The secondary ticket market, where tickets are resold after initial purchase, is one of the most contentious areas of the UK events industry. It ranges from a friend selling a spare ticket at face value to professional operations that systematically buy tickets in bulk and resell them at substantial mark-ups. The commercial mechanics of this market, and the regulatory efforts to control it, are worth understanding in detail.
How secondary platforms make money
Secondary ticketing platforms such as Viagogo and StubHub operate as marketplaces, connecting sellers with buyers and taking a commission from both sides. The typical fee structure involves the seller paying a commission of 10% to 15% of the sale price, and the buyer paying a booking fee of 15% to 25% on top of the purchase price. This means that on a ticket resold for £100, the platform might earn £25 to £40 in total fees.
These are substantial margins. Unlike primary ticketing platforms, which typically charge fees on the original face value of a ticket, secondary platforms earn their fees on the inflated resale price. The higher the mark-up, the more the platform earns. This creates a commercial incentive for the platform that is fundamentally misaligned with the interests of consumers and event organisers.
The major secondary platforms are significant businesses. They invest heavily in search engine marketing, often bidding on the names of popular events and artists so that their listings appear prominently when fans search for tickets. This means that fans searching for tickets to a popular event may encounter secondary listings before or alongside the official primary sale, sometimes without realising that the tickets are being offered at above face value.
Who sells on the secondary market?
Sellers on secondary platforms fall into three broad categories. The first is genuine consumers who have purchased tickets but can no longer attend and want to recoup their money. This is the legitimate use case that secondary platforms most frequently cite in their public communications.
The second category is professional resellers, sometimes called ticket touts, who purchase tickets specifically to resell them at a profit. These operations range from individual traders to organised businesses that use automated software (known as "bots") to purchase large numbers of tickets the moment they go on sale. The CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) investigated the secondary ticketing market and found evidence of this practice being widespread.
The third category is a grey area involving industry insiders, including people with access to allocation tickets, promotional tickets, or pre-sale codes, who divert tickets to the secondary market. This practice is difficult to quantify but is widely acknowledged within the industry.
The regulatory framework
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 requires secondary ticket sellers to provide specific information to buyers, including the face value of the ticket, the seat or standing area, and any restrictions on the ticket's use. This was intended to ensure that consumers could make informed purchasing decisions.
Enforcement of these requirements has been inconsistent. The CMA took enforcement action against several secondary platforms following its investigation, securing commitments to improve transparency. However, compliance remains variable, and many listings on secondary platforms still fail to provide all the required information.
The use of automated ticket-purchasing software was made a criminal offence by the Digital Economy Act 2017. Prosecutions under this provision have been limited, partly due to the difficulty of proving that specific software was used in a specific transaction.
There have been repeated calls for a complete ban on reselling tickets above face value, as exists in some other countries. The UK government has so far stopped short of this, preferring to rely on transparency requirements and enforcement of existing consumer protection law. The debate continues, with the live music industry and consumer groups generally favouring stronger restrictions and the secondary platforms arguing that a free market in tickets benefits consumers.
The impact on event organisers
For event organisers, the secondary market creates several problems. First, it diverts revenue from the event to third-party resellers. When a ticket with a face value of £50 is resold for £150, the additional £100 goes to the reseller and the platform rather than to the artist, promoter, or venue.
Second, it can damage the event's relationship with its audience. Fans who feel that they were unable to buy tickets at face value because professional resellers acquired them first are understandably frustrated, and that frustration is often directed at the event itself.
Third, it complicates efforts to manage attendance and ensure safety. Tickets that have passed through multiple hands may have been duplicated, altered, or sold to people who do not meet the event's entry requirements (such as age restrictions). This creates operational and legal risks for the organiser.
What organisers are doing about it
Event organisers have adopted various strategies to combat unwanted secondary market activity. Personalised ticketing, where tickets are linked to the buyer's name and ID is checked at entry, is increasingly common for high-demand events. Digital tickets that cannot be screenshotted or forwarded provide a technological barrier to resale. Official resale platforms, operated by the event or its primary ticketing partner, allow genuine resale at face value while cutting out the secondary market.
Some organisers have adopted ticketing approaches that give them more control over the sale and transfer of tickets, reducing the opportunities for speculative purchasing. Registration-based sales, where buyers must register in advance and are randomly selected for the opportunity to purchase, are used for the most in-demand events.
The most effective defence against the secondary market is a combination of technological controls, clear terms and conditions, active monitoring of secondary platforms, and a willingness to cancel tickets that are found to have been resold in breach of the terms of sale.
The consumer perspective
From the consumer's perspective, the secondary market is a mixed experience. For those who miss out on a primary sale and are willing to pay a premium, it provides access to sold-out events. For those who are priced out by inflated resale prices, or who unknowingly purchase from a secondary platform at above face value, it is a source of frustration and financial harm.
The best protection for consumers is awareness: checking that tickets are being purchased from the official source, understanding the face value before committing to a purchase, and using official resale channels where they exist. The ongoing tension between market freedom and consumer protection ensures that the regulation of the secondary ticket market will remain a live issue for years to come.
