Twickets officially launches in Australia

With exorbitant prices being charged by scalpers a current hot topic, UK ticket resale platformTwickets officially launched in Australia this morning.

Twickets counters secondary tickets by enabling people to buy and sell unwanted tickets for gigs, festivals, and sport, theatre and arts events – always for no more than face value.

It monitors prices set by buyer and seller, and any deemed more than an average number of tickets bought or sold, will find the account blocked.

Fans can search ticket availability on its website or app, or see latest listings on its Twitter feed, or be alerted by email when a hard-to-get ticket becomes available.

It also has a pick-up service, where the buyer can collect their ticket from the seller by registered post, email, at the venue itself, or from selected record stores.

It takes a 10% commission on the final price – unlike some resale exchanges where up to 40% is charged.

The Australian operationhit the ground running, already striking a deal with Frontier Touring for its Ed Sheeran tour next March.

Sheeran, who was already working with the platform in the UK, has used his website and social media to direct fans to a specially created landing page to sign up for email alerts.

On the day Sheeran tickets went on sale earlier this week, 90,000 people were searching on resale platforms.

Twickets is also working with Handsome Tours on Stormzy’s upcoming Gang Signs & Prayer tour, on which four of the six dates have sold out.

Rag’n’Bone Man, Sigur Rós, DJ Shadow and Laura Marling have already struck deals for when they next tour Australia.

“We have a number of other announcements coming in the very near future,” Twickets Australia’s Danny Hannaford told TMN.

Since his arrival in March to launch operations, Hannaford — former Head of Ticketing at UK promoter Global Live – has been in discussions with promoters, venues, agents and ticketing companies.

In the future, he will also be holding talks with various sporting teams around the country.

“The reaction in Australia has been really positive,” Hannaford says. “Scalping is a real issue here, as it is around the world. People understand that we come as a friend of the music industry, not its foe.

“We’re about making sure that the pricing for a ticket is set by the promoter and the artist, not by people have nothing to do with the tour.”

Hannaford says that Australia’s scalping problem is worsening, as it is moving from just superstar tours to larger acts in clubs and music venues.

“That has a flow-on effect, which affects the acts and venues. Fans who’ve paid more for their tickets don’t have as much for merchandising.

“Venues are similarly affected with lower drinks and food sales.”

Read TMN’s in-depth interview with Danny Hannaford for more.

Twickets has been operating in various forms since 2011, when it was simply a Twitter account linking fans with tickets to sell with fans in need of one.Active users are at well over half a million.

Those who’ve signed up to its services have included Adele, One Direction, Queen + Adam Lambert, Pixies, Christine and The Queens, Mumford & Sons and The 1975, as well as a number of festivals.

After a £1.2 million (A$2 million) equity crowd-funding campaign last year, it is rolling out globally.

Australia was the first outside the UK, with plans to open up in the United States and through Europe.

Consumer group CHOICE has begun campaigning this year on the tricks and traps of the secondary ticketing market. Head of Media Tom Godfrey told TMN that the organisation had been flooded with complaints about ticket resellers since they issued the callout for consumer stories.

“Clearly, if you legitimately can’t go to a concert there should be a way for you to resell your ticket. Equally, fans buying resold tickets need to have confidence by they won’t be scammed,” Godfrey says.

“Any move by industry to protect fans and help stamp out dodgy resellers would be welcomed.”

“Regardless of the claims being made, if you are tempted by a new resale site always read the terms and conditions and make yourself aware any fees and charges.”