UK Government to Ban Reselling Tickets for Profit

[BoomKack 6,656]

Reselling tickets to live events for a profit is set to be banned by the UK government. Ministers are expected to announce the plan in a bid to tackle touts and resale sites which offer tickets at several times' face value.

The limit is expected to be set at face value, although some fees could still be charged on top of the original ticket price.

Resale sites like Viagogo and Stubhub have previously claimed that a price cap could push customers towards unregulated sites and social media, putting them at increased risk of fraud.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c77z2l3yzl8o

Spoiler

@viagogo @stubhub

Do you think this will have a positive result on future ticket sales? I wish this was in place before the Mayhem Ball 

[FATCAT 60,886]

I think this will make the original tickets to these shows higher, but it might make it a little easier to get a ticket if you remove the incentive to bot grab.

[MACATL 2,125]

This is definitely a great development.  Hope it happens in the US too.  

[LG2008 6,308]

Ticketmaster and Live Nation are shaking 

Edited November 17, 2025 by LG2008

[Gabe 2,582]

As it should be.

[darkgaga 7,096]

10 minutes ago, LG2008 said:

Ticketmaster and Live Nation are shaking 

Well in Europe Ticketmaster is less of a problem. At least dynamic pricing is not as prevalent as in the US. And here in the Netherlands we have Ticketswap, which is part of Ticketmaster and has a very small chance you are being ripped off

[gumzy3000 7,898]

What happens if your unable to go to the event? How would you resell the ticket in accordance to the law? 

[Alxjcgn 2,194]

3 hours ago, MACATL said:

This is definitely a great development.  Hope it happens in the US too.  

I hope so! I went to list 2 tickets for MAYHEM ball and was disgusted that they basically told me a minimum I could list it for based off what I am assuming is the dynamic pricing. So that being said- I am still trying to find someone to sell 2 tickets for 3/24 in DC

[Helxig 45,328]

HELL YEAH! Now every other government step in and follow suit! It's time something was done about the absolute mess that is ticket sales in 2025. Scalpers can die and go to hell. They're in the same league to me as scammers

[Bronco 24,761]

9 hours ago, LG2008 said:

Ticketmaster and Live Nation are shaking 

This won't effect them as they are the primary seller not the reseller. 

6 hours ago, gumzy3000 said:

What happens if your unable to go to the event? How would you resell the ticket in accordance to the law? 

At face value.

9 hours ago, FATCAT said:

I think this will make the original tickets to these shows higher, but it might make it a little easier to get a ticket if you remove the incentive to bot grab.

Honestly, the resale market had already caused the cost of tickets on face value to spike. If anything, this may bring it down because it will surpress the artifical demand created by bot farms reselling tickets.

[AsleepOnTheCeiling 6,939]

1 minute ago, Bronco said:

This won't effect them as they are the primary seller not the reseller. 

Doesn't Ticketmaster host its own resale service in the UK? In the US they do and charge a 10-15% seller fee

[Bronco 24,761]

25 minutes ago, AsleepOnTheCeiling said:

Doesn't Ticketmaster host its own resale service in the UK? In the US they do and charge a 10-15% seller fee

They do, but they've already voluntarily capped resale in the UK via their platform at facevalue for the ticket (think they allow the seller to include the booking fees as well). 
 

[4th Time Around 5,059]

Finally some good news. Scalpers are a plague 

[Elizabeth 750]

This is good news in one sense but dynamic pricing also needs to be stopped and I fear this will only worse! You should not be paying upwards of £200 for a regular seat at the concert imo (for anyone). 

[NewUsername 11,749]

Well, I seem to remember that in Belgium some years ago, it was something along the lines of "maximum face value + 10%", but when I looked it up again some weeks ago (and just now again to verify) it says that everything above face value is considered illegal. 

Scalping still happens in Belgium, but it is true that since Ticketswap, I think there's less scalping. At least it has made resale a lot more safe and affordable. Ticketswap handles a "maximum face value + 20%". The app is used a lot and is legal, but I guess it's only legal if you don't ask more than face value.

 

19 hours ago, darkgaga said:

Well in Europe Ticketmaster is less of a problem. At least dynamic pricing is not as prevalent as in the US. And here in the Netherlands we have Ticketswap, which is part of Ticketmaster and has a very small chance you are being ripped off

Afaik, Ticketswap is not part of Ticketmaster. I think you're maybe thinking of the fact that they have an understanding, which means that if they and the venue agree, you can get reissued tickets, which makes the resale even safer.