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