As I see it the 'ticket marketplace' sites are simply exploiting the popularity of the performers and punishing genuine fans with ridiculous resale prices (ebay's StubHub site currently has £65 price band tickets for just over £300). Meanwhile shysters who have no interest in the event whatsoever are making a tidy little profit. In the case of tickets purchased from Ticketmaster, this online marketplace is one of their own sister sites so there's a good chance the ticket has been bought from them then sold on to someone else through them. It all seems very exploitable.

I'm sure this happened prior to ticket sites, except:
It was less visible, not being in the public domain.
Fans were more frequently really ripped off (as opposed to paying a price they agreed to) buying fake tickets.

...or just don't buy the tickets.

I'd love to go see The Who in Leeds tonight but I simply refuse to pay upwards of £150 for two of us to get in, and as a taxpayer in Leeds I'm supposed to be a shareholder of the frikkin venue !

The online marketplaces are simply filling the gap that was previously filled by eBay or the blokes standing outside the arena in trench coats selling (often fake) "spares". The secondary marketplace existed long before the internet did.

It comes down to whether people should or shouldn't be allowed to resell tickets. For football, for instance, there is public order legislation that prohibits this, but it doesn't apply to anyone else. If you want to ban the reselling of tickets, who polices it and who bares the cost? Is it an issue for the authorities or the event promoters? At the moment, we have a series of individual and confusing systems which vary from event to event - and that's not helpful for anyone.

If we are to allow the reselling of tickets, then why shouldn't basic supply and demand take hold?

I went to see Prince in Manchester earlier in the year in my guise as Gurdip Singh. We bought tickets off Seatwave or similar for a ridiculously inflated price (it was so worth it) with my alter ego's name on. On the day before the gig it was announced that only named ticket holders would be allowed in and we thought we were pretty much screwed, on the basis that none of us were actually Gurdip Singh, he wasn't with us to vouch for us and contacting Seatwave to find out what to do left us none the wiser. They did offer to refund the money if we were refused entry though.

When the doors opened about an hour before the show started, the queues were so big that [u]NO[/u ]ID checks were done at all and we just strolled through a brief security check and in. Completely pointless announcement if you aren't going to follow up.

I understand and agree with the principle but think it's unworkable for a few reasons.

If, for example I bought the tickets and they have my name on, and I arrange to meet my wife in the gig for whatever reason, how does a female with a male name on the ticket get admitted? If the tickets have both our names on, then one of us can't go, does that mean the ticket is useless?

How does putting a name on a ticket prevent chancers camping on phone lines, buying loads of tickets, then re-selling them? Caveat Emptor and all that. If the venues and bands have an issue, they can sort it out between them. Punters, as Jerry C says, can vote with their feet.

I don't know how we solve the problem, and is there the will, in the current free market climate, to stop it anyway?

I read on twitter someone complaining of trying to book tickets, through Ticketmaster for a gig, only to find that they were all sold out. He then went onto LetMeIn and found whole blocks available at inflated prices. This was for a gig where individuals were restricted to the number of tickets they could purchase, so it seemed a bit strange that large numbers of tickets in concentrated blocks became available. You don't have to be a conspiracy theorist to suspect that something not quite kosher was taking place

One explaination for "concentrated blocks" being available is whether these had been sold as part of a a priority pre-sale, prior to tickets going on general sale. I know that American Express and O2 customers sometimes have these offers availalbe to them, 24 hrs before general release.

Or, it could just be a conspiracy, since its very frustrating to be denied the opportunity to buy tickets to an event, despite trying as soon as they go on sale, only to find them on inflated resale almost immediately after.

Because the supply & demand model is being skewed by (and increasing number of) resellers who have no intention of actually attending the event, but are reducing the available tickets by maximising the numbers they buy purely for profit purposes, and by allowing this to occur, and taking a percentage of resale value, Ticketmaster are contributing to the problem, whilst maximising their income.

Pure market forces in action. You snooze you lose.
Promoters couldn't care less as they sell their tickets and bank the money no matter who buys them.

It took me about 2 mins to have a couple of tickets for 41 quid in my shopping basket. Just checked and Phoenix Nights has 12 nights in Manchester. I think if you can't find reasonable priced tickets you're just not looking hard enough.