The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport has revealed that the new legislation to tackle bulk-harvesting of tickets by dedicated touts will be laid before Parliament this week. Once activated, it would mean those using “automated software” to bulk-buy tickets for resale on secondary ticketing sites at hugely inflated prices will face an unlimited […]
Government has today announced that updates to the Consumer Rights Act 2015 will come into force today, whilst also clarifying to secondary ticketing websites – if they needed any more clarification – of their legal obligations. The key development is around the concept of a ‘Unique Ticket Number’ or UTN. If an event organiser specifies […]
On Wednesday 21st March, FanFair Alliance was honoured to receive “Best Consumer Campaign” at the SMK 2018 National Campaigner Awards. Organised by the Sheila McKechnie Foundation, the annual Awards are unique in celebrating some of the country’s foremost change-makers across categories ranging from best use of digital to the young person’s award. FanFair Alliance were […]
Following a long-running complaint by FanFair Alliance and others, the Advertising Standards Authority has today announced a clampdown on the misleading pricing practices of secondary ticketing websites. This will ban websites such as Viagogo, StubHub, Get Me In and Seatwave from the following: – Not making clear the total ticket price at the beginning of […]
Some good news… Government has updated business guidance for the Consumer Rights Act 2015 – bolstering the legislation in two ways that should empower artists and event organisers when their tickets are listed for resale. The changes are intended to provide consumers with greater transparency when buying second-hand tickets. Currently, secondary ticketing operators and their sellers […]
Yesterday, Google’s global certification process for ticket resellers went live. Under this new system, secondary ticketing platforms must meet a range of criteria before they can access Google’s advertising platforms – for instance, on their own website they must prominently disclose they are a secondary market, and that tickets may be above face value. Crucially, they […]
TUESDAY 28TH NOVEMBER Today, the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) have announced it will be taking enforcement action against secondary ticketing websites suspected of breaking consumer protection law. This follows a thorough investigation into the sector – to which FanFair Alliance has submitted significant evidence – that has identified widespread concerns about the information would-be ticket buyers are given, as well as evidence that […]
Yesterday, Google announced an important update to their advertising policies on ticket resale. From January 2018, event ticket resellers will need to be certified before they can advertise through AdWords. The policy will apply globally, across all accounts that advertise ticket resale. Needless to say, this appears to be a positive development. It should have ramifications on the controversial marketing practices […]
– 80% of the UK public think secondary ticketing is a “rip off” – 67% of those who purchased above-face-value tickets from sellers on sites like Viagogo, StubHub, Get Me In! and Seatwave said they would attend fewer concerts in the future. 60% said they would attend fewer festivals, 58% that they would spend less […]
On Wednesday night (August 2nd), BBC 1’s Watchdog investigated the UK’s estimated £1bn per annum secondary ticketing market – raising yet more concerns about business practices in this sector, and in particular those of the Swiss-based company Viagogo. The programme included interviews with distressed Viagogo customers who believe they have been mis-sold tickets via the site and […]