Eventim rolls out fanSALE platform in Scandinavia
CTS Eventim has launched its face-value ticket resale platform, fanSALE, in Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
FanSALE is the first fully digital face-value platform in Scandinavia, and is already in use in Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Finland and Brazil. In both Norway and Denmark, it is illegal to resell tickets for a profit.
When tickets are resold on the fanSALE platform, the original tickets are cancelled and new tickets issued in a new order, guaranteeing the new tickets and allowing for the resale of personal tickets when people can no longer attend an event.
“With fanSALE, Eventim is taking an important step in Scandinavia to help fans buy and sell tickets safely and legally”
“With fanSALE, Eventim is taking an important step in Scandinavia to help fans buy and sell tickets safely and legally amongst themselves,” says Jens Arnesen, CEO of Eventim Scandinavia.
“FanSALE guarantees that tickets cannot be sold for more than the original ticket price. At the same time, buyers are guaranteed genuine, valid tickets to the event.”
FanSALE is one of a number of capped-price resale services offered by the major international ticketing companies, along with See Tickets’ Fan-to-Fan, AXS’s Marketplace, Ticketmaster ticket exchange and Ticketek Marketplace.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
Ticketcorner launches Fansale resale platform
Swiss ticketing platform Ticketcorner has launched its face-value Fansale platform, offering fans a separate, secure ticket resale platform.
CTS Eventim-owned Ticketcorner first announced the launch of its Fansale platform in December, having launched in the UK a year before. The ticketing company states that all tickets on the site, which goes live today, are legitimate, easy to handle and sold at a fair price.
“I’m glad that we have Fansale now to offer a reputable platform for the fair and secure resale of tickets”, says Andreas Angehrn, chief executive of Ticketcorner. “If you are unable to attend a show or if you’re looking for a ticket to a sold out event, you can buy or sell tickets via fansale.ch.”
Every ticket offered on Fansale is first subject to a verification process. Once passed, it receives a ‘Ticketcheck’, Ticketcorner’s official seal of approval.
Currently, customers cannot buy or sell tickets through the platform from providers other than Ticketcorner, due to the complexities of verifying tickets from different systems. However, Ticketcorner states it does not rule out future collaborations with other ticketing providers.
“Fansale is not designed to pursue a commercial purpose”
The pricing of tickets on Fansale corresponds to the original ticket price, with an additional fee to cover expenses. “Fansale is not designed to pursue a commercial purpose,” comments Angehrn.
To prevent transactions for profit at Fansale, resales are limited to a certain number of tickets per person. Ticketcorner customers do not need a separate login to access Fansale.
Fansale is the latest effort by Ticketcorner to support fair ticketing. The Swiss ticketer offers advice on its website on how customers can avoid ticket fraud, a growing problem in the live events market.
The company also participates in the information campaign “Ticket Check”, ran by the Romande Consumer Federation (Frc), French-speaking Switzerland’s consumer protection organisation.
According to IQ’s International Ticketing Yearbook 2018, CTS Eventim still dominates the Swiss market with Ticketcorner, although headway has been made rival ticketer Starticket in recent years. Eventim attempted to acquire Starticket last year in a move later refused by the Swiss Federal Competition Commission.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free digest of essential live music industry news, via email or Messenger.
Switzerland’s Ticketcorner announces fanSALE launch
Switzerland’s leading ticketing platform, Ticketcorner, has become the latest ticket seller to announce the launch of a face-value resale platform.
FanSALE will launch in spring 2019 , and sees Ticketcorner “taking a stand against the dishonest secondary market and exaggerated resale prices”, says the CTS Eventim-owned company.
FanSALE has long been active in Eventim’s home country, Germany, and launched in the UK in January this year. On launch, the Swiss site will be located at fansale.ch, which currently redirects to the German fanSALE.
While fanSALE UK allows resale prices of up to 10% above face value, tickets may only be listed on fanSALE Switzerland for the original price, with Ticketcorner charging a fee to buyers.
“FanSALE has no commercial purpose. “We’re doing this is to stop the dishonest practices of the secondary market”
In addition to fanSALE UK, the launch of fanSALE in Switzerland follows that of See Tickets’ Fan-to-Fan, AXS’s Marketplace and, most recently, Ticketmaster’s new ticket exchange, as well as the soon-to-launch Ticketek Marketplace in Australia.
“Our new platform, fanSALE, has no commercial purpose,” says Andreas Angehrn, CEO of Ticketcorner. “The reason we’re doing this is to stop the dishonest practices of the secondary market, to guarantee the authenticity of the tickets to our customers and make sure they get a fair deal.
“In the coming years, we intend to establish fanSALE as the leading, and also the fairest, secondary market ticketing platform in Switzerland.”
According to the International Ticketing Yearbook 2018, Ticketcorner is the largest entertainment ticket seller in Switzerland, with Starticket (recently the target of an unsuccessful takeover bid by Ticketcorner) second and Ticketmaster Switzerland third.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
Ticketek to launch price-capped ticket exchange
TEG, the parent company of leading Australasian ticket agency Ticketek, has announced the launch of Ticketek Marketplace, a price-capped ticket exchange for Australian consumers.
Ticketek Marketplace, set to go live later this month, will serve as an online portal to resell tickets previously purchased from Ticketek, with a single Ticketek user ID and login applying across both it and Ticketek’s primary platform.
The Ticketek announcement follows the launch of several similar solutions by its European cousins, including See Tickets’ Fan-to-Fan, CTS Eventim’s FanSALE, AXS’s Marketplace and, most recently, Ticketmaster’s upcoming replacement for Get Me In! and Seatwave.
Like FanSALE and AXS Marketplace, Ticketek Marketplace will cap resale prices at a maximum of 10% above face value.
“Many sports and entertainment fans have fallen victim of resale scalping practices based on highly inflated ticket prices, misleading marketing, a lack of transparency and often outright fraud,” says TEG CEO Geoff Jones (pictured).
“The launch of Ticketek Marketplace is another important step in protecting fans and ensuring the integrity of ticket transactions”
“TEG believes that fans want a secondary ticket marketplace they can trust, where the authenticity of tickets is guaranteed and where the prices are fair. Ticketek Marketplace delivers these requirements to fans.
“The launch of Ticketek Marketplace is another important step in protecting fans and ensuring the integrity of ticket transactions.”
According to the International Ticketing Yearbook 2018, Ticketek is, with Ticketmaster Australia, one of the ‘big two’ primary ticketing platforms in Australasia. TEG also owns promoters TEG Live and TEG Dainty, Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney and data firm TEG Analytics.
“We are delighted to offer a service for all events and fans through the launch of Ticketek Marketplace,” comments Ticketek Australia MD Cameron Hoy. “This is a consumer-led, price-capped and ethical ticket exchange service for fans with a genuine need to buy or sell on the secondary market.
“Over several years Ticketek has worked with industry bodies, venue partners, promoters and governments to educate fans about the dangers of resale scalpers. We commend the steps taken by state governments to legislate against these unscrupulous operators.”
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
Cautious welcome for new Google resale restrictions
Google has pledged to provide consumers with a ticket-buying “experience they can trust”, as the first of its new restrictions on accepting advertising from secondary ticketing sites come into force.
The new measures, announced last November, see the search engine giant include ticket resellers in its ‘other restricted businesses’ AdWords category, requiring them to be certified before they can advertise through its AdWords platform.
To apply for certification, resellers must agree to inform customers that their prices may be higher than face value; break down prices to show included fees and taxes during checkout, and before the customer provides payment information; and refrain from implying they are the “primary or original provider of event tickets”.
As of March 2018, secondaries must also list the face value of the tickets, along with the reseller’s price in the same currency.
The crackdown comes on the back of UK politicians accusing sites such as Viagogo, StubHub, Seatwave and Get Me In! of violating Google’s Adwords policies on misrepresentation, as well as recent research showing the extent of resale sites’ domination of Google search results, achieved through AdWords advertising.
“We constantly review our policies to ensure we are providing good experiences for consumers,” says Google spokesperson Elijah Lawal. “When people use our platform to purchase tickets, we need to make sure that they have an experience they can trust. We think that event ticket resellers that agree to these new transparency requirements will provide a better and safer user experience on our platform.”
“These new transparency requirements will provide a better and safer user experience on our platform”
The implementation of the new event ticket reseller policy – which goes live this evening UK time, with most of the effects understood to start being seen as of tomorrow morning (although the ‘big four’ UK resale sites have already added notices stating prices may be above face value) – has been well received by most industry groups, although several urged Google to go further to protect consumers.
“It’s great that Google has taken this action and have done so on a global basis,” says Jonathan Brown, chief executive of the London-based Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR). “Their requirements for clarity on resale websites should help customers searching for tickets, and it looks as though there’s more to come in March when they start requiring face value prices to be given as well.
“Obviously we’re looking forward to seeing what the real impact is once this new policy is fully implemented by Google.”
UK consumers’ association Which? welcomes the move as a “step in the right direction”, but says Google must force websites to “make it absolutely clear to consumers whether they are a primary or secondary seller”.
“If secondary sites don’t also provide clarity on ticket restrictions, ticket location and seller information, they could be in breach of the Consumer Rights Act,” says Which? managing director of home products and services Alex Neill.
“It’s still not clear enough to buyers when they are on a secondary site”
A spokesperson for StubHub, the world’s biggest ticket marketplace, says the company “has always put fans at the forefront of the business” and “welcome[s] any measures which help improve transparency and protect consumers”.
“StubHub has been engaged in discussions with Google on their new policy and we will be fully compliant once it comes into effect,” the spokesperson says in a statement.
Malte Blumenthal of CTS Eventim – whose FanSALE site was one of the first to be certified by Google – said last month the company welcomes “Google’s initiative for creating additional transparency in the ticketing market and to indicate clearly the differences between primary and secondary market platforms.”
However, a source close to a major UK association echoes Neill’s comments, telling IQ: “Our line would be similar to Which? – we want to see more.”
Despite the ‘prices may be higher or lower than face value’ that have appeared on StubHub, Viagogo, Seatwave and Get Me In!, they add, “it’s still not clear enough to buyers when they are on a secondary site.”
More reactions are expected tomorrow when the full impact of the new AdWords policy begins to be felt.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
Eventim UK launches FanSALE resale platform
FanSALE, CTS Eventim’s ‘fair value’ ticket resale platform, has launched in the UK.
Coming amid a growing backlash against for-profit secondary ticketing, FanSALE.co.uk – Eventim UK’s first resale service – aims to ensure “tickets get into the hands of genuine fans”, says the company, and prevents resale at a “highly inflated price”, allowing “genuine fans” to sell unwanted tickets.
All tickets are verified against Eventim UK’s ticketing database, and buyers are able to view the block, seat row and seat number before purchasing. An integration with UPS also enables customers to track delivery of the ticket from the seller’s pick-up point to the delivery address.
Resale prices are capped at +10% of face value.
“FanSALE is about fan-first thinking,” says Dale Ballentine, Eventim UK’s director of development. “We want to make sure fans get tickets for a fair price. We know that sometimes fans cannot attend their event as planned.
“FanSALE is about fan-first thinking”
“FanSALE will help solve these problems and ensure tickets are not sold at an extortionate price, making events more accessible for the real fans.”
FanSALE UK follows the launch a similar initiative by Eventim rival See Tickets, Fan-to-Fan, as well as established face-value ticket exchanges such as Twickets.
Adam Webb, of anti-touting campaign group FanFair Alliance, comments: “Research commissioned by FanFair last year highlighted that the majority of music fans would like a mechanism to resell their tickets if they can no longer attend an event. They don’t want to profit – just to recoup their costs in a safe and efficient environment.
“It has been hugely positive to see a growing number of responsible ticketing companies, like Eventim, listen to consumers and move in this direction, and we hope more will follow in 2018.”
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.