Kiwi fans are furious over tickets to US singer Billie Eilish's sold-out Auckland show being sold for almost 10 times their original price on the Ticketmaster Resale website.
- Google needs to take a stand on Viagogo - Consumer New Zealand
- Elton John fans furious after NZ tour sells out presales amid website glitches
A Facebook post on an event page for the 'Ocean Eyes' hitmaker's April 24 gig at Spark Arena shows tickets are now selling for at least $833.
Newshub has confirmed the listing remains active on Ticketmaster Resale at the time of publishing.
"How is this OK?" the screenshot was captioned on Facebook. "They were only $85, are you actually kidding me?"
The complaint quickly gathered steam, with hundreds of fellow fans despairing about the exorbitant pricing.
"Actually disgusting," one Facebook user commented.
"People shouldn't be allowed to resell their tickets for more than what they paid for them."
"I think Ticketmaster should be monitoring it and refusing to let people sell them for that much," another agreed.
The Ticketmaster Resale website bills itself as a marketplace where fans can officially buy and sell tickets with confidence, avoiding scalpers and scams.
Now, some fans are claiming the website is encouraging the same problems it aimed to be a solution for.
"This is why people are buying off scammers because the official resale site is just as bad," one fan wrote.
Others joked that they'd be able to fly to America to see Eilish in action for that much money. Several ticket-holders commented that they had purchased their tickets for between $76 - $85 when they first went on sale.
In a statement to Newshub, Ticketmaster Resale said it operates as a third party platform to facilitate the sale of tickets between buyer and seller and assist with enquiries or concerns.
"We do not list tickets on a seller's behalf nor do we own the tickets listed on the website," said the company.
"The prices on Ticketmaster Resale are set by the person selling the ticket, and not by Ticketmaster or the event organiser."
Earlier this week, the Government announced it would be cracking down on ticket scalping, which was "unfairly impacting" Kiwi audiences.
Ticketmaster said it supported "all efforts made by Government to ensure that consumers are protected when buy and reselling tickets on any platform".
"Along with legislation, we need to see greater enforcement, as well as the wider New Zealand ticketing industry working together, to prevent people who want to deny real fans the opportunity to get tickets."
Notorious ticket resale website Viagogo was of particular concern to the Government, with the Commerce Commission taking more than 400 complaints about the website since 2017.
The Switzerland-based company was summoned to the Auckland High Court last month after it was sued by the Commerce Commission last year over various complaints.
At the time of publishing, Billie Eilish tickets are selling for between $224 - $597 each on Viagogo.
Newshub.
