Price of resale tickets to be capped under plans to tackle touts

The government has announced plans to cap the price of resale tickets in a clamp-down on ticket touts who bulk buy tickets and then resell them for huge profits.

The cap would apply to tickets in the live events industry including sport, music, comedy and theatre.

It was one of the government's election promises, after complaints from fans and concert-goers about the massively inflated cost of some resale tickets.

A public consultation will now be launched to consider the cap and how much it will be - anywhere from the ticket's face value or up to 30% on top of the original price.

Separately, the government is also putting out a call for evidence on dynamic pricing, which is where the price of tickets rise at times of high demand.

Hundreds of people complained after experiencing dynamic pricing when Oasis tickets went on sale last August, with some fans charged more than £350 for tickets with an initial face value of £150.

According to analysis by the Competition and Market Authority (CMA), tickets sold on the resale market are typically marked up by more than 50%.

Investigations by Trading Standards have uncovered evidence of tickets being resold for up to six times their original cost.

Fans for music artists including Coldplay and Taylor Swift have complained that minutes after tickets to their concerts sold out, resale tickets were listed online for thousands of pounds.

The government says its consultation will seek views on capping resale prices on a range, from the original price to up to a 30% uplift.

Ministers are also proposing limiting the number of tickets that resellers can sell, to the maximum they are allowed to purchase in the original ticket sale.

They also want to create new legal obligations for ticket resale websites and apps to oversee the accuracy of information they provide to fans - with Trading Standards and the Competition and Marketing Authority responsible for enforcement.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said: "We are taking action to strengthen consumer protections, stop fans getting ripped off and ensure money spent on tickets goes back into our incredible live events sector, instead of into the pockets of greedy touts."

She told BBC Breakfast on Friday: "This has been going on for years, it's been fleecing fans, and we say time is up for ticket touts, enough is enough.

"I believe that music belongs to fans, and that fans make the music industry what it is... Fans want to buy tickets but they can't, because I don't know anyone in this country that can afford £1,000... for a ticket."

She added: "Touts are distorting the market because what they're doing is taking those tickets away from fans, inflating the prices and selling them on, so they are denying the fans the price that the ticket company has set and the band want to sell the tickets for, and instead all of that money is pouring into [the touts'] pockets."

Alongside the consultation, ministers have launched a call for evidence into dynamic pricing - which is says is often used to sell unsold tickets with lower prices but has meant some customers have been caught out paying higher prices for high-demand events.

"The call for evidence will seek views on how the ticketing system in the live events sector is working for fans and whether the current system provides sufficient protection from unfair practices," the governments aid.

Last year, Oasis fans were asked to pay as much as £350 per ticket, around £200 more than had been advertised, due to demand.

Previously, Noel and Liam Gallagher said they had not been aware that dynamic pricing would be used for their UK stadium shows next summer - but acknowledged that the roll out of the tickets had not gone as planned.

Ticketmaster has said it does not set prices and that it is down to the "event organiser" who "has priced these tickets according to their market value".

Ticket resale sites have previously defended their services, with Viagogo saying its site ensures resales are "a secure, safe transaction".

Viagogo's boss previously told the BBC lots of fans actually prefer buying on Viagogo instead of buying tickets direct.

"They don't want to be forced to get up on Friday morning and wait in a queue that may or may not happen," he says.

In a statement, Viagogo said it would "continue to constructively engage with the government".

It added that it will "look forward to responding in full to the consultation and call for evidence on improving consumer protections in the ticketing market".

Meanwhile, Ticketmaster said it would support a cap on the reselling of tickets.

"Since 2018, our resale has been capped at face value, providing fans a safe place to sell tickets they can't use at the original price set by artists and event organisers," it said.

"We support proposals to introduce an industry-wide resale price cap. We also urge the government to crack down on bots and ban speculative ticket sales."

Sarah Cardell, CEO of CMA, added: "We know from our own work on ticket reselling that fans often have to jump through hoops and can be left out of pocket or turned away at the door.

"That is why we made recommendations to the previous government to tackle illegal bulk-buying, stop speculative selling and hold platforms accountable for inaccurate ticket information."

She said they "welcome this fresh opportunity to bring in the stronger protections consumers need in this area".

Fan-to-fan resale site Twickets' founder Richard Davies gave his support to a cap on ticket resale prices, and called on the government to "investigate a potential cap on booking fees to ensure they remain proportionate and reasonable".

Campaigners and music artists have welcomed the consultation. UK Music, which represents the UK's music industry, said it wanted a "clear price cap".

Musician and DJ Fatboy Slim gave his backing to the government's proposals, saying it was "great to see money being put back into fans' pockets instead of resellers".

Labour's Sharon Hodgson, the MP who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on ticket abuse and has been campaigning for 15 years on the issue, also welcomed the government's proposal.

"I hope all those who have been affected by the inflated prices, speculative ticket selling or fallen victim to scams that are prolific within the secondary market will get involved in this consultation," she said.

FanFair Alliance, a campaign group that was set up against ticket touts, called the measures "potentially game-changing".

It pointed to other countries - such as Ireland which banned ticket touting in 2021 - saying it shows "how legislation to prevent the resale of tickets for profit can massively curb the illegal and anti-consumer practices of online ticket touts and offshore resale platforms. The UK simply needs to follow their example".