Which? investigation highlights secondary ticketing 'stitch-up'
Tickets to popular events have been appearing on re-sale sites immediately – or even before – they go on general sale, a watchdog has found.
The secondary ticketing "stitch-up" has left consumers forced to buy tickets for far higher than the face value as soon as they are released, Which? said.
The consumer group spent eight weeks monitoring four of the biggest secondary ticketing websites – Get Me In, Seatwave, StubHub and Viagogo - and found a variety of anti-consumer tactics, it claimed.
It found 364 tickets for Rod Stewart's UK tour for sale on Stubhub the day before presales began and 450 tickets for the same show on Get Me In the moment the presale began on the primary site, which increased to 2,305 tickets two days later.
Eight tickets went on sale on Get Me In for each of the 28 Riverdance tour dates within a minute of an O2 priority presale, with each listing offering exactly the same price.
In another example, Viagogo listed tickets for Benedict Cumberbatch's Hamlet at the Barbican despite the venue imposing strict resale restrictions and asking for photo ID on the door.
The re-sale tickets cost up to £1,500 despite having an original value of £62.50.
Which? said that while it was not illegal to resell tickets for profit, it was likely that some of the selling patterns it encountered were only possible because of the use of "botnets" – computer programmes pre-loaded with different names, addresses and credit card details which are used to target ticketing agents.
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, consumers must be notified of any restrictions on the tickets, all seating details and the original face value of the ticket.
But Which? has found these rules being repeatedly flouted on all the major secondary ticketing sites.
Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: "People get rightly frustrated losing out on popular tickets, particularly when they end up on sale at the same time on secondary sites at higher prices.
"Secondary ticketing sites work for those who re-sell tickets within the rules and these sites should be adhering to the Consumer Rights Act so that fans understand what they're buying.
"We need the government review to crack down on those who resell tickets at inflated prices on an industrial scale."
StubHub international general manager Estanis Martin de Nicolas said: "As a trusted brand, backed by eBay, StubHub is committed to transparency and as a true marketplace we do not own, purchase or price tickets.
"It is very clear in our terms and conditions that sellers are not permitted to list or sell tickets that they do not own or that have not been allocated to them, known as speculative selling.
"If we are made aware of speculative selling on our site for specific events, we will investigate and remove the listings where appropriate.
%VIRTUAL-ArticleSidebar-consumer-advice%"However, there are many cases where fans will have access to priority tickets in advance of an official on-sale and this is one reason why tickets can be listed so quickly."
A statement from Ticketmaster, which owns both Get Me In and Seatwave, said: "The UK ticket resale market has developed high levels of consumer protection over recent years, with incidents of fraud being very rare. Ticketmaster's resale marketplaces, Get Me In and Seatwave, offer fans full consumer protection, with guarantees of full refund or ticket replacement.
"We are concerned that Which?'s statement and advice risks confusing consumers at a time when we, the industry, are working to educate consumers on how to avoid websites which offer little or no protection."
A Department for Business, Innovation and Skills spokesman said: "It's important that consumers get a fair deal on secondary ticketing.
"We have recently launched a call for evidence on the secondary ticketing market and the evidence provided by Which? will be helpful. We welcome views on how best to protect consumers in this area."
