Ticketmaster Australia begins soft launch of Ticketmaster Resale

Ticketmaster Australia has begun the roll out of its Ticketmaster Resale 'anti-scalping' system.

Introducing the new platform in a statement last year, the company explained that Ticketmaster Resale features “an industry-leading money back guarantee and anti-scalper/anti-fraud measures allowing fans to transact with confidence.”

While facing industry sceptiscism that the resale platform is about generating premium prices for in-demand concert tickets, Ticketmaster explained that the new initiative is about giving greater choise to consumers, stating “fans deserve access to the full choice of available tickets at any point in time, and a safe and reliable marketplace in which to sell tickets … it is the obligation of the ticketing industry to create such a marketplace.”

Commenting on the soft launch of the platform at this week’s Asia Pacific Venue Industry Congress in Melbourne, Ticketmaster International Managing Director Resale Christophe Homann explained “customers want the ability to resell their tickets.”

Reacting to suggestions that the new platform was a form of ticket-scalping, Homann added “experience in the USA shows that anti-scalping legislation doesn’t work.”

Homann’s comments back up Ticketmaster’s assertion in their 2013 statement that it supports “any measure that gives fans the opportunity to purchase tickets with confidence,” and that it welcomed “any commitment to tackle fraudulent conduct in resale ticketing markets.”

Ticketmaster also asserted that the ticketing industry should itself take action against scalpers and “the growth of unscrupulous resale sites,” with “industry wide self-regulation measures.”

In launching the initiative, Ticketmaster are taking on ticket reselling undertaken via eBay, Gumtree and Viagogo, with the Ticketmaster Resale initiative coming after the company’s reported battle with the NSW Government over proposed laws that would give individual promoters more power to regulate the handling of tickets.

As Sydney newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported in July 2013, planned legislation would grant promoters legal power to refuse entry to fans holding tickets in breach of their terms and conditions. The laws would also give promoters the option of allowing fans to resell tickets at a ‘capped mark-up price’ or banning the practice altogether.

Ticketmaster has consistently contended that these new laws are an insufficient solution to a market problem and that industry self-regulation would be more effective, saying “Ticketmaster believes a ‘pan Australian’ approach with the support of other primary ticketing companies would be best suited to assisting the NSW Government’s goal to ensure a safe and secure resale marketplace for fans.”

Ticketmaster has warned of “unintended consequences” if amendments are not made to the NSW Government’s proposal. They say the NSW legislation would prompt consumers to use unregulated foreign companies to resell their tickets and that the creation of a secondary market, fully unrestrained by regulations and reforms, would only cause the scalping problem to escalate.

Last year, Ticketmaster’s partner company Live Nation undertook a $100 million investment in updating Ticketmaster’s purchasing platform to combat high-tech scalpers, who employ purchasing syndicates and automated software ‘bots’ to purchase tickets in bulk.

Ticketmaster Australia are hoping that the launch of their resale system will mirror the success of their TM+ initiative, currently in place in the USA. With TM+, fans hunting for tickets on the Ticketmaster website automatically see tickets “straight from artists, teams, and venues” as well as “100% verified resale tickets from fans and other sellers.”

The system assures that all purchases “happen safely and securely on Ticketmaster and show up in your Ticketmaster account.”

Using the TM+ system, a resale service fee is charged for every resale ticket purchased for a TM+ event. According to the Ticketmaster website, the fee is based on the price of the ticket, with Ticketmaster and their clients sharing the fee. Resale prices meanwhile, “are set by fans and other sellers, but occasionally artists, teams, venues, and promoters establish a price minimum and maximum.”

According to Homann, Ticketmaster Resale will offer numerous advantages not just for the ticketing company but for venues and promoters, including enhanced customer data, better pricing and patterns and the ability “to generate more revenue from pricing inventory better.”

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