According to ThisIsMoney.co.uk, tickets to IRON MAIDEN's London, England concert in August are being re-sold via secondary web sites for more than fourteen times their value a day ahead of going on general sale. The tickets to the band's gig at the O2 are being sold for as much as £700 (approximately $1068) for one standing ticket, via reselling web site Viagogo. The cheapest ticket on sale is £375 (approximately $572), via another web site Seatwave, is more than seven and half times face value.
Tickets, costing between £45.75 ($70) to £59 ($90), are due to go on general sale on Friday.
Both Viagogo and Seatwave
insisted that the tickets had come from users who had bought tickets
via pre-sale allocation. O2 mobile subscribers have had access to
pre-sale ticket allocation via its Priority Moments service from 9 a.m.
yesterday morning.
IRON MAIDEN announced earlier in the
month that it would try to ensure that fans get fair and proper access
to tickets and do not pay over the actual ticket price by way of touts
or the secondary ticketing agencies by making this concert totally
ticketless (paperless) ticketing using the latest technology.
Ticketless
(paperless) ticketing means fans will not receive a physical concert
ticket for their entry into the event. Buying paperless helps ensure
fans have secure and convenient access to event tickets at the intended
original sale price. On the day of show, concertgoers just need to bring
the credit card they used for the ticket purchase and a
government-issued photo ID to the concert. All members of the ticket
purchaser's party must be present at the same time to enter the venue.
The venue's ticket usher will swipe their credit card upon entry and
present each person in their party with seat locator slips for quick
access into the show.
A spokesman for IRON MAIDEN's promoters, Live Nation, said: "This is something that we, IRON MAIDEN and their management Phantom Music
feel strongly about. We would like to reiterate that entrance to the
event will only be granted to those that originally purchased the
tickets and as such must bring the credit or debit card used to make
purchase along with a government-issued photo ID in order to gain entry
to the event."
A spokesman for Viagogo said: "For this
event, as stated on our web site, the original buyer will have to
accompany the new buyer into the venue to grant them access to the show.
These restrictions just make things difficult for people. Imagine
having to drag your dad down there because he was the one who bought
your ticket."
