Beware the dangers of ticket scalping

With so many major international events being hosted in New Zealand in 2015, it’s easy to be tempted into purchasing an in-demand ticket from a ticket scalper, but you run the risk of buying a counterfeit ticket and ending up out of pocket. What is ticket scalping? Ticket scalping is when someone other than the promoter sells on tickets at a higher price to make a quick profit.

Scalping refers to the loss the promoter and in the end the consumer suffers as a result of the practice.

Sometimes you are unable to make a concert or event, perhaps because of work or illness. You might then want to sell on your ticket to recoup the cost.

There is no specific law in New Zealand against ticket scalping, unless an event is declared a major event by the Governor- General, in which case the ticket cannot be sold for more than the purchased price.

The Cricket World Cup and the FIFA Under- 20 World Cup are two major events being held in New Zealand in 2015.

Your right to sell on the ticket depends on the terms or conditions the authorised seller specified.

If specified, only the ticket seller can take action for the breach, not a third party, such as an enforcement agency or the ticket buyer.

As a consumer you also need to remember that buying a ticket from an unauthorised seller puts you at risk of being supplied with a fake ticket, resulting in denied entry to the event, or the ticket not being provided at all.

It is best that you only buy tickets through the event organiser or authorised resellers. To find an authorised reseller, visit the official website or contact the organiser.

If you do buy a ticket from a ticket scalper, use only secure payment methods.

Never wire money through a payment transfer service such as Western Union.

Keep all transaction records so that if things go wrong, you have proof of what was said and agreed to.