So tickets for the Star Wars marathon went on ebay for £1,000, at over 10 times their face value? How many ‘real’ fans got to buy tickets at face value, and how many had to pay over the odds from touts and opportunists that are taking away the chance for people on lower incomes to see the most popular events?
This isn’t just a Star Wars problem. Madonna’s last tour sold out within minutes; by lunchtime the same day the tickets were up for sale on the internet at hundreds of pounds more than the face value.
This is becoming a dark stain on the way entertainment events are run. And yet, surely, it couldn’t be simpler to introduce a fair system for fans of concerts and other events that are extremely popular. All organisers need to do is insist of the name of each person buying a ticket, who would then have to show photo ID at the gate to enter the event. Tickets would be non-transferable, but in the case of people who were unable to attend, could be sold back to the box office at face value (or 90% of it.)
I know for a fact that as a person on a tight budget, unless I am fortunate enough to get through to one of these ticket hotlines within the first five minutes, I’ll never be able to afford the overinflated cost of getting hold of second hand tickets.
News reports often say ‘tickets have gone on sale on ebay within the hour with bids exceeding £500’, without ever offering any criticism of the system that allows them to do this. I don’t think it’s acceptable to say, ‘it’s worth paying that for such a great event’, because some people don’t have that possibility, even though they could afford the face value prices.
Some people are making a fortune out of ticket touting, and society seems to just stand by and say, ‘good for them.’ I say sort it out now. It’s not exactly difficult.