Three major secondary ticketing platforms have promised to make changes to the way information is provided to their customers.
Following enforcement action by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), StubHub, GETMEIN! and Seatwave have formally committed to ensuring better information will be given about tickets being resold through their platforms.
The pledge builds on changes they had already made during the CMA’s investigation, and will help customers decide whether buying a ticket is worthwhile.
The sites will make clear whether there is a risk a customer might be turned away at the door; which seat in the venue the customer will get; and who is selling the ticket.
They will also make it mandatory for sellers to provide this information when listing a ticket, routinely carry out their own checks on primary ticket sellers’ websites about resale restrictions, and act promptly if event organisers tell them information is missing.
Michael Grenfell, the CMA’s executive director for enforcement, said: “Thousands of people use secondary ticketing websites to buy tickets for concerts, theatre and other events.
“So it’s crucial they are told what they are buying, from whom they are buying it, and whether their ticket might not actually get them into the event.
“We welcome the changes already made and new commitments we’ve been given by StubHub, Seatwave and GETMEIN! to improve the information on offer, so that people can better judge whether they’re getting a good deal.”
The CMA’s enforcement action, launched late last year, followed a thorough investigation into the sector which identified concerns that consumers who used StubHub, GETMEIN!, Seatwave and viagogo were not being told about restrictions on using a resold ticket, where exactly in a venue they would be seated and the identity of the sellers they were buying from.
Grenfell stressed that all secondary ticketing websites must “play by the rules” and that viagogo has so far “failed to address our concerns”.
“We are prepared to use the full range of our powers to protect customers – including action through the courts,” he said.