Ticket reselling sites exposed by documentary
Channel 4's Dispatches found that concert promoters were selling tickets to a so-called 'fan-to-fan' website and their staff were reselling popular tickets for a profit.
An investigation by Channel 4 TV programme "Dispatches" has revealed that music concert promoters have been selling tickets directly to so-called ‘secondary’ ticket websites instead of fans.
Secondary ticket websites such as Viagogo and Seatwave claim they offer a ‘fan-to-fan’ service, where fans who cannot attend an event for any reason have the opportunity to sell their tickets to other fans who didn't get a ticket.
The websites guarantee the sales so, if anything goes wrong with the seller, the person buying the tickets is fully refunded. The sites claim that they provide a valuable service and prevent people from potentially being scammed on the plethora of fake ticket websites that exist.
However, as well as discovering that Viagogo was receiving tickets from promoters, the "Dispatches" investigation also found that the company’s staff were bulk buying tickets for popular events using multiple credit cards, and reselling them at a higher price on the website.
Many sellers, whether they are fans who genuinely cannot attend an event or people deliberately buying and reselling, resell tickets for popular events for a profit.
Viagogo told the programme: "Viagogo is an open marketplace, and while the majority of sellers are individuals we do not disallow larger sellers, including event organisers, from selling on our platform."
Some people also use eBay to resell tickets for a profit.
There is no suggestion that musicians are involved in the reselling. Indeed, some bands, such as the Libertines, and some promoters, such as Glastonbury Festival organiser Michael Eavis, have taken deliberate measures to prevent ticket reselling.
More: How I nearly fell for a ticket scam | Eight ways to spot a scam ticket website
Most Recent
Comments
-
I have long suspected this and though aggrieved am not surprised. Viagogo, Seatwave etc are basicly online ticket touts - they may be more reliable but they are fulfilling the same function. And haven't you ever wondered where touts get all the their tickets from? There are many rip-offs associated with concert ticket sales. The way they announce forthcoming sales without advertising the prices, giving you little time to make a sensible buying decision. The layers of unjustifiable fees and charges. The fake "preferred seating" deals advertised by phone and credit card companies. The "pre-sales" which anyone can get in to. And finally the fact that even if you get on the website for a sale staring at 9.00 at 9.10, all the best seats seem mysteriously to have gone. And the disgusting state of some of the venues where they treat you like cattle and sell you over-priced drinks, food and merchandise. Though there may be the odd exception (can't say I'm a Libertines fan anyway), most promoters, record companies and artists are happy to have their snouts in the trough. With this cynical treatment of the fanbase, is it any wonder that so many people guiltlessly avoid paying for recordings. Well done Channel 4 for shining a light on this particular example.
REPORT This comment has been reported. -
The entire industry is flawed. * Tickets for most events are way overpriced per se. * Then there are various booking "fees" (read: unjustified surcharges) by the likes of Ticketmaster. * Then there are delivery fees, and * Potentially (often) credit card surcharges. * Now the promoters bulk sell tickets to yet other useless intermediaries who want their slice? I refuse to be a part of the cash cow herd milked shamelessly just to listen to a few songs (when records give you much better quality), to watch sport event (how much more convenient is it from my own chair and without drunken fighting louts around), or have yet another similar "experience" worth to me personally minus zero. Seriously, at the day of HD Television and Cable TV, why would one still want a ticket?.. Must be a purely emotional thing, which is grossly exploited by entertainment industry.
REPORT This comment has been reported.
Do you want to comment on this article? You need to be signed in for this feature
26 February 2012