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Reading & Leeds Festivals - SOLD OUT (Time to sort out the way tickets are sold!)


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Old 01-04-2009, 21:10
Markjuk
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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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Old 01-04-2009, 21:17
Carmen Queasy
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Ticket touting should really be made illegal unless it's sold at face value.
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Old 01-04-2009, 21:32
Markjuk
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Ticket touting should really be made illegal unless it's sold at face value.
Yes I agree in a way, as it would stop people buying excess tickets purely for profit at the expense of those who want to go.
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Old 01-04-2009, 21:46
InsideSoap
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Ticket touting should really be made illegal unless it's sold at face value.
I agree. Especially when tickets appear on eBay five minutes after going on sale, it makes me sick tbh. I bought tickets for The Sats on SeeTickets and then bought them AGAIN on TicketLine because I thought the SeeTickets link hadn't worked so I had to sell the extra two, but did it for face value even though I suppose I could have added a few quid onto it. I actually ended up LOSING a few quid, but it's better than being lumbered with two useless tickets. But when a £40/£50 ticket is going for £200+ it's disgusting.
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Old 01-04-2009, 21:50
Carmen Queasy
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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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Old 01-04-2009, 21:57
Markjuk
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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.
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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Old 01-04-2009, 22:34
Ethereal
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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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Old 01-04-2009, 23:55
parklife
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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.
agreed, but i think on ebay, some of the money made by the seller goes to ebay and part fo that may go to tax. i don't know.
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Old 02-04-2009, 08:16
TommyGavin76
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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.
I don't think there is any legislation being proposed. The Government asked ticket sellers to come up with ways to stop it, but that was a long time ago and nothing has been heard since.

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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Old 02-04-2009, 10:46
BigRedDog
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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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Old 02-04-2009, 18:46
Markjuk
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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!
Just seen getmein, thats wrong that a reputable (or not so) company like Ticketmaster have jumped on the profiteering bandwagon and in effect become touts.
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Old 02-04-2009, 18:51
TommyGavin76
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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
What about people who buy tickets for other people, like parents? What about people who find out they can't go after they book the tickets, they would just lose all their money. It is a completely unworkable idea and would make ticket selling even more unfair.
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Old 29-03-2010, 20:10
Markjuk
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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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Old 29-03-2010, 20:41
tellyadict
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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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Old 29-03-2010, 20:57
lookoutapiano!
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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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Old 29-03-2010, 21:07
lookoutapiano!
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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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Old 29-03-2010, 21:09
tellyadict
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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.
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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Old 29-03-2010, 21:38
lookoutapiano!
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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.
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.
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Old 29-03-2010, 21:43
tellyadict
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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.
Then sell it on for £10 more then not £100-200 more like a lot do. There are a lot of people who have bought tickets tonight who have suddenly decided already they don't want to go,

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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Old 29-03-2010, 21:48
lookoutapiano!
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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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Old 29-03-2010, 21:50
tellyadict
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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.
Thats the point, put in legeslation to stop them. They have done it for sport events why not music.

The touts play on the fact real fans want the tickets. You ban excesive resale you stop the touts.
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Old 29-03-2010, 21:57
lookoutapiano!
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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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Old 29-03-2010, 22:06
tellyadict
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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
It was for football sorry not all sports

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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Old 30-03-2010, 01:44
lionsof66
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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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Old 30-03-2010, 07:00
TommyGavin76
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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.
Football tickets resales are restricted for a good reason, there is no good reason to restrict other ticket sales.
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