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Internet auction sites 'exploit' fans

Resale of live event tickets slammed in government report

A group of MPs are set to call for an industry code of conduct on the resale of event tickets, especially through internet auction sites.

The report, to be published on Thursday (January 10), will also say that the auction sites have exploited fans, including those of music gigs and festivals, by allowing touts to re-sell at inflated prices.

The BBC also claims today that the report, from the Culture, Media and Sport select committee, will call for the threat of action by The Office of Fair Trading if no code is agreed.

Senior promoters and figures within the music industry have long called for touting to be made illegal - however the government has always stopped short of such a measure. Tickets for football matches cannot be resold.

Since May, the committee has been investigating whether the resale of tickets is acceptable. It looked at the underlying causes of ticket touting, and its impact on performers, promoters and the public.

It also examined whether resale of a ticket, at face value or at a higher value, should be permitted in principle, and the impact of the internet upon trade in tickets.
 

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Comments (5)

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lewis1979 

Jan 6, 2008

Absolutely spot on. It should be made perfectly clear that this problem has come about not because of a few people selling their unwanted tickets, but because ticket touting has been allowed to grow into a "home" based industry. Everyone now has the ability to become a tout and inevitably many greedy individuals have sought to make a living out of genuine music fans. GIGS SHOULD NOT SELL OUT IN MINUTES! They only do so because ticket agents are swamped with people who buy tickets when they have absolutely no intention of attending the gigs themselves, THEY ARE ONLY OUT TO MAKE A (VERY HANDSOME!!) PROFIT! Changes to the law are the only way of stopping this. Call for such changes and for such changes to be harshly enforced (as they are with football tickets) and everyone will have a fair chance of seeing their favourite bands.

milkydisco 

Jan 7, 2008

This is absolute nonsense from people who know nothing about how touting actually works. Popular gigs have always sold out in minutes and that is largely due to the long-standing practise of ticketing agencies and promoters allowing the sale of large blocks of tickets to touts (often behind the scenes). One reason promoters allow this is to indemnify themselves. The reason the government have made this report is due to high power lobbying from a certain powerful promoter who is using this issue as a vehicle to create a completely controlled market (which is surely supposed to be the objection to institutionalised touting). This has absolutely nothing to do with fans getting a fair deal. Last time I checked, the free sale of goods (whether or not for profit) wasn't outlawed - it's supposed to be the basis of a healthy economy. Are even tickets no longer to be owned but licensed on limited terms?

redgiemental12 

Jan 8, 2008

Just because something is a long standing practise doesn't mean that it is a good thing. Shouldn't people be able to buy tickets for events at hte prices they are advertised as? No country on earth has a free market economy this is to protect consumers like me and the rest of the public. Monopoly laws and all sorts of other consumer related laws restrict companies actions and business dealings everyday. This is also a long-standing practise no?

The end consumer is getting ripped off and needs to be protected and thats what should happen.

callaby 

Jan 9, 2008

Football tickets can be resold. My dad always buys them off guys at work if they cant make it to a match. I think this will always be a problem. And to be honest the people who are exploiting this weakness in the system are the clever ones, the mugs are the ones who pay for them. Without the demand then the touts won't bother buying them for resale.

milkydisco 

Jan 9, 2008

redgiemental12, the point here is that it is precisely the promoters who are shouting about this who are up to their necks in this. I'm all for preventing organised touting where big blocks of tickets get pre-sold, but these moves are aimed at preventing individuals from re-selling their tickets because it is disrupting existing cosy touting arrangements - talk about ripping off the consumer.

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