Paul McCartney fans are angry as tickets are appearing online for more than 10 times the face value price

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk
Liverpool ECHO Arena say Paul McCartney queuing system was 'fairest way' to buy tickets
Paul McCartney fans are angry as tickets are appearing online for more than 10 times the face value price
ByEllen Kirwin
What's On Reporter
17 JUL 2018


Liverpool Echo Arena

Paul McCartney fans have called for ticketing systems to be reviewed after finding tickets for his ECHO Arena show in Liverpool were on sale for 10x the face value price.

The concert for the Beatles legend sold out in minutes and tickets appeared on third party ticketing websites such as eBay, Stubhub and Viagogo, for more than double the face value.


Despite this, the ECHO Arena said the ticketing queuing system was the 'fairest way' to buy tickets but fans are calling for something to be done.

One Twitter user said: “PLEASE do something about the numerous touts already selling tickets at outrageous prices preventing genuine fans from getting tix”


Paul McCartney is heading out on his first UK tour in three years (Image: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

While another added: “So I wait patiently on the @EchoArena website to order @PaulMcCartney tickets, yet sells out fast. However one quick look on @viagogo and @StubHub has plenty, where people are reselling for a quick profit only. Utterly disgusting practice. How is this allowed?”

Recently global superstars such as Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran have hit back at touts by changing the way tickets are sold.

To get into one of their shows, customers had to bring along booking confirmation and a credit card, plus a form of ID to get entry into the show.

Therefore resold tickets were not valid unless they were resold through the official face-value resale partner Twickets.


Tickets were being sold for more than £1,400 each

Twitter user Neil tweeted: “A great thing the team of @edsheeran did was the ticket privacy. No second hand tickets!! Brilliant! @EchoArena @PaulMcCartney, why wasn’t this the case.”

A spokesperson for Echo Arena Liverpool said: “We are pleased to be one of only three UK dates where Sir Paul McCartney will perform during The Freshen Up world tour.

“As a result, demand for tickets was extremely high and on this occasion exceeded the amount of tickets that were allocated to us.


“Purchasing tickets via our website, in addition to the box office phone number or at the Echo Arena box office, is the fairest way to ensure tickets are bought on a first come first served basis.

“We understand customers’ disappointment but can only sell the number of tickets in line with the capacity of the show and as directed by the promoter.


Tickets on Stubhub being sold for almost 10x the face value

“We would always advise customers to purchase tickets from the venue or from the artist’s official primary ticketing agency.

Tickets on Stubhub being sold for almost 10x the face value
“We would always advise customers to purchase tickets from the venue or from the artist’s official primary ticketing agency.


“If any customers have any doubt about the organisation they are buying tickets from then please contact our box office who will be able to advise.

“For the majority of events at Echo Arena, we sell a percentage allocation of the overall tickets available for the event, with the remaining tickets sold by other ticketing agents. We can only control and be responsible for our own allocation and our terms and conditions state that the ticket cannot be resold.

“Ticket Quarter and Echo Arena are members of STAR - The Society of Ticket Agents & Retailers – which is the leading self-regulatory body for the entertainment ticketing industry across the UK and identifies reputable ticket outlets.”

What have been your experiences with buying tickets? Leave your stories in the comment section below.






www.m-magazine.co.uk
INDUSTRY HITS OUT OVER MCCARTNEY TICKET CONTROVERSY
M MAGAZINE
Posted 17 July 2018


FanFair Alliance, which is backed by leading artist managers, has today hit out at Viagogo and StubHub for their handling of ticket sales for Paul McCartney’s upcoming UK tour.

Fans were left disappointed when tickets for McCartney’s three shows in Liverpool, Manchester and London this December were all sold out within seconds of going on sale at 10am yesterday.

Tickets for the show later appeared on ticketing resale sites Viagogo and StubHub, selling for around three times their original price, in some cases reaching £1,800 for a single ticket.

Today it emerged that only a small percentage of tickets had actually been made available for fans to purchase.

Adam Webb from FanFair Alliance, which campaigns against profiteering in the secondary ticketing market told M: ‘If you look on Viagogo for tickets to Paul McCartney’s 12 December show, they are currently advertising 355 tickets. However, when you go to Viagogo’s seating map, there are actually 155 tickets listed. On StubHub, there are 66 tickets currently listed for resale.’

‘So, for an 11,000-capacity venue, that’s approximately two percent of tickets (221) listed across the four main resale sites.’

‘However, that’s still two percent of inventory which should have been purchased by fans, and you can totally understand why people are up in arms – especially when they see speculators listing tickets for up to £1,886.00. All facilitated by Viagogo and StubHub and their parasitical business practices.’

This comes after the recent criminalisation of ticket scalping software, in a move that was said to address the practice of online ticket scalping.

On 5 July, measures included in the amendments to the Digital Economy Bill 2017 successfully passed, which outlined legislation aimed at prosecuting those participating the controversial practice.

Under the law, anyone found using automated software to purchase and resell tickets at an inflated price could face an unlimited fine.

Angered McCartney fans are claiming that tickets for the show were sold out immediately after they went on sale through official channels and they weren’t given an opportunity to purchase tickets from Ticketmaster and AXS.

Webb went on to say: ‘Despite ongoing enforcement action from the Competition & Markets Authority and increased pressure from Government, Viagogo and StubHub are still listing tickets in breach of UK consumer law.

‘Aside from advertising tickets that their sellers apparently don’t have, Viagogo are providing no mandatory information about seat numbers or about whether tickets are being listed by businesses (as opposed to consumers). They also continue to operate in breach of an Advertising Standards Authority ruling about misleading pricing practices.

‘Meanwhile, StubHub are also frequently listing resale tickets without seat numbers – which is a clear breach of the Consumer Rights Act. Both sites are then using pay-per-click advertising to appear at the top of Google search, without any disclosure that they are listing “resale” tickets.’

Vibe Tickets, which is also working towards making ticketing fairer in the UK, made a statement on Twitter saying: ‘Paul McCartney tickets went on sale at 10am this morning, three dates Glasgow, Liverpool, London. Fans have been on Ticketmaster and AXS since 10 and are left empty-handed. The same old story! This has to change!’

On discussing a possible solution to the issue, Webb said: ‘Backed by recent legislative and regulatory changes, artists such as Ed Sheeran, Arctic Monkeys, Noel Gallagher, Catfish & The Bottlemen and Pixies have all shown that it is possible to disrupt ticket touts by tweaking and enforcing their terms and conditions

‘For instance, by stating explicitly that tickets are for consumers only (not for the business sellers that dominate the big secondary sites), by making clear that the ticket is a licence and that resale for profit will invalidate the purchase and by providing an official resale service for audience members if they genuinely can’t attend.’