Ebay Touts

Ebay Touts

So here you are… I thought you’d never come to see what Face Value Ticket has to say about our friends the touts on Ebay.

Firstly, I would like to point a very simple fact: if there are more and more touts on Ebay, more and more normal people trying to make a few quid by reselling concert tickets, more of these big-scale touts called (by themselves) “premium tickets agencies” (see Buyer’s Guide), more of these “dodgy” websites selling tickets 10 times over the face value, this is simply because people are buying from them, some got even ripped off, there are plenty of stories about it, but no-one seems to learn the lesson. If everyone would stop buying concert and event tickets on Ebay and all these websites for, say a year or two, forcing ourselves to miss a few gigs, then the vast majority of touts would simply disappear. Don’t expect anything from the law in this country, the UK are liberal, that’s the way it is, so this will never stop unless you take this matter in your own hands. Restrict yourself and it will naturally end…

I know, I am just a dreamer… People will continue to buy concert tickets on Ebay, therefor touts will continue to sell, and the list of amateur touts will continue to grow. So here are a few tips. Tips means that it helps not to get ripped off, it does not mean that you won’t, in fact you might well get ripped off if you are buying tickets on Ebay, like many others have before. So if you choose to do so, it might happen to you, bare that in mind!!

Buying Concert and Event tickets on Ebay

Since a year or so, Ebay has introduced new policies. The tout has now to indicate the REAL face value of the ticket he is selling. And he should also theoretically sell only tickets that should be in the buyer’s hand within 30days of the end of the auction. As we all know, there is always a huge difference between the theory and the practice.

Check the face value of the tickets - If a tout is selling a pair of tickets, he should indicate the face value of ONE (THE) ticket. For example: if the REAL face value of the ticket is £50, then this price should be indicated, and NOT the face of both tickets (£100), and even less what this tout paid for them, which includes the legitimate ticketing agency fee where these tickets come from (these fees can vary from agency to agency). So go to a legitimate ticketing agency to check the real face value. If the tout is not indicating the real face value, he is breaching Ebay’s rules, therefor it indicates that he is an amateur, he does not know very well what he is doing, he is not trustworthy. And don’t forget to report him to Ebay, to have his listing/auction taken off, it might discourage him a little bit.

Tickets should be dispatched to you within 30days - Yes, there are not so many people who know this fact, but if you buy tickets on Ebay, you should get your tickets within 30days of the end of the auction. If the tickets are advertised something like “tickets will be sent out once dispatched by the promoters, it could be any day from now up until 7 days before the concert“, and if the gig will take place in more than 31 days (it is almost always the case), then this seller is breaching Ebay’s rules too. I would advise the seller if he is aware of this fact (many aren’t, many others simply ignore it) by contacting him, as well as letting him know that you will report him to Ebay. Then report him!

So you should only buy tickets from sellers that not only know the rules (meaning not an amateur that does not know what he is doing, recipe for disasters…), but that follow them too (in fact I would advise strongly to buy only tickets from sellers that claim to have the tickets in hand). And if you wish to arm a few touts, you can spend a bit of time to report them to Ebay when they are breaching one of these 2 rules, if not both (amazingly the majority of touts do actually so, especially the amateurs), at least a few listings will be taken off, it might discourage a few touts in the future. And as we know, less touts about, more chance for real people to buy tickets the ONLY NORMAL way.

Choosing the right seller

There are tips, but no strict rules: even if you buy from an experienced ticket seller on Ebay, you are never completely sure to get your tickets, and I tell you why right now.

Some legitimate ticketing agencies are since a little while trying to track down Ebay touts. For example Seetickets have this policy:

“All tickets purchased on this site are governed by our terms and conditions. In particular, we draw your attention to the fact that all tickets are for personal use only and cannot be resold under any circumstances. Resale or attempted resale is grounds for seizure or cancellation without refund or other compensation.”

And Seetickets are looking for touts on Ebay that bought tickets from them all the time. Once they found one (and believe me, they do find plenty!!), they cancel ALL tickets that this tout bought from them. If you happen to wait for tickets that you bought from this tout / Ebay seller, then you will have soon the bad surprise. An honest tout (hi hi!!) will refund your money… and maybe not… nevertheless you end up with no tickets… and maybe out of pocket too ! So you should be aware of this too when you buy tickets on Ebay. Perhaps before buying you should ask the seller if he bought his tickets from Seetickets, cause if he did…

Once you know that, since you are still risking to throw your money away (after all, this is your money), first thing you should check is the feedback’s seller. Obviously you want a seller with an irreproachable feedback. At least you want to buy from experienced touts that know what they are doing. However, I can never stress enough that it STILL does not mean that you will get your tickets, especially if this buyer is breaching Ebay’s rules (as explained above), or bought his tickets from Seetickets (as explained above).

Do not hesitate to ask the seller as many questions as possible about the tickets. Here are the answers you need to look for:

• The real face value of EACH ticket
• Can he provide a booking confirmation from the ticketing agency where the tickets have been bought from at HIS name (and no-one else’s name!!)
• If yes, is it from Seetickets (if it is, be aware!!)
• The seats location: verify that they are as it says in the auction’s listing (Block number, row and seat numbers)
• If the auction has a BUY IT NOW price, make sure the price is for 2 tickets, and not for one. Some are deliberately confusing.
• Try to put the price down
• All other question that you might think of, you are never sure enough!

BUT before all this, there is one rule to follow: DO NOT RUSH TO EBAY the same day a concert has been put for sale to the public and showing SOLD OUT the same morning (see Buyer’s Guide). The first 2/3 days, prices are always going mad on Ebay, and much much higher than the following days, weeks, months… Be patient, not only you might be able to buy new tickets added (see Buyer’s Guide) via a legitimate online ticketing agency later on, or new dates might be added to the tour (see Buyer’s Guide), but also the price on Ebay always goes down after the first 2/3 days rush, ALWAYS. For some big tours, like PRINCE this summer, or THE SPICE GIRLS tour, in fact all BIG TOURS, the amount of tickets ending on Ebay is SO HUGE that the majority of tickets are selling at lost after a while. Yes, at lost!!

But of course, best would be NOT TO BUY CONCERT & EVENT TICKETS on Ebay AT ALL. Buy only from a legitimate ticketing agency or a box office online, that way you can be sure that nothing will go wrong!

If you have any question or query, please contact the blog admin: admin(at)facevalueticket.co.uk

The blog admin at Face value Ticket