Advertising Standards Authority cracks down on secondary ticket outlets

The Advertising Standards Authority cracked down on four of the biggest online marketplaces for secondary ticketing, following sector-wide investigations, highlighting multiple cases of the sites misrepresenting their pricing information.

The ASA uncovered that StubHub, Viagogo, Seatwave and GetMeIn! had not been transparent with users regarding additional fees and charges added at the end of their ticket purchase.

The industry watchdog told the aforementioned organisations to provide consumers with greater transparency regarding their pricing, making the total damage to potential buyers hip pocket clear from the outset, including booking fees, VAT, applicable delivery fees and non-optional taxes.

A spokesperson for StubHub welcomed the changes, saying the company would comply with the new regulations.

Ticketmaster, which owns GetMeIn!, also came out in support of the ruling, affirming its previous commitment to transparency.

"Our ticket resale sites already ensure fans know exactly what they will pay at every stage of the buying process, displaying all fees as soon as the customer selects and submits the number of tickets they are looking to buy," said Ticketmaster.

Viagogo was banned from presenting itself as an "official site", claiming it misled customers into think that it was, in fact, a primary ticketing outlet as opposed to a secondary resale vendor.

The ASA also forced Viagogo to stop claiming its customers had a "100% guarantee" of entry into the venue in question, saying there was a reasonable risk that entry would be denied.

A spokesperson for FanFair Alliance, a major campaign group on secondary ticketing, said, "While we welcome today’s ASA ruling and hope it goes some way to addressing this latter issue, what’s absolutely crucial now is enforcement. Without proper sanctions, we fear that much-needed reforms will not be implemented, particularly by Viagogo, and the public will continue to be duped."

The ASA's investigation comes shortly after a new government legislation that would demand secondary ticketing sites to provide purchasers with more detailed information - location of seats, disclosure of any restrictions and the original price of the ticket; in order to provide greater clarity for concertgoers and helping ensure that customers were paying a fair price.

ASA chief executive, Guy Parker, said, "Many of us will recognise the frustration of being happy with the initial price of tickets on a secondary website only to be stung by hefty fees when we come to book. The message from our rulings is simple and it’s clear: the price you see at the start should be the price you pay at the end."