“Don’t choose Viagogo,” says government digital minister, Margot James, referring to secondary ticket sites. “They are the worst.” StubHub, Seatwave and GetMeIn are presumably okay because, I am guessing, they are upfront by how much they are ripping you off whereas Viagogo don’t. I’ve got a very different point of view altogether: ban all secondary sites.
The whole reason for the existence of secondary sites – or touts as we should really call them – is to rip us off. Going to a gig is often a very expensive business these days as, increasingly, artists make their money from playing ‘live’ as opposed to from record and download sales. These scumbags are making them even more expensive.
A starting point would be if artists themselves were to all say to their fans, do not buy from secondary sites because you won’t get in. If your name is on the ticket, we will want proof of who you are when you hand it in. If you can’t, you won’t get in and, by the way, good luck in trying to get a refund from the touts. Some do that, most couldn’t care less.
I don’t even like the idea of using the likes of Ticketmaster who charge all kinds of add-ons which have no benefits at all for the ticket-buyer. These people even charge you exorbitant amounts for kindly printing out your own tickets at home or for “booking fees”, whatever they are.
I don’t want to go back to the old days when you would have to queue all night for a ticket when the venue opened at 9.00 am but surely we can have a system that exists for concert goers and not just for what are effectively ticket touts on stilts.
You don’t go to Asda to buy your corn flakes and find they’ve flogged them all to a secondary supermarket with a massive mark-up. Secondary sites represent legalised ticket touts, legitimised rip offs. Don’t use them.
