[News] At last - an end to Stubhub and Viagogo in sight

[Herr Tubthumper]

BBC radio news stated that they used "bots".

If this is the case, I stand corrected and [MENTION=70]Easy 10[/MENTION] was correct.

 

[Arthur]

Who on NSC as season ticket holder can honestly say if they were offered £1000 for their ticket against Liverpool they`d turn it down. obviously I would !!

I`d guess in a stadium of 30,000 at least 25,000 would take the money. am I wrong?

I’m tempted with the £94 the club are offering me to be honest.

Hang on a minute - where are you getting that from?

My understanding is these two platforms permit others to sell on tickets at vastly inflated prices, where demand exists. StubHub and Viagogo don't buy and sell tickets themselves, they profit due to the element they charge for each completed transaction.

I'm minded to delete your post, as it's actionable, unless you can back it up very quickly.

Exactly. The trouble with the platform is the fees it charges. I appreciate everyone needs to make a living but they are crazy and not clear to the punter when listing the ticket. I have a spare for DKM and Cock Sparra at Ally Pally next Friday and have listed it on Viagogo at face value (£33) yet someone can buy it at £47!

But before everyone gets off their high horse on to the back of a donkey riding a higher horse our club are as bad. Just look at the ticket exchange. I’ve used it once against Burnley last season. It didn’t sell and I’m not surprised. I would have got £58 yet the club had it listed at £125!!

Really don’t see the issue with these sites. If someone is prepared to pay the money then good luck to them. Touts I’m sure will be delighted by the news. Not sure how these sites are any better or any worse than ticket touts.

I’ve never not got in to a sporting or music event that I’ve wanted to go to so it’s a useful service as are touts if that is the only option.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

providing a service that obviously customers want !!

Or creating fake scarcity to give customers little choice....

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

I’m tempted with the £94 the club are offering me to be honest.



Exactly. The trouble with the platform is the fees it charges. I appreciate everyone needs to make a living but they are crazy and not clear to the punter when listing the ticket. I have a spare for DKM and Cock Sparra at Ally Pally next Friday and have listed it on Viagogo at face value (£33) yet someone can buy it at £47!

But before everyone gets off their high horse on to the back of a donkey riding a higher horse our club are as bad. Just look at the ticket exchange. I’ve used it once against Burnley last season. It didn’t sell and I’m not surprised. I would have got £58 yet the club had it listed at £125!!

Really don’t see the issue with these sites. If someone is prepared to pay the money then good luck to them. Touts I’m sure will be delighted by the news. Not sure how these sites are any better or any worse than ticket touts.

I’ve never not got in to a sporting or music event that I’ve wanted to go to so it’s a useful service as are touts if that is the only option.

Not comparable. If you sell your ticket on the exchange you get a refund of the amount you paid. The ticket is then listed at the non season ticket price because it is no longer a season ticket seat.

 

[DJ NOBO]

providing a service that obviously customers want !!

Pretty sure customers would prefer to pay face value for tickets and have a fair chance of getting them on initial sale.

 

[Bozza]

The Guardian:



Delete by all means, but I took that as meaning Stubhub and Viagogo use similar methods. Dunno how else they'd hoover up such vast numbers of tickets.

The case is about two individuals who hoover up tickets using various methods, including bots,
and then sell them on secondary platforms.

I can see no suggestion that Stubhub and Viagogo buy tickets to resell - they don’t have to - they are the eBay of the ticket world - putting buyers and sellers together and earning a fee when a sale happens.

 

[Bozza]

If this is the case, I stand corrected and [MENTION=70]Easy 10[/MENTION] was correct.

“They” aren’t Stubhub nor Viagogo though - read the article in the link in the opening post.

The beef with these sites is their very existence encourages people to tout.

If these sites put a price ceiling of face value (plus fee) then it would kill the incentive for dodgy geezers to buy up large quantities of sought after tickets.

 

[darkwolf666]

providing a service that obviously customers want !!

I think, possibly that everyone that has replied angrily to this post may have been whooshed...

Was it not a dig at the much trumpeted “market forces” - or indeed maybe it’s me that’s been whooshed and [MENTION=30176]Diablo[/MENTION] is a tit!

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I don’t think there’s any evidence to show they [Viagogo here] use these methods themselves, but they certainly have facilitated touts who do, and have challenged legislation to outlaw the use of bots etc.

BBC radio news stated that they used "bots".

“They” aren’t Stubhub nor Viagogo though - read the article in the link in the opening post.

The beef with these sites is their very existence encourages people to tout.

If these sites put a price ceiling of face value (plus fee) then it would kill the incentive for dodgy geezers to buy up large quantities of sought after tickets.

I did read the link. [MENTION=5384]Norman Potting[/MENTION] suggested the BBC said “they”, they being Viagogo etc in our exchange, did?

 

[Uncle C]

Those scummers have been ripping people off for years

Not really. If people are prepared to pay the inflated charges, who is the mug?

 

[1066familyman]

providing a service that obviously customers want !!

I wonder how many complaining on this thread readily voted for free market capitalism and rejected a socialist regulated economy?

 

[drew]

Simple solution is that you when you present a ticket to enter a venue, you have to either show proof of identity or the card that it was purchased with. The Albion have a system where you allocate the ticket to named individuals when buying multiples so why can't organizations like Ticketmaster do the same. It won't be flawless but it would be better than the current system. Also, make it illegal to sell tickets for higher than their face value and if you can't go, you return the ticket to the original supplier, get your money back less any transaction fees.

 

[Bozza]

I did read the link. [MENTION=5384]Norman Potting[/MENTION] suggested the BBC said “they”, they being Viagogo etc in our exchange, did?

The BBC didn't say that.

"During a three-month trial, prosecutors said the married couple used multiple identities and computer bots to harvest large numbers of tickets for a range of events.

They sold the tickets on secondary ticketing sites, including the "big four" - Viagogo, GetMein, StubHub and Seatwave - at inflated prices, the prosecution said.

Jonathan Sandiford, prosecuting, told the jury that Hunter and Smith were "dishonest fraudsters motivated by greed".

NTS said Hunter and Smith deployed at least 97 different names, 88 postal addresses and more than 290 email addresses to evade platform restrictions."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-51495430

 

[Bozza]

Simple solution is that you when you present a ticket to enter a venue, you have to either show proof of identity or the card that it was purchased with. The Albion have a system where you allocate the ticket to named individuals when buying multiples so why can't organizations like Ticketmaster do the same. It won't be flawless but it would be better than the current system. Also, make it illegal to sell tickets for higher than their face value and if you can't go, you return the ticket to the original supplier, get your money back less any transaction fees.

That's not simple at all - it would massively slow down entry to events.

 

[Fitzcarraldo]

That's not simple at all - it would massively slow down entry to events.

I am pretty sure this was already in place at the O2 when I went last a couple of years ago (to see Nick Cave) and it wasn't an issue at all. Agree at smaller venues it would be problematic but I would imagine that most of the profits of these touts come from reselling tickets to the artists filling the arenas/stadiums. In those bigger venues I would say that it was simple to implement.

 

[Iggle Piggle]

I always find it bizarre that it is seemingly illegal to tout a football ticket but there are always an army of scousers or Cockneys (and it's always Scousers or Cockneys) flogging tickets to Gigs, Royal Ascot, Cricket, Rugby or any other occasion it's possible to get into quite happily and legally. Surely, it's an easy win from a legislation perspective to stamp this out?

 

[Sussex Nomad]

Greased palms? Brown envelopes? Secrets discreetly kept in return for favours?



No, I've no idea.........................................

Legally known as 'Lobbying'.

 

[Wozza]

If you ever need to sell spare tickets (or indeed buy), use Twickets. You can only advertise for face value or less.

The buyer pays a small cut to Twickets... the only snag being that it's part owned by the floppy-haired **** at Palace.


I find Ticketmaster and their 'Platinum' seating more offensive than Stubhub nor Viagogo (which any sensible person surely knows to avoid by now).

Platinum seats aren't better than others. They're just ones which Ticketmaster hold back, then crank the price saying they're 'priced according to demand'. That demand created by Ticketmaster holding them back until others have sold out. Utter charlatans.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I am pretty sure this was already in place at the O2 when I went last a couple of years ago (to see Nick Cave) and it wasn't an issue at all. Agree at smaller venues it would be problematic but I would imagine that most of the profits of these touts come from reselling tickets to the artists filling the arenas/stadiums. In those bigger venues I would say that it was simple to implement.

This has been used for some time by certain promoters and bands in my experience . It’s used to good effect from Festivals and gigs stadium size down to theatre size. Can’t recall any gigs I’ve been to below theatre size which utilize systems to reduce the secondary market though.

Edit: yes I can, I saw Royal Blood play a club for a radio broadcast a few years back. We had to supply names for this I think.

 

[drew]

That's not simple at all - it would massively slow down entry to events.

Well if speed of entry is so important then let's get rid of bag searches as well!!!

Wouldn't be hard as when you approach to be searched, they check the id and ticket then before you get to the actual turnstile etc.