Cutting off ticket scalpers

> Promoters have taken steps to prevent unscrupulous parties from profiteering from concerts by hugely-popular artistes

deactivated, and entry will be denied for these ticket holders.

“While we have taken all necessary steps, we also urge fans to help us by not purchasing from secondary resellers or scaplers – for when the buying stops, the selling will stop too.”

Anita said that PR Worldwide has invested heavily to provide world-class, A-list concerts to fans in Malaysia and “we want true fans to be able to purchase tickets and enjoy the show”.

“It’s sad that certain people find this an opportunity to make a quick buck!” she added. “We continue to urge fans not to purchase from unauthorised sellers or scalpers.”

PR Worldwide began tightening its security measures after tickets for the Nov 14 concert of British popstar Ed Sheeran ( inset), which it is also organising, were snapped up within 30 minutes in May, raising similar concerns of scalpers at work.

Sheeran himself is no fan of scalpers, having thrown his weight behind a UK anti-scalping ticketing site, Twickets, which was launched in Australia this year.

Twickets, which has over 500,000 users in the UK, allows fans to buy and sell spare concert tickets at face value to other fans, rather than at inflated prices on sites such as Viagogo.

Sheeran is working directly with Twickets as the preferred option for tickets being resold for his Australian tour next March.

“We’re here to provide an alternative,” Twickets Australia managing director Danny Hannaford said.

“Viagogo had an Ed Sheeran concert ticket on sale for A$3,500 (RM11,828.10) … where the top price was A$168 (RM567.75). That is an astronomical markup.”

Hannaford said most music lovers who genuinely can’t use tickets they have purchased just want their money back, not make a major profit.

“It’s a safe space where fans can sell a ticket at face value, and other fans can buy the ticket at the price it was originally on sale for and not get ripped off.”

Perhaps it is time that Malaysia set up a similar website for fans to sell a ticket at face value.