Scalpers under close eye ahead of Taylor Swift ticket rush as government warns of ‘exorbitant’ price hikes
Fans of the musical megastar have been delivered a silver lining with just hours to go in the anxious wait for pre-sale tickets.
Ticket scalpers have been put on notice in the lead up to another major ticket release for the Australian leg of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.
More than one million fans will fight it out over just 450,000 tickets during the Frontier Touring presage event due to kick off at 10am on Wednesday ahead of the 2024 tour dates.
Swifties from every Australian state and thousands more from New Zealand and neighbouring Pacific nations will test the limits of the Ticketek website capacity as virtual queues start building throughout the morning.
There are just five shows – two at Melbourne’s MCG and three at Sydney’s Accor Stadium – going on sale on Wednesday, with the final tickets up for grabs on Friday.
Amid the stress of the final hours before the ticket rush, a small glimmer of hope has emerged from an unlikely place.
NSW Premier Chris Minns has issued a firm warning to ticket resellers and scalpers warning them of tough penalties for ripping off consumers.
“Consumers shouldn’t be forced to shake it off when they’re being ripped off,” Fair Trading and Better Regulation Minister Anoulack Chanthivong said in a statement.
“The days of buying tickets for major events with the plan of onselling to consumers at exorbitant profits is over.”
NSW Fair Trading authorities will be monitoring ticket selling platforms between now and next February to ensure that resellers are not breaching resale laws that prohibit any ticket from being sold above 110 per cent of the retail price.
The same price cap will be in place in Victoria where the government declared earlier this week that tickets will come under the protection of the state’s major event ticketing regulations.
In NSW, the maximum penalty for breaching these laws is $110,000 for a corporation $22,000 for an individual.
While in Victoria, resellers could face up to $55,760 in fines.
The NSW compliance body has written to online sales platforms including eBay, Ticketek and Gumtree warning them that they have an obligation to protect consumers during high-risk events.
They aren’t empty words either, with more than $40,000 in fines issued to eBay over NRL Grand Final tickets resold at a 49 per cent mark-up last year.
The announcement follows a move from the Victorian state government
Taylor Swift fans are also warned to be wary of buying unofficial resale tickets, as the venue is within it’s right to cancel them and refuse entry to the concert.
Tickets will go on sale on a staggered schedule with Sydney shows selling from 10am (AEST), and Melbourne shows on-sale from 2pm (AEST).
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