the British government wants to ban the resale of match and concert tickets above the purchase price

An individual or business in the UK cannot charge more than the purchase price for a resale ticket. A blow to ticket resale platforms ensures that these caps will drive consumers to unregulated sites and increase the black market.

A small revolution in England. The British government announced on Wednesday, November 19, a ban on the resale of tickets at a higher price than the initial purchase, to limit abuse. Music stars such as Dua Lipa, Coldplay and Radiohead recently called out in an open letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer to keep his word and protect fans from the exorbitant prices of these resale platforms and street vendors. This prohibition also applies to social networks.

The announcement was greeted with relief as it could put an end to 4,000 euro tickets for Oasis concerts, football finals or theater premieres. The government wants to end the black market in tickets plaguing the UK, and fans appreciate it. “This is ridiculous, I paid 300 euros to go see Oasisclearly an English woman. I think it would cost at most 100 euros. We can see how extreme this is, how expensive it is, and how many people are taking advantage of it. It’s important that there are real regulations on this.” “I think the entire pricing policy of certain companies is unacceptableexplained another Briton. This discourages true fans from seeing what they really want, and creates unnecessary competition. I think this should be controlled.”

Companies that break the rules could face fines of up to 10% of global turnover from the UK’s competition authority, the CMA. Resale costs are assessed “unavoidable, like service charges”may be charged by the platform, but limited, the government’s bottom line.

The new regulations are expected to reduce the average price of resale tickets by up to 45 euros, meaning tens of millions of euros each year for fans. “This is a scourge that has been going on for years, and I am very happy to hear the news”British actor Steve Pemberton reacts on the BBC.

“We want to play for all the fans, not just those who can afford to come.”

Steve Pemberton, actor

on the BBC

Viagogo and StubHub International’s specialized platforms, which are used by retailers for their transactions, are the main platforms affected by this law, bringing their models into question. Both believe this will encourage fraud, by diverting shoppers to less secure sites. “When a regulated market turns into a black market, consumers are left with nothing but problems: fraud, worry, and no recourse”reaction of a StubHub spokesperson. A Viagogo spokesperson assured that in countries where restrictions are in place, “Fraud rates are almost four times higher than in the UK”citing Ireland and Australia.

On the other hand, the government also intends to fight against “dynamic” pricing imposed during certain sales, when prices are adjusted in real time according to demand, which caused the scandal with Oasis tickets. To this, he asked “to give fans 24 hours notice” at this price or even “to provide clearer price information when queuing online”.