April Journeys

Isn’t it just annoying when tickets have sold out for a concert of your favourite artist? It is amazing how people seem to be in front of the computer all the time the first time tickets go on sale online. It’s like they’re camped in front of their laptops or PCs. I’d hate to think that they do this in their workplace. Anyhow, tickets always seem to run on me.

On the flipside, I also know of those people who have bought (or managed to get) tickets for a completely sold out event yet for some circumstance, they are no longer able to go. You post it everywhere – Facebook, eBay and even on your company or community bulletin board – hoping someone will buy it off you.

Introducing viagogo.co.uk – a site dedicated to providing an online ticket exchange platform for cases mentioned above. At first glance, one might think they are no different from ticket touts but for the sake of this post, I shall give them the benefit of the doubt. Let’s say that they facilitate for the buyers and sellers to find each other and they make their money by providing that platform. Perhaps similar to eBay but completely focused on tickets for concert, theatre and sports events.

So, how does it work?

If you have tickets to sell, say Tina Turner tickets, then you first register yourself as a seller. Viagogo.co.uk then asks you to enter your credit card and bank account details to ensure that you are not a fraud. Select the event where you have tickets to sell and wait for someone to buy them. When you have a buyer, you will be informed of this sale and you have only 1 business day to confirm it. Once confirmed, you will be given details for the delivery of the tickets. Delivery of the tickets does not automatically release the funds from the buyer to your account. The transaction is completed, i.e. you will receive the payment, within 7-10 business days after successful delivery. Viagogo.co.uk says that this is to protect the buyers to contest the legitimacy of the tickets. I could only assume that viagogo.co.uk will not allow any buyer refuting tickets after the date of the event. I do suggest that you check with them on that.

I also wonder what happens if the tickets are not sold. However, listing the tickets are free, therefore you really only lose the cost of the tickets you originally bought.

When setting the price of your ticket, you have to consider that viagogo.co.uk is entitled to 15% of your sale price plus any relevant taxes and will be deducted from the payment. There is no where it was mentioned that they control the price that sellers set for the tickets, which could be disapproving to some.

If you are buying, then I presume that not only are you looking for tickets that are available but also with a reasonable price. For example, the face value of Steve Coogan tickets for the Saturday, 15 November performance at the Apollo Hammersmith are normally between £37.50 – £42.50. On viagogo.co.uk, there are 2 listings of £110 for front row circle and £262 for mid stalls. Now, is that fair? To me, that would be too much to pay so I won’t buy it. But I suppose if you are desperate to see Steve Coogan, then buying either one of these tickets would be totally understandable. At the end of the day, it is all down to how much you really want to see it and how much does your pocket go or your card limit will allow.

Viagogo.co.uk might be a site worth checking if you suddenly find that tickets to popular events, like Nickleback tickets, are no longer available. Just be prepared to pay extra.

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