Over 40,000 people have signed a petition to stop the resale of concert tickets at inflated prices.
The petition stresses that concerts tickets tend to sell out straight away, then are available to buy at an inflated price on other websites, making it extremely difficult for fans to get tickets.
People of the North East took to social media to show their disappointment, when Ed Sheeran tickets for his concert at the Metro Radio Arena in March sold out and were available on resale sites for up to £500 hours later.
In an interview with Metro Radio, Ailsa Oliver, general manager of the Metro Radio Arena said:
“I can understand people were frustrated that they weren’t able to get tickets and people were frustrated that they’ve obviously been bought by people with the intention of selling on.
“It goes against most venues and most ticket agencies terms and conditions but it’s not illegal. With demand being so high, it enables people to put their tickets up for sale and for people to purchase those tickets. As long as that clear and visible, then people have the choice to buy through those outlets.
“We have previously been involved in a campaign that was taken to national government to try to make sure that there was some governance over secondary points of sale so that there was legislation in place to protect consumers.”
Beth Jobling, from Sunderland, paid £380 for two tickets to see The Stone Roses in Manchester in June 2016 from Get Me In, a Ticketmaster company.
“The prices were rising and I did think twice about buying them, but I was desperate to go. The tickets were originally about £80.
“I think reselling tickets is a disgrace, especially when the companies are owned by the original websites. For this reason definitely think that it should be stopped.”
You can view the petition here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/171819