

There's a super easy way to get around that.  Those pre-sales always claim to be limited to the premium AMEX cards, but they way they "verify" your card info is that they just set a pre-sale password that is the customer service phone number on the back of the card.  All you have to do is google the phone number and put it in.  That's how I scored 20th row seats to Paul McCartney at Citi Field. 

[hefdaddy42]

What's the difference between StupHub and say, Ticketmaster?

Really?

Ticketmaster is where you buy tickets from.  They are the first line, the people that actually represent the artist and the venue.

Stubhub is an aftermarket reseller (basically a scalper).  They buy tickets from Ticketmaster and then jack up the price.

[Cool Chris]

I guess I don't have a total understanding of how paperless ticketing works, but I was under the impression that it makes it significantly more difficult and cumbersome to resell tickets for a profit (or makes it not possible at all).  Doesn't the person purchasing the ticket have use their ID/credit card to get into the show?

Correct. Worked fine for me the one show I bought a paperless ticket. Though there are flaws: such as people not using their own cc, or getting the ticket as a gift.

[El Barto]

What's the difference between StupHub and say, Ticketmaster?

Really?

Ticketmaster is where you buy tickets from.  They are the first line, the people that actually represent the artist and the venue.

Stubhub is an aftermarket reseller (basically a scalper).  They buy tickets from Ticketmaster and then jack up the price.

Actually,  StubHub is eBay's ticket reselling service.  Each listing is for a different seller,  just like the scalpers would normally sell them.  The difference is that they work with TM to insure that the tickets are valid so that they're guaranteed.  Basically,  eBay wanted a bigger steak in the action.  Now they're getting a sizeable percentage of the resell value,  plus the traditional surcharges in exchange for legitimizing the entire process.  I bought a Rangers ticket last year for $4,  which actually cost me $18 after I had it emailed and printed out--bastards.  The seller only made the $4 on that.

I guess I don't have a total understanding of how paperless ticketing works, but I was under the impression that it makes it significantly more difficult and cumbersome to resell tickets for a profit (or makes it not possible at all).  Doesn't the person purchasing the ticket have use their ID/credit card to get into the show?

Correct. Worked fine for me the one show I bought a paperless ticket. Though there are flaws: such as people not using their own cc, or getting the ticket as a gift.

Paperless tickets can still be resold for a markup.  The only difference is that they can only be resold through TM's reselling site,  which obviously earns them a percentage of each resell.  It wasn't crafted to deter scalpers.  It was crafted to ensure that scalpers kick back to TM.

Hmm... that seems odd.  Not at all like my DT ticket experiences.  I've gotten great seats through ticketmaster or other online ticketing sites plenty of times for DT.  The last time I saw them in CT (a few years ago) I even pulled third row seats.  On multiple occasions I've actually managed to buy regular ticketmaster tickets and I've ended up with seats better than people who had bought Gold and Platinum packages.

It's been steadily getting worse for a few years now.  We always had great success going through TM, up until a year or so ago.  The number of hold backs has been skyrocketing,  as each of the various parties involved grab a bundle for themselves.  DT/Maiden was one of the worst I saw.  Even fanclub members were getting middling seats. Nothing in 102 (front/center section) was ever released,  and at Starplex,  that's a helluva lot of seats.   

[Ħ]

What's the difference between StupHub and say, Ticketmaster?

Really?

Ticketmaster is where you buy tickets from.  They are the first line, the people that actually represent the artist and the venue.

Stubhub is an aftermarket reseller (basically a scalper).  They buy tickets from Ticketmaster and then jack up the price.

Why don't venues just sell tickets directly from their website? Why use Ticketmaster?

[El Barto]

What's the difference between StupHub and say, Ticketmaster?

Really?

Ticketmaster is where you buy tickets from.  They are the first line, the people that actually represent the artist and the venue.

Stubhub is an aftermarket reseller (basically a scalper).  They buy tickets from Ticketmaster and then jack up the price.

Why don't venues just sell tickets directly from their website? Why use Ticketmaster?

Actually,  a lot of venues are doing that now.  TM actually has a great deal of competition, nowadays.  Two problems.  First,  selling tickets requires a fair amount of overhead.  Simply put,  it's a PITA.  TM will actually pay the venue for the concession.  If you've ever seen "facilities fee" listed on a ticket,  that's the kickback to the venue that TM pays out to get exclusive rights to sell tickets to the venue.  The second thing,  which I've recently discovered,  is that TM is just flat out better than their competition.  If the venue weren't charging exorbitant service charges,  then I suppose it might matter,  but since TM set the market value for ticketing fees,  they all charge the same thing.  Without that savings,  you're better off going with TM.

Interestingly,  here's the listing for Rammstein tickets here in Dallas.  Every seat in the venue,  listed in realtime with the total price.  Incredibly useful,  and I've only seen this done for small, theater type venues.
https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0C00475AC3619729?artistid=781114&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=1
Honestly,  this is pretty slick.

[ytserush]

I've actually lessened my anti-TM stance quite a bit.  I've come to the realization that A:  their competitors,  now that they have plenty,  are worse.  And B:  they're not the cause of the problem.  Bands and promoters are the biggest problem with our ability to get decent tickets.  That Taylor Swift article I posted pretty much nails the ticketing situation in this country.

And it's not limited to her hot, country ass, either.  Consider DT's last tour.  I was online at 9:55 for each of those onsales.  For the Dallas show,  the front sections were never released to the general public.  I refreshed probably 15 or 20 times before settling on tickets in the 200 level,  which was the only area ever offered.*  I had friends also looking at the moment they went onsale.  There was no fanclub.  While there was some scalper activity,  not enough to matter.  Fact is,  they were playing in a venue with double the capacity they could expect to sell.  Truth is,  all of the 100 level seats were held back for a variety of groups to be sold at much greater than face.  I suspect most of them were released back to TM at some point,  but not the day of the onsale.

This is a recurring thing for the last year or two.  The band keeps the best seats for VIP packages,  which is nothing but them getting in on the scalping action.  Those VIP packages are often administered by TM or LN, BTW.  They keep some decent to poor seats for their fanclubs (guess who often administers those).  American Express keeps great seats from each price bracket.  Promoters do the same.  Plenty of times the promoters will turn them over to scalpers for a cut of the markup.  The whole thing is pretty much a crooked mess.

The truth is,  everybody is scalping tickets because they have greater value on the secondary market.  They're being aided by the band and it's tour promoters.  The only people who really aren't helping the scalpers out is Ticketmaster,  and that's only because they're desperately trying to get in on the action themselves. 

*By a freak coincidence,  Metty purchased tickets a couple of weeks after the onsale,  and wound up with the seats right next to me.  Proving that it really doesn't matter when you buy tickets.

The problem here is that the prices are going up because there are a lot more middlemen than there used to be and everyone wants their cut, as you alluded to.

Another problem is that you NEVER get to choose for the full inventory only preselected sections. It's why you find people who bought tickets during a presale and just as the regular sale goes on sitting near each other.

And NONE of this happens without Ticketmaster's tacit approval. They are happy to provide the service and insure that everyone involved gets their cut for using Ticketmaster.

[El Barto]

I'd say the problem is that tickets are highly undervalued from the start.  If DT charged what the tickets could actually command, people would complain that they're greedy, Don Henley-like bastards.  So they set artificially low prices,  and then limit the number that are actually available at that price, so they can sell the others for much, much more.  In DT's case,  $125 to get in the first ten rows.*  The unsold VIP packages then get released back to the general public at some later, undisclosed time.

The actual way to end scalping once and for all is to auction all the tickets.  Let all tickets go for what they're actually worth.  Absolutely nobody (except TM and the artists) would like to see that happen. 

*As sort of a disclaimer,  I did score front row center for one of the DT shows on this last tour going through normal channels.  Freaky shit does still happen.  In this case,  it was mostly the result of the funky University of Texas ticketing system,  and the fact that I was buying a single.  They kicked out random seats,  and I had all morning to pull 100+ tickets until it happened to give me row AA.

[ZeppelinDT]

Ok, so I just tried to buy tickets to the Gotye/Kimbra show at Terminal 5 through an AMEX presale.  Presale started at 12:00.  I tried to get tickets at 12:01 and there were none available.

How do people even manage to get into shows anymore these days?

[KevShmev]

If I may channel George Carlin, what in the hell is a pre-sale anyway?  How do you sell something before you sell something?

Also, I find if hilarious, yet crooked, how they always hold back tickets till the last minute.  That is how you know TM is in bed with the scalpers.  They want buyers to think that all of the tickets are gone, so they buy from scalpers (which I am sure is divided up nicely between TM, the scalpers, the venue and probably even the artists in some cases), but lo and behold, a week before the show, like magic, more tickets are magically available! 

That happened to us with Radiohead back in 2008.  We had our tickets bought early on.  25 rows back or so in the middle, but looking for shits and grins a week before the show, I found us third row tickets, so I bought them instantly.  Granted, I had to resell our original tickets, or risk eating the cost of all three myself (since neither my brother nor cousin knew what I was doing, so it wouldn't have been fair to make them eat another ticket cost since it was my idea to buy the three new ones), but I got lucky and sold them all for face value a few days before the concert.  Whew.

[El Barto]

Also, I find if hilarious, yet crooked, how they always hold back tickets till the last minute.  That is how you know TM is in bed with the scalpers.  They want buyers to think that all of the tickets are gone, so they buy from scalpers (which I am sure is divided up nicely between TM, the scalpers, the venue and probably even the artists in some cases), but lo and behold, a week before the show, like magic, more tickets are magically available! 

Ticketmaster isn't holding those tickets back.  They can only sell what's made available to them by TPTB.  It's TPTB that hold back the tickets,  and then throw them out if they don't use them all (which they rarely do). 

And honestly,  TM has no reason to be in cahoots with the scalpers since they operate their own successful scalping venture.  When they're being openly crooked,  it's more along these lines:

In 2009, Suspicion arose when attempted consumers of tickets to a concert by Bruce Springsteen were instantly redirected from Ticketmaster's own site to TicketsNow, only to see the same tickets being sold at premium prices. As a ticket broker owned by Ticketmaster, rumors were abound that Ticketmaster conspired to divert buyers away from the main site at normal prices towards the broker site at inflated prices.

Ok, so I just tried to buy tickets to the Gotye/Kimbra show at Terminal 5 through an AMEX presale.  Presale started at 12:00.  I tried to get tickets at 12:01 and there were none available.

How do people even manage to get into shows anymore these days?

There's no prompt to enter a presale password.  I'm thinking there was a glitch.  The other possibility is that there were only 100 seats available to AMEX,  and there were 200 people in the queue when they went onsale. 

[ZeppelinDT]

There are two types of AMEX presales.  There's the regular AMEX presale and the premium AMEX presale.  For the regular AMEX presales, there's no password.  You just have to make the purchase using an AMEX card.  For the premium AMEX presales, you don't have to use an AMEX to actually pay, but you need to enter the presale password (i.e., the customer service phone number on the back of the card).