Fan Fair Alliance has slammed Viagogo for allowing sellers to profit from an Ed Sheeran concert that is aiming to raise money for a cancer charity.
The Teenage Cancer Trust itself has also reacted after it was revealed that not only was Viagogo allowing users to resell tickets for the fundraiser, but, according to the Independent newspaper, it also apparently offered advice on bypassing restrictions.
A statement on the Viagogo website said that any person who bought tickets from their site would have to be accompanied into the venue by the seller, in what appears to be an attempt to pass by the restrictions imposed by the Royal Albert Hall and Teenage Cancer Trust.
Tickets with a face value of just £75 ($94/€88) were being sold on Viagogo for more than £1,000.
A statement on the Teenage Cancer Trust website said that the only people who should profit from the event at the Royal Albert Hall are young people with cancer. It said: “Anyone with tickets purchased on the secondary market will not be admitted.”
FanFair Alliance, which campaigns against secondary ticket touting, said: “Teenage Cancer Trust have gone to huge lengths and expense to prevent resale and profiteering of their tickets. To all intents and purposes they are non-transferrable, with buyers needing to provide photo ID on the door.
“And yet, not only are Viagogo encouraging touts to sell these tickets at vastly inflated prices, none of which goes back to the charity, they attempt to circumvent the terms and conditions by advertising that the buyer will be accompanied into the venue by the seller.
“Leaving aside the moral repugnance of profiteering at the expense of teenage cancer sufferers, this appears a flagrant breach of consumer law and yet another reason why Government intervention is so desperately needed.”
Sheeran’s team recently criticised the secondary market after tickets to his forthcoming UK dates sold out within minutes before hundreds were almost immediately offered for resale at inflated prices. Representatives for the singer said they were “vehemently opposed to the unethical practices that occur in the secondary market”.
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