The Best One Yet - 🍂 “Leaf Blower Problems”— Electric Leaf Blowers’ broken biz model. TicketMaster’s European T-Swift breakup. Work-From-Home’s shopping surge.

Episode Date: May 28, 2024

The Department of Justice just sued to break up Live Nation from Ticketmaster — But there’s a solution to the $10,000 Taylor Swift concert ticket, and we found it in Paris, France.Summer has unofficially begun, which means a leaf blower is about to interrupt your lovely afternoon — But the electric leaf blower’s boom has a big business model problem.And because of Work-From-Home, we’re spending $375B more shopping online midday: It’s nationwide Retail Therapy - And the most popular hour everyone shops is… 11am Friday.Plus, with inflation so high, dupes aren’t just popular with denim, they’re popular with travel —So we want to hear your “Destination Dupes” (because Liverpool is basically lower-priced London).$ABNB $LN $ETH $SWKWatch us on YouTubeGet the Saturday Newsletter: tboypod.com/newsletter  Submit Shoutout Requests Submit The Best Fact YetFollow us: on InstagramAnd connect with us on Nick’s LinkedIn & Jack’s LinkedInAbout Us: The daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. 15 minutes on the 3 biz stories you need, with fresh takes you can pretend you came up with — Pairs perfectly with your morning oatmeal ritual. Hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. Welcome back. It is Tuesday. Tea Boy, Tuesday, May 28th. And today's pod, it is the best one yet. It's a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today.

Jack, I may or may not be coming at you straight out of Gwyneth Paltrow, Santa Barbara Bungalow, baby. I know, you're still there, aren't you? Yeah, you see those seashells? She may or may not have picked those out. I don't actually know. Wait, you're not staying in her actual Airbnb because Gwyneth Paltrow put her guest house on Airbnb, right? I'll save that for. for another pod. In the meantime, everything smells organic. First story for today's

fantastic show, Jack, what do we got, man? For our first story, the U.S. government just sued to break up the Ticketmaster Concert Ticket Monopoly. But yet is, this story is really about Taylor Swift's European concert arbitrage. For our second story, a surprise accidental consequence of work from home. It's midday online shopping. Yeah, it is. It's retail therapy, and Jack and I will tell you the exact time that everyone is buying. And our third and final story. The start of the summer means the start of leafblower season. The leaf on my get you up.

Can you turn that off for just like five minutes? We're in the middle of a podcast. We just got to finish the recording. Just seriously, five minutes. The electric leaf blower. It was supposed to save your neighborhood and the leafblower industry, but actually will it. But yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. What a mix of stories to come back to love the mix, Jack.

We've told you about doops running wild in the economy. Yeah, could you whip up a definition for us over there? A dupe is a product that looks and works like a luxury product, but for a cheaper price. Jack, could you please use dupe in a sentence? I won't spend $125 bucks on Lulu Lemon leggings because I found a $40 dupe on Timo. But yeties, there is a new dupe concert that Jack and I got to tell you about because it's happening this summer. Vacation dopes. Holiday dupes.

Destination dopes. Destination dopes. The latest TikTok travel trend is actually the destination dupe. Similar location as the famous location spot, but at a way lower price. Same vibe, but more value. Because of inflation, yeties, vacation travel has never been more expensive than it will be this summer. I mean, Jack, kicking it in Cabo costs 32% more than it did back in 2022. So here's the destination dupe.

Instead of going to London, go to Liverpool. Both are British cities, but one is cheaper priced. Instead of going to Santorini, go to Peros. Both are Greek islands. But one is one third the hotel. Instead of St. Martin, fly down to Curacao. Both are down in the Caribbean, but Curacao costs half the price. That's why flight searches to Liverpool, Peros, and Curacao are up 100% this year.

What we're saying, Bess, is that demand for these destination dupes, it has literally doubled. Plus, there's an experiential bonus if you go to a destination dupe. These are lower-profile tourist cities. And since there's fewer tourists, it'll be a more unique, more culturally immersive trip. Jack, can I let you in a little secret for us right now? Sure. I'm not actually staying in Gwyneth Paltrow's house. But I found a dupe.

Did you? On Verbo. Yes, we did. So, yeah, to kick out the summer, Nick and I want to create the ultimate list of destination dupes. Besties, drop your dupe in the comments of today's podcast. Maybe instead of Paris this summer. I should just go to Quebec. It's a short drive instead of a long flight.

Yeties, drop that dupe in Spotify or YouTube. We want to hear your destination dopes. Or drop us a comment on Instagram. Goodbye, Bangkok. See ya in Manila. Nick, let's do for three stories. Pretty, I'm coming! Fifteen years before this song,

two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one. 50%. That's a fat tip. Tea Boy City on your at list. If you know, you know, because we're ready to go. We can't wait no more.

So just start the show. Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor. For our first story. official. The U.S. government just sued to break up Live Nation from Ticketmaster. This is the biggest news in music since Napster, but it only represents half of the solution. Jack, let's go back 14 years ago. You and me, we were living in the East Village, and the United States government made a very specific mistake. In 2010, the Obama Department of Justice

allowed Live Nation to merge with Ticketmaster, which resulted in a monopoly. It really, resulted in the ticket opally. According to last week's lawsuit, Live Nation now controls 60% of American concert venues and 80% of the live ticket marketplace. Two out of three concert venues, four out of five live ticket marketplaces, Jack, what can Ticketmaster do with that kind of power?

With that kind of power, Ticketmaster can charge whatever fees they want and there's nothing we consumers can do about it. Yeah, does you want to go to Coachella? It's a feocry. You got service fees, ticket fees, fee fees, and there's nothing you can do about it. And of course, all these fees are so that you can download the PDF and show it to the usher.

I know. It's a QR code and it cost me a thousand bucks. So on Thursday, the Department of Justice finally sued Live Nation, demanding that that giant live entertainment company be split up into two separate companies. Now, Bessies, it'll be a couple of years before a breakup of this Ticketopoly even happens. If it happens. But in the meantime, Live Nation stock fell 5% on the biggest, break up since the Beatles. Live Nation just got Yoko Onode by the Department of Justice, Jack.

Nick, what does a monopolist say when accused of being a monopoly? Jack, I'm so glad you ask. When a monopolist is accused to being a monopoly, they usually say, um, that's absurd. We're not a monopoly. And that's what Live Nation said yesterday. But they also pointed out something that Nick and I found very fascinating. Yeah, yet he's Live Nation in their defense said that someone else is to blame for those $10,000 Taylor Swift tickets that you.

saw online. And that guilty party is scalpers. Scalpers. Ticketmaster just sells the tickets, but then some dudes and some bots jump in. They buy the tickets. They jack up the price and they resell them online. And there's nothing the entertainment industry can do to stop these scalpers. But Jack, the perfect example we've seen of this scalper situation. Let's talk about the boss. Bruce Springsteen. He's at the point in his career, he's been so successful. Making more money isn't what he's trying to do. He's just trying to put on a few more great shows for his hardcore fans. Bruce Springsteen. Springsteen just wants his fans to see him sing Glory Days at an affordable price. And Bruce has Working Man, New Jersey roots.

So he wants working men to be able to see him at his concert. But here's the problem, Basties. No matter what Bruce Springsteen does, only his richest of fans end up attending his concerts. If Bruce sets ticket prices at $30 each, they'll get snatched up by bots instantly, and then resold on Stubhubhub for 10 times that price. And when they do, the boss ain't making money on those tickets. Bots are making money on those tickets. Scalpers make a huge profit.

Bruce makes no profit. And only Bruce's wealthiest fans can attend those concerts. But yeties, here's the fascinating thing. There is one solution to this ugly capitalist issue. And what is that, Jack? It's happening over in Europe right now this summer. Yeties, if you've heard the Eres tour en Francais, then you know what we're talking about. Ticket scalping in France?

No es Possible. We got to work on that. But in the meantime, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddy? He's over at Ticketmaster. That was way up. A little duolingo. We'll get you all set, Jack. They couldn't afford Taylor Swift tickets in America, so they flew to France.

Yeties, that line, Jack just said, it's actually a headline from Rolling Stone magazine earlier this month. They couldn't afford Taylor Swift tickets in America, so they flew to France. Because Taylor's Ares tour, it finishes out this year, mostly abroad, but it ends in Miami, New Orleans, and Indianapolis. And the lowest-priced tickets. for one of those U.S. concerts is $2,600. $2,600 for a Taylor Swift ticket in America.

But, Jack, what's the price of Taylor Swift tickets in Paris, France? The average ticket to Taylor's concert in Paris is $340. Almost $3,000 for the worst seat in New Orleans, but $340 for a nice classic ticket in Paris. It's wild how much cheaper tickets are to see Taylor in Europe than here in the United States. See, and he's call up Delta. you could book a flight to Paris and go bring the whole family for cheaper than just watching Taylor Swift in Louisiana. And that's what people are doing. In fact, a shocking 68% of the ticket sales to Taylor's European concerts are two Americans doing just that. And here's why this is even happening. Because France, Germany, and the Netherlands regulated reselling tickets.

In fact, you could only resell tickets in those countries at 20% higher than the face value. Now, illegal scalping is still going to happen where they jack up the tickets by like five. But that's illegal, so it doesn't happen much. The result? Europe basically killed scalping, a classically European outcome. They got more equitable ticket sales across incomes. Now, the counter argument to this European regulation is that regulation like this complicates the markets and can set a bad precedent. But right now, because of scalpers, tickets are affordable in Europe, but not in the United

States. For our second story, one of the surprise accidental consequences of work from home, It's middle of the day online shopping. Work from home and hybrid workers are spending $375 billion a year in what we're calling retail therapy. I will tell you exactly when you're doing it. But first, you know, Jack and I don't know your schedule and what it looks like today, but we do know what you're going to be doing at 11.08 a.m. You're going to be pushing by on that cute top from Resformation.com.

Click, scroll, at the cart, and then boom, you jump back into that Zoom meeting. like no one knows. We know this because work from home has created a surprise side effect for the economy. Midday e-commerce. Midday e-commerce. Yeties, according to Stanford, Northwestern, and MasterCard, they compared regions with lots of work-from-home jobs with regions that returned to normal after the pandemic.

The work-from-home job hotspot, they spent $375 billion more than the regions that went back to normal after the pandemic. Besties, if you're working from home, apparently you're buying shampoo from Amazon. before your one-on-one meeting. You're buying airplane tickets on kayak during the all hands. And last week, during a podcast recording, I caught Jack on Levi's.com buying baggy daddy jeans, didn't I, Jack?

Yeah, I did. No. You did. Yes, you did. Now, yet he's at work. You wouldn't dare browse for a new pair of crocs on the chance that your boss would walk by and see what's on your screen. But back at home, it's Crocktober every single month, baby. You got a tab open all the time.

That's just what you're browsing. We know your tabs. Because Yeties, the big new boost to retail sales is actually this accidental side effect of work from home. Now, what's interesting about this story is the behavioral reason behind it. Because the way Jack and I see it, what we're experiencing is nationwide retail therapy. Because the work from home lifestyle, we've all lived it at some point. It misses out on the human bonding that you get in the office place.

There's a lack of connection. It's tough. There's no going for a 3 o'clock Fika coffee break. There's no water cooler chatter either, Jack. And if it's Carol's birthday, you're not having cupcakes if you're working from home. Honestly, you may not even be getting to sing happy birthday to her. So in its place for those human connections that you get in the office, work from homers are opting for a midday treat yourself.

Yes, they're opting for this nationwide retail therapy. They're spending that mental break time bidding on like that baseball card you've been browsing on eBay. Because let's be honest, if your eyes are darting left to right, Is anyone really paying attention to that? So, yodies, for some, the therapeutic antidote for work from home is like going outside and walking your dog. But for others, the therapeutic antidote to work from home is zara.com and its shopping cart. And we're spending $375 billion a year on that second one that Nick just mentioned. Cha-ching, cha-chin.

How do those baggy jeans look, by the way, Jack? I'm still slim-pit. I refuse to go back to my jinkgo jeans days. I know. Same for me. So, Jack, what's the take? Takeaway for our buddies who are everyone working from home. The new Black Friday is 11 o'clock every Friday.

Yadies, the wildest part about this data is that we can now pinpoint the very peak of the work from home e-commerce search. According to the data, weekly online spending now peaks between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., it's the midday pick me up. And it turns out that that spending increases with each day of the week. So, like, you browse on Mondays, but then you buy on Fridays. And the biggest period of all for online shopping during the week, it's 11 a.m. on Friday when you're at work, but you're actually buying something instead. 11 a.m. on Fridays. Besties, the midday Friday. It is the new consistent king of e-commerce. And it's all thanks to work from homers. So retailers are already reacting to that data. They're doing sneaker drops at 11 a.m. on Fridays.

Or retailers are sending marketing emails at the perfect time. Right before they know you'll be itching to buy something around new. Because work from home has created a nation. nationwide retail therapy. And the new Black Friday, it's 11 a.m. every Friday. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, leaf blowers, they present a noise disturbance far greater than even pickleball. So as summer, are you kidding me?

How much longer are they going to do this? So Yeties, as summer unofficially begins, we're looking at the budding industry of quieter leaf blowers. And the shocking differences within the leaf blower industry. But first, Jack, the leaf blower. Gotta be honest, maybe he was growing up in New York City. Never totally got it, man. What is it?

Like a hairblower for your lawn? It's like the acoustic equivalent of an audio torpedo. It's awful, man. In 1970, with the invention of the gas-powered leaf blower, it actually cut the time needed to remove leaves from a lawn in half. Unfortunately, it also introduced midday chaos, disrupting suburban solitude nationwide forever. is like blowing bubbles in the yard. Todd from four-season landscaping blows leaves in the yard.

Now, Vesies, we sympathize with the pit viper wearing landscapers out there because rake and leaves, that takes forever. But gas-powered leaf blowers in the United States emit greenhouse gas is equivalent to 7 million automobiles. Plus, the noise frequency literally penetrates walls. That's right. Leafblowers were created in such a way that their noisiness penetrates walls. Now, yet it is, here's what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. There is a solution to everything we just mentioned. The solution to gas-powered leaf blowers is the electric leafblower. The electric leafblower.

The same leaf blowing, but an electric hum instead of an exhausting roar. Stanley Black and Decker, a hardware company, was an early mover in electric leafblowers. And by 2020, 44% of their leaf blower sales were electric leafblower. And last year, according to Stanley Black and Decker, 85% percent, of all leafblowers on the market are electric leaf blowers. And that's not all. Jack, can we talk about the news? This month, a handful of enterprising students at Johns Hopkins University patented a leaf blowing silencer. A leaf blowing silencer. Jack, he's like the James Bond of leaf blowers, man. A silencer? Yeah. It's just like what you put on a pistol. It silences the

noise. Hey, Q, can you please put a silent leaf blower in my ass in Martin? And get this. California a few years ago, passed a law that phases out gas-powered leaf blowers. In fact, it's effective this July, and lawnmowers are also going to get phased out in California, too. We repeat, starting July 1st, all lawnmowers and all leafblowers in California must be electric powers. So, Besties add it all up, and it appears the electric leaf blower has saved the day. They've got new patents, higher sales, and huge business momentum. Look, there's one problem. The electric leaf blower has a surprise business model problem.

Yeah, so we're jumping into it, T-Boy style. Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies who sell or own or buy leafblowers? Business models are different for businesses. Yeah, it is. The electric leaf blower, it's the go-to for consumers taking care of a single lawn. But businesses that use leafblowers constantly, they require a different solution. Because landscapers work eight-hour days on a dozen different houses. So an electric leafbrower battery can't last for that long.

That's the issue, the battery, because the electric leaf blower technology was built to handle one lawn, not 20 lawns in a row. The electric leafblower, it can't handle the commercial use like it can the consumer use. It needs a couple charges if it's going to do that many lawns. And honestly, the way Jack and I see it, it's similar with electric buses and electric delivery vans. The battery doesn't last for the eight-hour commercial shift. So, to eliminate gas-powered leaf blowers, we might need to rethink landscaping a little bit. Like mowing leaves instead of removing leaves. And to eliminate gas-powered delivery vans, we may need to rethink the delivery shift.

Like take a one-hour charge break halfway through the commercial shift. Electrification may work at the consumer level, but be less simple at the enterprise level. Because business models are different for businesses. Yeah, can you whip up the takeaways for us for T-Boy Tuesday? The U.S. Department of Justice in 26 states sued to break up Live Nation from Ticketmaster. But that's only half the solution. Because of scalper laws, in Europe, tickets are affordable. But in the U.S., they're not.

And second, work from home has caused a surge in American shopping online in the middle of the day. It's nationwide retail therapy. And that means the new Black Friday is 11 a.m. every Friday. And our third and final story. Electric leaf blowers are surging in sales for consumers, but they're a problem for professionals. Because business models are different for businesses. But Yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, the SEC actually approved the creation of a spot ETF for Ethereum, the number two biggest cryptocurrency.

In anticipation of that approval, the price of Ethereum has increased by 20% over the last week. Being easier to access leads to more investors, which leads to higher prices. Second, Frontier Airlines' CEO is pretty frustrated right now. He's urging regulators to crack down on what he calls massive rampant abuse of airport wheelchair service. Apparently, any traveler can request wheelchair access and it's been provided free of charge without any vetting. So the CEO says people are pretending. They're just being lazy.

And that creates delays for other passengers. And finally, Elf Beauty. It's stock jump 20% last week after another epic earnings report. Sales increased by 77% last year for Elf. This low-price makeup company is crushing it. Elf Beauty and their famous $4 $4 lipstick was a pandemic winner and their growth has only accelerated.

Maybe, just maybe, because of Jack's 21-step, 30-minute morning, cream, nighttime routine. Yeah, I do have a great routine. That's why I have to correct you. Elf lipstick is $3, not $4. Jack was a trip question,

and you passed. That is time for the best fact yet. This one whipped up by Jack and me and we couldn't wait to share it with you. According to a recent Harris Paul, 56% of Americans believe that the U.S. economy is in a recession right now. Now, Jack, could we do a fact check on this fact, please?

It's not. In fact, the U.S. has the highest economic growth rate of any of the G7 developed economies. Also, 49% of Americans think the current unemployment rate is at a 50-year high. But, Jack, we get a fact check. The reality is the complete opposite. The U.S. unemployment rate is near a 50-year low. So, best is data, it isn't everything. How people feel about the economy, that matters too. And perception is reality.

But data is something. It's actually something important. and we focus on having correct data on this show. This is why Jack and I wanted to share it with you. If you got a buddy who could use some economic reality in their lives, whip them up some T-boy. They can jump in T-boy style. This is the perfect opportunity to share the best one yet

with your buddy who needs some economic reality. Maybe or maybe not, Timmy, H-Y-H-T-B-L-Y with them. Have you had the best one yet? But yeties, before we go, first of all, you're looking fantastic after your three-day weekend. But second of all, we want to hear your dad. destination doaps, don't we, Jack? Can I just say this?

I feel like Vermont is a dupe for Austria. I said it. There you go. You throw it out there. You throw it out there. You put it out there and you stand by it. Yeah, it's maybe instead of Florence, hit up Palermo. It's lovely, bellissimo.

You're going to love it. Little Italy? It's a dupe for Italy. That's the original doof, Jack. So, besties, hit us up on Spotify and YouTube. Drop a comment. Let us know on Instagram. We want to hear your destination dupes.

Happy unofficial beginning of summer. Nick and I will see you tomorrow. See ya. in Manila. Before we go, a congratulations to legendary Yeti, Sarah and Carter, who just gave birth to baby Zeke

just outside Boston. And happy birthday to Jillian McKeio in Louisiana, Missouri. And Vivian Carter in Indianapolis, Indiana is learning long division and celebrating a birthday. Happy birthday, Vivian.

Happy 25th birthday to Joseph Mendoza in Chicago, Illinois. And Leo Rodriguez is turning eight years old, celebrating that birthday down in Miami, the 305. Happy birthday to Lucas. from Madrid, Spain, who is kayaking in beautiful Lake Lucerne in Switzerland right now.

I'll know there's a dupe for that one, Jack. And Gandhi Valesquez in Union City, California has got a new puppy for the birthday. What a way to celebrate. Happy birthday to Tyler Silva in Denver, Colorado. And David Morales is turning 23 in Toronto, Canada, celebrating a birthday. Happy birthday to Andrew Murray in Portland, Maine. And happy birthday to Melissa Wang in San Francisco, California. Happy 35th birthday to Pramad Malina in Toronto.

Canada. And a happy 35th birthday to Joaquin Romero celebrating in Phoenix. Happy five-year anniversary to Christopher and Lily in Miami, Florida. And Jeremiah Clark in Roseville, California has got eighth grade graduation. You're going to love high school. Congratulations, Jeremiah. And congratulations to Lily and Jessica in Phoenix, Arizona, who are getting walking pad desks. And Jamea Kieverhaley in Wichita, Kansas is celebrating at tacos and a tequila festival, celebrating everything. Good luck to Lindsay Ray from Boulder, Colorado, who's defending that PhD. And to Christian Lucalino

in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, happy birthday Christian. Congratulations to Cat McAvoy in Berkeley, who just got a new job. And Amy Sorensen on planet Earth just got a new job at Cisco. Congratulations, Amy. Happy 28th birthday to Leanne Darmannan

in Melbourne, Australia. And a special shout-out to Yeti Fernando Luna, who has been listening to this pot every single day since 2020. Fernando, thank you for being a legendary Yetty. This is Jack. stock of Levi's and Nick and I both own stock of Airbnb, and we both own some Ethereum.