Australian consumer organisation Choice has found dodgy pricing practices, false claims, illegal markups and a lack of consumer protection in the ticket scalping industry in Australia, with resale sites including ViaGogo and Ticketmaster Resale among the biggest offenders.

In a week that has two of the world’s biggest artists playing sold-out shows around the country, Justin Bieber and Adele, the Choice investigation found that when it came to the “secondary ticketing” industry , the inconsistent consumer laws across Australia were not working.

It found grandstand tickets to Bieber’s upcoming stadium show in Brisbane were being illegally sold for $1,150 – a 514% increase on their original $187.15 price. In Queensland, legislation permits mark-ups of more than 10% on original sale value for tickets to Stadium Queensland venues, with fines of $2,438 for sellers and $609.50 for buyers.

“A lot of consumers would be unaware of that [fine],” Choice’s head of media, Tom Godfrey, told Guardian Australia. “So it’s really important that we raise awareness around this.”

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The Choice investigation, which was referred this week to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), follows from Guardian Australia’s reporting last year, which found that Ticketmaster Resale was making at least 25% on each ticket sold through buyer and seller fees. The higher the markup of the scalped ticket, the more the company had to gain.

Choice also found that ViaGogo and Ticketmaster Resale were taking between 21% to 28% of each sale in fees and charges.

In the case of tours operated by Live Nation Entertainment, which owns both Ticketmaster and Ticketmaster Resale, the global company stood to profit not only from initial sales that were being operated through Ticketmaster, but Ticketmaster Resale transactions too.

Responding to this claim in November, Live Nation issued a statement: “Live Nation Australia [the Australian branch of the global company] does not participate in any revenues or fees that may be generated through the Ticketmaster Resale program.” They did not comment on whether the global company stood to gain from those revenues.

Ticketmaster refused to comment specifically on that revenue, but a spokeswoman told Guardian Australia that Ticketmaster Resale is “a safe and secure marketplace”. “Ticketmaster is 100% committed to transparency and is continually reviewing its practices and platforms to ensure it is fully compliant with applicable regulations,” she said.

Referring to the Queensland laws that Choice found had been breached, she said the restrictions were made clear to sellers in the listing process, but did not mention whether the same was true for buyers: “If instances of non-compliance by sellers are highlighted to us we take appropriate action to ensure the sellers address those issues,” she said. “We see ourselves as the leading example of good practice in the ticketing market.”

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ViaGogo was the “worst offender” according to Choice; a Facebook group called Victim of Viagogo has accrued 105 members in 11 countries. The Swiss company – which, like Ticketmaster Resale and other secondary ticketing sites, is often promoted via ad words to be among the first ticket listings on Google – engages in illegal “drip-pricing”, adding up to 25% hidden fees and charges between the ticket selection and the online checkout.

“It’s incredibly frustrating for people,” Godfrey said. “You see an advertised price, you go online to redeem that, and then suddenly you’re paying more. It’s illegal – and that’s why we’ve referred that on to the regulator.”

ViaGogo also claims they are selling the “cheapest” available tickets, which often is not true. Ad word-promoted listings on ViaGogo and Ticketmaster Resale often go up within minutes of a tour going on sale, before the cheaper primary tickets have even sold out; this is thanks in part to the use of “bots” which are able to snap up hundreds of tickets faster than any human consumer. In September Xenophon revived his fight to get the federal government to legislate against these bots.

“For a lot of people who don’t realise there is a difference between the official seller and the official reseller you can get into all sorts of problems,” Godfrey said. Viagogo refused to comment to Choice.

Ticketmaster Resale is the resale branch of primary ticket seller Ticketmaster, which capitalises on that company’s trusted brand; for their part, Ticketmaster themselves warn that “unauthorised tickets may face entry problems”.

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While both ViaGogo and Ticketmaster Resale claim to offer refunds if the purchased ticket is not accepted at the venue, Choice found that getting the money back isn’t easy.

In the case of ViaGogo, you have only 48 hours to call a UK number before your application for a refund is void. In the case of Ticketmaster Resale, the “buyers agreement” contains a clause which says: “All queries relating to tickets purchased via the website must be directed to Ticketmaster Resale … rather than to the relevant venue, promoter or producer.”

If you contact the venue, promoter or producer first, “then you are not entitled to receive any refund under the Ticketmaster Guarantee”.

Ticketmaster Resale told Guardian Australia that the rate of replacements and refunds on transactions was only 1%, and that “all customers are protected by a money back guarantee”. They did not comment specifically on the clause.

Godfrey said discouraging the users to go directly to the venue was “very bad advice”.



“We would advise anyone who is buying a ticket to contact the venue directly, and certainly to verify who the original ticket seller is.”

The findings from Choice have been referred to the ACCC, in the hopes that it will lead to fines, federal court action and ultimately market change.

“Consumers should have a right to resale tickets they can’t use, but we need to ensure that consumers are on safe grounds,” Godfrey said. “And what we’ve seen following this investigation is that not always the case.”

“This is the beginning of a process. But certainly anyone who has used a RS site hand has found themselves paying more, or had their ticket cancelled at the door, will be delighted that this action is underway.

Ticketmaster Resale and ViaGogo have been contacted for comment.