Ticket resale marketplaces remain in the news. As we wrote about recently, Google is already considering new rules for the gig tickets secondary markets. But now the CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) is weighing in with claims that some practices may be illegal.
They have been fastidious not to name names but the big four are ViaGogo, StubHub, Getmein and SeatWave.
Andrea Coscelli, CMA Chief Executive, said: “Secondary ticketing websites can offer an important service – by allowing people the chance to buy tickets at the last minute or giving them a chance to re-sell tickets they can no longer use. But our investigation has identified concerns that the law protecting consumers is being broken.
Thousands of people use these sites and they have a right to know if there is a risk that they will be turned away at the door, who they’ve bought their ticket from or exactly what seat at the venue they’re getting for their money.”
The report from the CMA says: “The CMA is raising its concerns with a number of these websites and will be requiring them to take action where necessary. While it notes that some sites have already made changes since it opened the investigation, the CMA wants to ensure all sites comply with the law and that their customers are better informed about the tickets they are buying:
– it must be clear if there are restrictions on using a resold ticket that could result in buyers being denied access to an event;
– people should know whom they are buying from – for example if the seller is a business and/or an event organiser – and can benefit from their legal rights; and
– customers need to be told where exactly in a venue they will be seated.
These sound like fair reforms to the secondary market and good for buyers and sellers. What do you think?
2 Responses
hate touts. the scummy, smelly, dirty ones hanging about outside gigs, as well as the scummy, smelly, dirty internationals.
they provde absolutely nothing of value, and gouge massive margins onto innocent customers.
if they all died horrible, painful deaths tomorrow, then unused tickets would still be re-circulated. but these people use the margin they robbed from these customers to ensure the cycle continues unabated.
yeah yeah, capitalism. robbing people blind is fine cos capitalism. well no, it’s not really.
that’s just an excuse for being a d**k to be frank. Martin Shkreli likes that one.
I go to many many gigs and have only failed once to get tickets on first day sale. This wasn’t for a massive globally well known band, I’ve bought Elton John, Billy Joel and Adele. Also my real love of rock, Metallica, ACDC and some of the hottest metal bands on the planet, I’ve managed to buy them.
The band I didn’t get was Thunder. Sold out small venue in about 5 seconds and then on Ticket master’s sister site Get Me In for £100 more than the asking price ON THE SAME PAGE as the sold out result. I refuse to be ripped off especially by the so called ‘official’ ticket sites. These are the villains!