TICKET TOUTING

Ticket Touting

Introduction

The last few years have seen an explosion of ticket touting with the best tickets for many events selling out within hours of the tickets going on sale, only to appear on e-bay some time later at much more than their face value. Such activity makes money for small-time entrepreneurs and large-scale criminal operations alike, potentially depriving artists of income and preventing poorer fans from being able to obtain tickets even when the artists have tried to ensure that ticket prices stay reasonable.

The average mark-up on online black market tickets has fallen from 64% in 2009 and 71% in 2008 owing to a better supply of tickets on the internet, according to the G4S Events' 2010 Ticket Tout Index. However, the mark-up was higher than the average during the previous two years. Tickets for music festivals - including headline events such as the Reading Festival - are being offered online with an average mark-up of 32%. However, individual gigs were not securing as big a premium as previous years, the research found. It is not a crime to resell concert tickets in the UK, and many secondary ticketing websites - which sell on tickets, often for inflated prices - deliver on their orders. Last year, a code of conduct was set up by the Office of Fair Trading and the Society of Ticket Agent Retailers (Star) to cover box office and online vendors. However, it does not cover sales on eBay, nor on many unregulated reselling sites.

This essay will examine the changes in the way that tickets for events are sold, particularly where these are related to e-commerce and the Internet. The discussion will look at changes to the business models and practices in the creative media industry and the impact of ticket touting both on loyal fans and on the artists, entertainers or sportspersons involved. This area of the discussion will extend to consider the effects of ticket touting on event organizer's profits and investment. Furthermore, the essay will seek to explore the possibilities of technical solutions and the legal issues associated with prevention of ticket touting and the difficulties such legislation could cause.

The purpose of this discussion is to identify the main issues stating whether they consider touting to be acceptable or undesirable. The paper will discuss what changes should be made and predict what the future holds for ticketing organizations and event organizers. The views will be supported clearly by the preceding document and justified by referring to information already presented (Buchanan, 1987, 585).

Ticket Touting as an Unfair Practice

Many organizations have adopted variable ticket pricing methods in an attempt to price tickets according to demand. Another method used to reduce opportunities for resell tickets is the use of auctions for the primary sale of tickets. While primary sales of tickets above face value are strictly forbidden, an exception is often made for tickets sold by way of auction. However, in addition to this ticket exchange, the concerts also made direct, primary sales through the Ticket Marketplace, ...