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10,000 tickets for 'sold out' Jacko shows are snapped up on website
Amar Singh6 May 2009
Michael Jackson fans are paying six times the face value for a ticket to the singer's sold-out London concerts.
More than 10,000 tickets for Jackson's forthcoming residency at the O2 arena have already been sold at an average of £300 each on one ticket exchange website alone, in what has become Britain's most lucrative secondary ticket sales rush.
The demand comes after tickets for all 50 shows - which start this July and continue into next year - sold out in less than three days.
Many fans complained of being unable to buy standard tickets priced at £50-£75 because of technical errors with the official Ticketmaster website. The latest figures were revealed by Seatwave, Europe's largest fan-to-fan ticket exchange, which said its sales were up 200 per cent in the first quarter of the year, thanks largely to trading for the shows.
Seatwave, which makes 25 per cent commission, lost a bid to be the official secondary ticket sales partner to AEG Live, the promoter of Jackson's shows. Viagogo, another online ticket exchange, paid about £1.5million to sell about 1,000 "premium" seats for each show for up to £700. But the company fell out with AEG Live after making thousands of tickets available to touts, breaching its agreement with the US entertainment giant.
Reader views (6)
"George, London"
Michael jackson put the ticket prices between £60 and £75, which 750.000 of them soldout in 3 days, these people that r selling ickets t this price ae not associated ith Michael jackson at all,
yes it isa rip off to by a ticket for £700 but it aint Michael Jacksons fult at all, and i think £75 is well worthit.
- Popster, london, 07/05/2009 14:00
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VK London
I complained to the ASA about Seatwave advertising themaselves as a fan to fan ticket exchange when tickets for The Killers appeared on their site minutes after being sold which obviously is not a fan selling his tickets but of course this is their reply:
"We have reviewed the ad and looked at their website, but on this occasion, we will not be taking further action.
I appreciate your comments but we have to consider what claims are made in the ad. In this case, they claim you can buy tickets by visiting their website, and claim to be a ‘fan to fan ticket exchange.’ At this stage, we have no reason to believe that listeners cannot purchase tickets from the site or that listeners are unable to buy tickets from people, as opposed to a ticket agency, using the site. Therefore, on current evidence, we do not believe the ad is likely to mislead listeners and we will not be taking further action."
- George, London, 06/05/2009 16:15
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£7000 is a years salary to some people, these are the people that made his name by buying his records. I think its a rich mans game and I feel for the poor people of this country. Great artist but a big rip off, I bet odds on that he dosen't see it thro! I'll give him 10 shows at the most, hes too unstable.
- C Cusano, Bedford, 06/05/2009 14:35
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Buy an overinflated priced ticket to fund the bizarre lifestyle of this manboy. Think I'll definitely give it a big miss.
- Peter Noterfed, Paris, France, 06/05/2009 13:57
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fan-to-fan exchange???
these "secondary agencies" are tout site. tickets are for sale on them minutes after going for sale on proper ticketing sites - which suggests that they are being bought to resell rather than by a fan who finds themselves unable to attend an event.
Legislation is needed to deal with this problem urgently - it is as bad as the touts outside the tube stations offering to buy and sell tickets.
The government brought in regulations for football ticketing - this should be widened to include music ticketing too
- Vk, london, 06/05/2009 10:28
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Well, I know some people have paid £7000 to see these shows.
It's justifiable.
After all, it's the last chance to see one of the most talented and successful singers/dancers of our age.
I think we should stop the bad jokes. Michael Jackson is legendary. He is everywhere, this is a comeback but he's never really been away, EVERYONE in the music business has been inspired and influenced by him.
- Rollo, London, 06/05/2009 09:19
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