Ticket touting - a solvable problem?

Ticket touting - a solvable problem?

Ticket touting and fraud is an increasing problem in the UK today, with tickets to major events reselling at huge profits. The modern tout is no longer just the shadowy figure stood outside a venue; the problem has gone 21st century with the explosion of the digital age. Now there are self proclaimed ‘bedroom touts' who are using sites such as eBay to sell tickets at inflated costs and this issue shows no sign of abating.

So can the arts industry put a stop to this, and if so, how? Oliver Seal, CEO of Swiftpass, examines the issues of ticket touting and fraud, and explores the role of technology in eradicating this problem.

Touting for business - an honest way to earn a living?

Ticket touting is rife in arts and entertainment. Tourists to London's West End often want to take in a world class show, but don't know how much to pay for the tickets.  It is often a challenge to distinguish between an authorised ticket seller and a tout.  This is where tourists fall victim to resellers offering tickets and vastly inflated prices both on the street and online. Tickets for the recent premiere of Dirty Dancing sold online at almost four times their face value*. The Society of London Theatres has voiced its concern that tourists who have had a bad experience with a tout may not come to London again and that this practice is damaging tourism. The problem is compounded when consumers are sold forgeries, a fact that is only realised at the theatre when they are refused entry.

Another key area for ticket touting and fraud in the entertainment industry is the large venues and eagerly anticipated festivals and concerts. GetMeTickets.net, a ticket agency specialising in front-row seats for gigs, was shut down this year following a stream of complaints and an investigation by the Government's Companies Investigation Branch (now part of The Insolvency Service).  The site was selling £150 seats for the rolling stones at £1,777; £30 Bob Dylan tickets for £297 and £30 tickets for a Little Britain show went for £377.*¹

The insolvency of this site sent a message to others touting tickets of inflated value, however, you only have to look at the cost of equivalent tickets on eBay to see the scale at which this problem is continuing.

Mobile tickets - a modern solution to an age old problem

The digital age is truly upon us and the mobile device is here to stay. As individuals and businesses we are becoming inseparable from our mobiles - (a survey by advertising agency BDDO in spring 2005, said that 60 per cent of us even take our mobile phones to bed!).  This familiarity with the mobile offers flexibility and convenience for the purchasing consumer and opens up a new sales channel for business. This channel offers a host of benefits for ticketing, and offers a tangible solution to the issues of touting and fraud.

Paper tickets are easily forged. The mobile ticket, received on a handset as a unique barcode, acts as an inhibitor which can be locked to handsets using basic Digital Rights Management (DRM) tools.

Promoters who choose to adopt mobile ticketing can take advantage of a revenue generating opportunity with a controlled means of reselling any unwanted tickets. The system can provide industry with the tools to create a managed service for a ‘clearing house' and provide reselling activity at a small charge. Consumers who cannot attend an event can call the organisers to invalidate their ticket and sell it at face value on the site.

The advent of mobile ticketing across all sectors encourages the monitoring of tickets and can help to increase security with the ever present threat of terrorism. With this technology a transport operator, for example, will know who has boarded through a process of instant identification, with passenger levels being monitored in real-time and identified by scanning the ticket. The system allows the operator to build a systematic profile of people trying to defraud the ticket system and can react in a number of ways including invalidating the tickets before they are used.

Mobile tickets can also be used as a season ticket or for unlimited day rides and can provide the operator with a full audit trail, including details of each instance where the ticket is redeemed. A time lock out can also be added to the system to ensure that one ticket is not re-used immediately afterwards to allow a group of friends through the system. Real-time user activity also flags up any duplicates or discrepancies to ensure that the same ticket is not being used at multiple locations.

The technology provides increased security and acts as a deterrent to touts and fraudsters. But can and should ticket touting ever be completely stamped out? Buying tickets for the purpose of selling it on at a higher price is touting no matter which way you look at it and it is a process which needs to be stopped.  I believe it can and should be, but it will take collective action from both industry and consumers alike.  Mobile ticketing technology, available here and now, can act as a significant inhibitor to this problem. If consumers embrace this new era of ticketing it is only a matter of time before touting and fraud become just a bitter memory.

ENDS

Notes to editors

* Figures taken from eBay, 5^th September 2006.

*¹ As reported in The Insolvency Service News August 2006.