Ticket touts buying up all the concert tickets

Yesterday I got email notification from ticketmaster to say that AC/DC were touring and tickets were going to go on sale at 10am the next morning. I was pretty excited abut this never having seen them before, but unfortunately I wasn't going to available at that time and therefore would have to purchase them in the afternoon. I arrived back home at 3.30pm and immediately went online to order my tickets. I had originally intended buy four concert tickets, two for myself and my partner, plus another couple of tickets for two tickets for a couple of friends who also wanted to come along.

So I proceeded to go through with the purchase and finally ended up on a page with the message "sorry, no exact matches were found, but other tickets may still be available." It suggested either I search again or keep checking back. So I went back and started the whole process again and ended up with the same message. I decided to give ticketmaster a call and when I eventually managed to get through to a human being (don't you love these automated switchboards!), he told me that the tickets for the AC/DC concert had sold out within the first half hour. As you can imagine I was a bit upset because I was really looking forward to seeing them.

I gave up and went back into my email and discovered that I had received an email from Seatwave at 10.35 titled "Don't miss AC/DC..." I opened it up and there was the option to buy or sell AC/DC tickets. Right, I thought to myself, maybe I can get hold of some tickets this way. Well I nearly fell over when I discovered that there were a minimum of 200 tickets being sold on Seatwave and they were going from anything between £150 and £200 per ticket, unbelievable when you consider that the original sale price was £40!

ACDC concert tickets snapped up by touts I then decided to check eBay and discovered a seller who was selling 20 tickets with a buy it now price of £147. By the way, I've just checked that seller again and 6 people have already bought tickets with a £100 markup. Which is incredible when you think that the tickets wont be sent out until a couple of weeks before the event.

What makes me so angry is that there are people out there buying up tickets just to sell them on at a massive profit. Ticket touts, they're not music fans and they are ruining it for people who enjoy music and would love to go and see a particular band live. They are the sort of people who probably don't even have a proper job and they obviously have no problem taking advantage of honest hard working people. People, who will probably end up seriously out of pocket because of greedy ticket touts!

What is the matter with this country? It seems that there are lots of people out there just waiting to get one over on their fellow man just to make some money. Needless to say I will not be paying these extortionate prices for a ticket and I am very upset that I will have to miss this concert.

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Grrrrrr! I am currently angered by people (ticket touts etc.) who buy gig tickets, for the purpose of selling them on at 4 times the price. For starters they screw up the phone lines, so fans can't get tickets, and then to add insult to injury, they sell them on at hugely inflated prices!

It's just not fair, fans like myself can't get gig tickets because of this. In my case, the current issue is The View, in Glasgow. Tickets that originally would have cost £12.50 are now selling at nearly £50. I am a student and I don't have a spare £50 lying around. I tried so hard to get some, but just couldn't.

I am so mad, I think I'll go and eat ice! Why!?!?!?

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Lucy - 25-Apr-11 17:25

Why can't a ticket tout also be a music fan? That's like saying all butchers are vegetarian.

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lollyg - 3-Mar-11 23:18

I had the same problem getting ticket to see the Flight of the Conchords. However I did mange to get a ticket after they came up withteh idea that each person can only buy 4 tickets and you can only get in if you have the reference number, credit card number and everyone that the ticket is for. The original ticket card holder must be one of them. OK that last bit can be a pain but that's the price to pay for no scummy touters.

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sonny - 2-Aug-10 12:22

utter scum..they should be filled in ....end of story...bingooooooo

-2

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bingooooooo - 28-May-10 21:45

I can imagine that all the idiots who purchased tickets from touts for a certain 'Mr/Miss' Jackson's performances at the O2 are kicking themselves. The touts will have disappeared with their ill-gotten gains and the tickets will not be refundable without proof that they were bought from legitimate sources.

Just more reason to despise and shun ticket touts.

"People who queue or pay touts ......are completely nuts. when you get there, there will really be nothing to enjoy. Think of all the filthy sweating bodies.
Scrummage 21-Jun-2009 15:37"
Exactly!

-1

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MikeP - 28-Jun-09 17:26

i have 4 seated and 1 standing tickets for acdc at hampden for sale at fair price if interested email me at c.cpreston@tiscali.co.uk

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MUFF1N78 - 25-Jun-09 21:23

All

I do have 4 tickets for this - really and truly a genuine reason for not being able to go! My partner is still going (boo).

Alos, I was at Take That on Sat - they were only selling drinks at the bar if you q'd up to get tokens 1st and then went to the bar - and it closed at 10pm!!! and NO REFUNDS!!! I was in the Q when it closed - TOUGH.... be warned

They were £55 each = booking fee so if anyone wants one mail me
helent@vebnet.com

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helbies - 24-Jun-09 15:48

People who queue or pay touts for ridiculously expensive events are completely nuts. Why bother at all to attend with legal or overpaid tickets? These bands their organisers are all simply there to rip you off. The touts finish you off. You are bankrupt after going to one of these stupid events. Whay bother at all: when you get there, there will really be nothing to enjoy. Think of all the filthy sweating bodies. No thank you!

-2

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Scrummage - 21-Jun-09 15:37

Yeah, but there's two other factors to this whole argument:

Firstly, we should pressure bands to insist that their tickets are not sold on the internet. In the 'old days', tickets were sold AT THE VENUE for some time before the gig or by postal application for those who lived further away. For the big gigs, we all queued - for hours sometimes - to secure our 'gold dust' tickets. This had two happy effects - generally, only those that really wanted to see the act would put in the effort, and also, anyone presenting themselves in front of the HUMAN box office attendant asking for 20 or 50 tickets would be refused. In those days, I don't remember anyone not getting to see their favourite artists and the big gigs were all still full.

Secondly, TicketMaster THEMSELVES now participate in what I consider 'touting'. Just a few minutes after the start time for the sale of tickets for the biggest acts, tickets are 'unavailable' and you are redirected to 'our partner company who may be able to help'. Said 'partner company' will miraculous have large numbers of tickets for sale at a huge mark-up. This is obviously legal or they wouldn't be doing it in such an open way, but it's an appallingly blatant exploitation of people who can't simply stop work to sit on their company's phone for an hour to get tickets, which let's face it, is a lot of us.

AC/DC make a great deal out of being 'a fan's band'. It's about time that they and other similarly popular acts start acting like it and not simply taking the easiest route to monstrous ticket sales. Just because they don't make money from the touting mark-up doesn't mean they shouldn't take action for the fans they profess to care so much about.

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Fraser - 21-Jun-09 11:24

"people are entitled to buy and sell whatever they wish, as long as its legal"

Of course, that's the basis of capitalism. Is 'ticket touting' legal? I suspect not, I'm pretty sure that when I've bought tickets on line for major events, one of the terms states that they may not be resold,

-2

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MikeP - 11-Jun-09 14:53

so what? people are entitled to buy and sell whatever they wish, as long as its legal. if you have a problem don't buy them! and if it is really so important to you to attend a concert, then you would find a way of buying those tickets yourself at the right time. 3.30pm on the day of release for ac/dc?? cloud cuckoo land my friend. as for the whole 'music lovers miss out' argument, please, just because I love something more than the next man, doesn't entitle me to it more than he/she. money talks

-1

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icy - 11-Jun-09 14:35

What really winds me up is when they make up lies about how it's a reluctant sale and how they really wanted to go in the first place!

On the two occasions I have been unable to attend a gig/concert I've bought tickets for, I've either sold my tickets at the original price I paid, or some cases given them away because I don't agree with ripping people off.

There should be a law which prevents tickets being sold through Ebay and other sites. If people genuinely can't attend a gig the ticket retailer should give a refund and the tickets go back into the system. The refunds should be given right up to the day before the gig. This would stop people profiteering from genuine fans.

-4

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JL - 2-May-09 11:15

Well isnt that how life works. You buy something and sell it on at a profit. Even a child knows this.

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v - 30-Apr-09 09:47

So this will be one of the reasons why I couldn't buy any tickets for the April gig in Birmingham!! http://coventry.gumtree.com/coventry/44/37071544.html I've just had a quick peak on eBay and someone has actually put in a bid for a pair of tickets starting at £250!! I can't believe people are actually willing to pay over the odds to these scumbags!

-3

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JenWren - 2-Apr-09 23:49

Getmein owned by touts, is this for real? I suppose if a company can have enough credit cards they can probably order lots of tickets. They're scum the lot of them and it's ruining music for real fans.

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Limey - 18-Mar-09 17:32

This article is BANG ON! Concerts now sell out in roughly 30mins... for the whole tour!! Thats because touts get there first, buy up all the tickets and then we have to pay double, treble or worse! Someone in these comments said Ticketmaster own Getmein so they will have 1000 tickets easily before the bloody things go on sale anyway! I understand touts outside a gig can help desperate fans get in or buy an unwanted ticket but thats not what this is about at all. Next time you want to see a band tour then expect to pay £200 each ticket at least cos this is just going to get worse.

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Rob789072 - 18-Mar-09 15:37

I too want to see ac dc again, in my case, 2 of my kids too!, so a family of 4, we cant aford the inflated prices !! Britain get ripped off, nop wonder the country is the way it is, ac dc should be ashamed of themselves as they are allowing this to happen,

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Shaun1234567890 - 8-Mar-09 10:20

tried today for acdc tickets at hampden. told sold out. like so others tried to see where they were available. e-bay minimum double face value within a few hours. these people must be very unlucky as a tragedy must have occured to family and/or friends to have spare tickets so soon after release and then to be abl to place an ad is outstanding. touts like these are scum and should be banned from purchasing and selling tickets. the police should take action and bring low life like this to order.

-6

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annoyed acdc fan. - 17-Dec-08 21:42

Oh dear oh dear. Another person who doesn't understand capitalism. Touts around gigs and venues perform a great service getting tickets from those that don't want them and sell them to people who do. Now.. Online traders who try to "corner the market" in a concert are using their nouse to buy up a scarce commodity and sell it on at the true market level. Now that is more like trading nickel or pork bellies than the guy on the door with a couple of spare tickets, but it is a function of the market. The solution, I am afraid, is to increase the supply: supply more AC/DC.. or increase the stadium price to the market level [so 200 quid from the venue] or (as suggested) make the sale tied to an individual's unique identity.

-1

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bored of private car drivers - 4-Dec-08 09:39

The funniest thing is that Ticketmaster resells tickets at inflated prices through its sister company Getmein. Why don't they again set up another company that buys tickets from Getmein and resell them at even more inflated prices?.... One problem is that there is noone you can complain to and the other is the people who buy the over-priced tickets. Noone should buy them but the people who do are usually rich prats who know nothing about music. So what can you do?

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machine head - 10-Nov-08 15:03

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