Stunner
06-22-2006, 10:17 PM
Mission Concert organisers concede they can do little as scalpers capitalise on strong demand for tickets to Eric Clapton's concert in January.
Bids as high as $500 for two general admission tickets, which cost $196, were on the Trade Me website late yesterday.
They were posted on the internet auction site within hours of the 25,000 tickets selling out earlier this week.
Ticket sellers were copping abuse yesterday, with one scalper being labelled a "gold-digger" and "double-crosser".
Mission Concert promoter Garry Craft said that scalping could not be physically stopped as it was not an illegal practice.
"There is not a lot we can do to stop it, other than try to personalise the ticket as best we can," he said.
"Aspects of the new ticketing system have been designed to deal with and make the tickets more personalised to the attendee.
"If you are buying a ticket and it's either an electronic ticket or a reserved wristband purchased through the website, you should have your name on it."
Before computer trading "the scalpers would come down to the venue and they would stand out the front. If they did that, we could stop them – we would have security there."
Scalpers had been at work on past sellout Mission concerts, including those by veteran performers Rod Stewart and Sir Cliff Richard.
Credit: Stuff.co.nz
Bids as high as $500 for two general admission tickets, which cost $196, were on the Trade Me website late yesterday.
They were posted on the internet auction site within hours of the 25,000 tickets selling out earlier this week.
Ticket sellers were copping abuse yesterday, with one scalper being labelled a "gold-digger" and "double-crosser".
Mission Concert promoter Garry Craft said that scalping could not be physically stopped as it was not an illegal practice.
"There is not a lot we can do to stop it, other than try to personalise the ticket as best we can," he said.
"Aspects of the new ticketing system have been designed to deal with and make the tickets more personalised to the attendee.
"If you are buying a ticket and it's either an electronic ticket or a reserved wristband purchased through the website, you should have your name on it."
Before computer trading "the scalpers would come down to the venue and they would stand out the front. If they did that, we could stop them – we would have security there."
Scalpers had been at work on past sellout Mission concerts, including those by veteran performers Rod Stewart and Sir Cliff Richard.
Credit: Stuff.co.nz