Ticketmaster is closing its secondary ticketing websites Seatwave and Get Me In, in a bid to combat touts.
The sites, which allow you to offload unwanted tickets, have frequently been exploited by so-called “professional sellers” who hike up the prices.
“We know that fans are tired of seeing others snap up tickets just to resell for a profit on secondary websites, so we have taken action,” said Andrew Parsons, head of Ticketmaster UK.
The sites will be shut down in October.
In their place, you will be allowed to sell tickets directly on Ticketmaster, where a simple click will release tickets back into the market.
Unlike the current system, you will only be allowed to charge the original price or less – though there will a 15% surcharge on every ticket to cover booking fees paid by the seller.
Ticketmaster has also vowed to be transparent about the difference between “new” and resold tickets. When selecting seats for a concert, theatre or sporting event, the seat map will show standard tickets in blue and second-hand tickets in pink.
The decision to shut down Seatwave and Get Me In comes a month after the Irish government backed a bill that would ban the resale of tickets for more than face value.
