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Reading & Leeds Festivals - SOLD OUT (Time to sort out the way tickets are sold!) |
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#1 |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 8,802
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Reading & Leeds Festivals - SOLD OUT (Time to sort out the way tickets are sold!)
Once again Reading and Leeds weekend tickets sold out within minutes, day tickets completely sold out within the day and if you don't have any kind of ticket your only hope is ebay or Viagogo, even this site endorced by Festival Republic has tickets being sold for far more than face value. Therefore Festival Republic is condoning this practice!
I am not posting this because I am bitter I haven't got a ticket, in fact I already have one for this years festival, however I do feel for those that are subjected to rip off merchants just so they can secure their place at one of the UK's top music festivals. Melvyn Benn of Festival Republic states: "This is the seventh year in succession that both events have sold out within 24 hours of going on sale and I am very, very pleased of course." But does he spare a thought for the many disappointed people YET AGAIN who cannot get hold of tickets? Partly caused by allowing people to buy up to 4 tickets each, many of which end up being sold on ebay for far more than face value, a blatent profiteering exercise for those only interested in making a couple of quid and had no intention of going to the Festival. I can remember a time (as late as 2001/2002!) when you could go into HMV TWO WEEKS after tickets went on general sale and you were still able to get a weekend ticket. Apparantly there are proposals in the pipeline that if the festival companies do not stamp out this practice legislaton will be brought in to stamp this practice out. It is highly unfair for those that want to go but are forced to buy from people who have been greedy, snapped up as many tickets as possible and sell them for as high a price as possible. Just look at ome of the current rip offs on ebay.... 3x Reading Weekend tickets £850 (£283.00 each!) 2x Reading Weekend tickets £625 (£312.50 each!!) 1x Reading Weekend tickets £599!!!!!!!! (TOTAL RIP OFF!) Reading and Leeds should adopt the "Glastonbury" way by making individuals register for their interest by sending in a photo that is printed on the ticket. A long winded method but at least it works. How many Glastonbury tickets do you see on ebay nowadays? NONE. I have tried in the past to find out ways of stopping this but have bee told by the council responsible for the licensing that they cannot do anything. Seems to me a load of cobblers in order to keep on side with the festival organisers. In 2010 this issue needs to be serious addressed!!!!!! To stop the touting on ebay what should happen is: 1) HMV not allowed to sell more than one ticket per person, some people may complain as they are buying for friends but if the friends really want to go they should queue up like everyone else for their ticket. 2) Either the above or no more tickets sold in retail outlets - online only. 3) Online ticket outlets should not be allowed to sell more than one ticket per person, in addition a photo should be supplied that is printed on the ticket. This way tickets cannot be sold on ebay as the person who bought it will have their mugshot on it. Slightly off this topic...... Another thing is to move the festival to a bigger site that can hold more people as well as implimenting the above proposals, that way more people than ever can benefit! The Richfield avenue site is far too small for Reading Festival nowadays it was ok back in the 70's and 80's when attendance did not exceed 20,000 people. Now with over 80,000 the site is cramped, overcrowded and has no room for futher expansion. The 2008 festival was a good example of this with the site being severely bottlenecked in quite a few places and the campsites maxxed out. |
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#2 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Middesbrough (via Manchester)
Posts: 37,343
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Ticket touting should really be made illegal unless it's sold at face value.
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#3 |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
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Quote:
Ticket touting should really be made illegal unless it's sold at face value.
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#4 |
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Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Summer Bay
Posts: 5,891
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Quote:
Ticket touting should really be made illegal unless it's sold at face value.
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#5 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Middesbrough (via Manchester)
Posts: 37,343
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I recently tried to get 2 tickets for £15 each to see Skunk Anansie in London.
2 tickets went for £490 on eBay. Amazing. Touts suck. I also missed out on getting tickets for Yeah Yeah Yeahs but there's quite a lot on eBay. The Glastonbury ticket idea should be used more often. However, if people are willing to pay touts will sell them. |
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#6 |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
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Quote:
I recently tried to get 2 tickets for £15 each to see Skunk Anansie in London.
2 tickets went for £490 on eBay. Amazing. Touts suck. I also missed out on getting tickets for Yeah Yeah Yeahs but there's quite a lot on eBay. The Glastonbury ticket idea should be used more often. However, if people are willing to pay touts will sell them. The Festival organisers (not only Reading and Leeds but all others as well) are being given the opportunity to sort this fiasco out once and for all. If they don't then legislation will be brought in making it ilegal to sell tickets for profit. Not to mention that the touts are making tax free money so I am sure the Government is keen to sort this out. |
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#7 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 35,432
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I hate ticket touting. People are trying to charge quadruple the face value for Pink tickets and it's just unfair.
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#8 |
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Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 372
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Quote:
That's why possbible legislation is being proposed in the same way football match tickets cannot be resold.
The Festival organisers (not only Reading and Leeds but all others as well) are being given the opportunity to sort this fiasco out once and for all. If they don't then legislation will be brought in making it ilegal to sell tickets for profit. Not to mention that the touts are making tax free money so I am sure the Government is keen to sort this out. |
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#9 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 16,886
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Quote:
That's why possbible legislation is being proposed in the same way football match tickets cannot be resold.
The Festival organisers (not only Reading and Leeds but all others as well) are being given the opportunity to sort this fiasco out once and for all. If they don't then legislation will be brought in making it ilegal to sell tickets for profit. Not to mention that the touts are making tax free money so I am sure the Government is keen to sort this out. Until the ticket agencies allow tickets to be resold then it will continue. Plus of course Ticketmaster own Getmein so it is in their best interests for tickets to be touted! |
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#10 |
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Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Lincoln
Posts: 15
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See Tickets put your surname on, why not just add the last 4 digets of your credit card on aswell then when you go to gig you have to show your credit card at the door
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#11 |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
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Quote:
Until the ticket agencies allow tickets to be resold then it will continue. Plus of course Ticketmaster own Getmein so it is in their best interests for tickets to be touted!
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#12 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 16,886
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Quote:
See Tickets put your surname on, why not just add the last 4 digets of your credit card on aswell then when you go to gig you have to show your credit card at the door
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#13 |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 8,802
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I am reviving this thread for this year as ONCE AGAIN we are seeing ridiculous prices emerging for Reading & Leeds Festival tickets.
This years price is officially £180.00 + £7.00 booking fee Seatwave - (from) £250 Viagogo* - (from) £245 See Tickets - SOLD OUT Ticketmaster - SOLD OUT Ebay - £250 to £600+ * Suposedly ethical ticket website. Once again I call on Festival Republic to sort out this farce that sees genuine music fans fleeched at the expense of those seeking to make a quick profit. The easyist and best way to sort this out is the Glastonbury way - pre register and photos on tickets. Unfortnately FR ethics are only concerned about how quickly the tickets sell out, not what happens to them after or how much they are touted for. |
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#14 |
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Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Hadfield, Derbyshire
Posts: 3,910
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Agree
If the goverment can stop sporting tickets being sold for profit then they could do it for music gigs if they could really be bothered but they never do, there is just not the political will, I patially blame the music industry who are quick on their high horse when they loose money through illigel downloads but could not give a dam about real fans who loose out to touts. For example I was lucky enough to get Florence and the Machine tickets thats sold out in mins but then loads become available at much higher prices, its just wrong. |
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#15 |
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 3,559
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I've managed to get a ticket, but i've either missed out on gigs i've really wanted to attend in the past or had to pay over the odds to get them, and it s really annoying when you see them being sold on eBay for a fortune, but I get more pissed off with the ticket companies who charge nearly a tenner of fees on top of the ticket.
The way you describe it it's as though you believe the touts have first dibs over the tickets and then everyone else does. That's not the case, it's first come first served and everyone has the same opportunity to get the tickets. If the touts get a ticket and someone else doesn't that's because they weren't fast enough, as gutting as it is. Also you have to remember the touts don't win everytime. There are plenty of gigs that are billed as one offs, and then after the first and apparently exclusive date goes on sale a string of others are announced and tickets ae easier to get hold of and the touts can barely scrape their money back if at all. Britneys tour recently was an example of that. |
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#16 |
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 3,559
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Oh and i'd rather pay over the odds than end up with a ticket I cannot use or sell on a la Glastonbury should I become ill or be unable to make it shortly before the festival.
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#17 |
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Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Hadfield, Derbyshire
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Quote:
Oh and i'd rather pay over the odds than end up with a ticket I cannot use or sell on a la Glastonbury should I become ill or be unable to make it shortly before the festival.
http://www.nme.com/news/nme/26319 Alas the goverment see no issue with fans paying well over the odds for a ticket only that the ticket exists in the first place. As for self regulatiion its never going to work, as once all the tickets are sold there is no incentive for a promoter to prevent the selling on of tickets as they already have their money and don't care who actually bought the ticket first. |
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#18 |
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Join Date: Sep 2007
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Quote:
You would be able to return them for face value. The festival could the sell them on.
http://www.nme.com/news/nme/26319 Alas the goverment see no issue with fans paying well over the odds for a ticket only that the ticket exists in the first place. As for self regulatiion its never going to work, as once all the tickets are sold there is no incentive for a promoter to prevent the selling on of tickets as they already have their money and don't care who actually bought the ticket first. |
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#19 |
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Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Hadfield, Derbyshire
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Quote:
But why would anyone choose to be out of pocket, as they'll not get any fees back and probably have to pay an admin charge, when they could sell it on eBay and make a profit. I'm not saying that people should expect a full refund, just why it'd be difficult to make that option more desireable.
A lot of the touts are criminals and they run this type of "scam" to make a lot of money. I bet quite a few of a few thousend pound richer after tonight. Its people like this who need to be stopped. I am seeing Ellie Goulding Tommrow Cost of ticket £11:50 inc charges. They are currently on sale for £70 re-sale Slightly more than the £2 fee. |
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#20 |
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 3,559
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Why would anyone settle for a tenner when they could get a hundred? If people are willing to pay then let them, the only thing that will stop the touts at this stage is if people stop buying from them.
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#21 |
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Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Hadfield, Derbyshire
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Quote:
Why would anyone settle for a tenner when they could get a hundred? If people are willing to pay then let them, the only thing that will stop the touts at this stage is if people stop buying from them.
The touts play on the fact real fans want the tickets. You ban excesive resale you stop the touts. |
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#22 |
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Join Date: Sep 2007
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How do you define excessive resale though? What if someone buys tickets for 4 friends and none of them can go? It'd take far too much time to sift through each individual case to see if its legitimate or a tout, they'd have to ban it completely.
I didn't know that about sports, when was that introduced? I've bought sports tickets via resale in the last couple of years
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#23 |
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Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Hadfield, Derbyshire
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Quote:
How do you define excessive resale though? What if someone buys tickets for 4 friends and none of them can go? It'd take far too much time to sift through each individual case to see if its legitimate or a tout, they'd have to ban it completely.
I didn't know that about sports, when was that introduced? I've bought sports tickets via resale in the last couple of years ![]() I have just looked at Florance and the Machine website and they had a pre sale of a huge outdoor concert. All the tickets sold out in seconds and suddenly all the resale websites had tickets on for triple the price, that is simply not right. In terms of charges you genually never pay more than 5% or 10% depending on how much the ticket was to start with so I would say that would be fair. That could include the cost of using a webiste to caryyout the transaction for the resale. There is a huge difference between between buying the ticket for profit and not being able to suddenly not go but if you are the latter and sell it on for more than what the ticket cost + charges you are no better than the tout. |
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#24 |
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: UK
Posts: 3,917
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Tickets went back on sale at 11pm and were absolutley easy to get then. Only just "sold out" again, but undoubtedly more will be there tommorow morning.
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#25 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 16,886
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Quote:
Agree
If the goverment can stop sporting tickets being sold for profit then they could do it for music gigs if they could really be bothered but they never do, there is just not the political will, I patially blame the music industry who are quick on their high horse when they loose money through illigel downloads but could not give a dam about real fans who loose out to touts. For example I was lucky enough to get Florence and the Machine tickets thats sold out in mins but then loads become available at much higher prices, its just wrong. |
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