Many tickets are being offered for sale through Internet auction sites. Earlier this month there were some 8,378 separate listings of multiple tickets for sale on one leading site alone. There is evidence that large operations, as well as individual touts, are using sites to offer seats at major events at vastly inflated prices before they have even been put on the market. In some cases the on-line vendor vanishes after collecting the fans' money, the overpriced tickets never reaching their would-be purchasers. Glastonbury Festival is among the major events to have been targeted by online touts and over the years has introduced a number of sophisticated ticketing security measures to ward off the threat.
STAR is conducting further research into the issue and is calling for urgent action from the Government to prohibit the resale of all tickets priced above a certain percentage over their face value, and to investigate and prosecute alleged 'e-touts'. Jonathan Brown, Secretary of the Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR) added: "STAR's membership is comprised of authorised ticket agents and sellers and we welcome the OFT's announcement today that it wants to take action against ticket touting. We are becoming increasingly concerned at the levels of malpractice, misrepresentation and old-fashioned rip-offs that are being generated in the secondary ticketing market, particularly via the Internet. We particularly support the recommendation from the OFT that the Committee for Advertising Practice (CAP) should amend its guidance so that consumers are made aware of the face value of a ticket before deciding to purchase. This is in line with representations made by STAR to CAP last November."
Peter Tudor, sales & marketing director of Wembley Arena and chairman of the National Arenas' Association said: "This move from the OFT is timely, as e-touting is a growing menace. We've seen it create public order problems at venues recently, where fans end up disappointed because they've been sold rear-block tickets as front-row seats, or, worse still, the seller never sends them the tickets at all. There is a real case for action by the Government and sooner rather than later."
Stuart Littlewood, Chairman of the Concert Promoters Association said: "We would like the Government to offer music fans the same protection that football fans have had since legislation was passed to make it illegal to tout tickets for soccer matches...if we are to celebrate the success of the British live music market rather than kill it off, immediate action by the Government is needed to eradicate the secondary market in concert tickets."
(Lee Baldock)
