Of course, tickets have been re-sold since the year dot. And of course, not all re-sold tickets are dodgy. With there often being months between tickets going on sale and the gig, there's all sorts of reasons as to why genuine purchasers may need to sell their tickets on. But eBay is seemingly spawning a whole new bunch of con-men, who promise the world (well actually, a sold-out ticket) and deliver nothing.
Perhaps a reminder of how con-men work would be useful? They get their 'mark' by telling them something they want to believe ... so if you want to believe that you really can get a ticket from someone you've never met/don't know to that sold-out show, you've just set yourself up to be scammed.
A letter in today's Evening Standard from Peter Tudor, Director of Sales and Marketing at Wembley Limited, says that Wembley Arena staff are having to deal more and more with people who've been scammed via eBay. The purchasers are told to collect the tickets from the box office, but inevitably the tickets have not been sent to the venue, or have been sold more than once to different purchasers. The seller has taken the money and run.
The letter goes on "promoters and venues are now seriously considering whether to invalidate tickets sold on eBay so that we can protect the fans that genuinely want to get hold of seats at sensible prices", which is good news indeed. But the problem still remains as to how exactly tickets sold via eBay can be identified to then be invalidated.
Glastonbury Festival tried a scheme for this year's Festival, where each ticket holder had to have ID to match details printed on the ticket. But not all tickets were checked, and many people who sold tickets on also sold the required ID along with the ticket, making a mockery of the whole idea.
Can the problem be eliminated? Realistically, we're not sure it can, not while people are willing to take a chance on a seller being genuine.
Buyer beware!
article by: Neil Greenway
published: 08/11/2004 12:25