Singer wins fight to stop huge rip-off
ED Sheeran has ticket touts on the run with many offloading seats for his sell-out tour at less than face value.
The singer’s team has cancelled thousands of tickets bought by fans on secondary selling site Viagogo at vastly marked-up prices.
When they arrive at gigs the tickets are stamped invalid by staff, meaning buyers are eligible for full refunds from the site.
They are then offered tickets to the gig at the official prices.
With some fans paying up to £1,000 on the secondary market to see Ed live, Viagogo and touts are getting a bloody nose.
Last night tickets for Ed’s gigs were still being listed on Switzerland-based Viagogo’s site. But seats at Hampden Park in Glasgow were going for just £30 – £15 less than the cheapest official tickets.
And tickets at St James’s Park in Newcastle were available for £44.
Stuart Galbraith, of Kilimanjaro Live, which is promoting Ed’s concerts, said: “We’re achieving exactly what Ed wanted, which is ‘we want you to come in and pay this price’.’’
Mr Galbraith negotiated with resellers Get Me In, Seatwave and StubHub to make sure they would not list tickets for the tour.
He added: “The only agency which listed against our wishes was Viagogo.’’
Viagogo said: “These types of entry restrictions are highly unfair and in our view unenforceable and illegal.’’
Meanwhile the advertising watchdog ASA yesterday referred Viagogo to Trading Standards over alleged misleading pricing information on its website. The Star Says: Page 6