Would you like to go to a concert by a wildly popular artist and it threatens to sell out quickly? Be wary and don’t surf to the next best sales site. It may be a website that resells tickets instead of the official ticket sales site.
Where is the best place to buy tickets for a concert or event?
The golden rule is: buy your tickets via the website of the venue where the concert or event is taking place or via the artist’s official website. There you will always find the only correct ticket information and a link to the correct ticket sales site.
Many people search for tickets through a search engine such as Google, but the results that appear first are often not the official sales sites, but rather websites that resell tickets via a webshop.
In Belgium, the resale of tickets has been regulated by law since October 1, 2013:
- Reselling tickets is prohibited.
- It is only allowed to resell occasionally and without making a profit.
- It is in any case forbidden to resell a ticket that was originally never bought, but was given away for free as a prize, sponsorship, …
- The websites that resell tickets are usually foreign websites, where there is not always a regulation prohibiting or regulating resale.
More information can also be found on lovemyticket or on safeconcerts
Risks of websites that resell tickets?
Firstly, as a consumer, you pay a higher price on these websites than the original ticket price, sometimes up to 10 times more. In addition, there is a risk that the official ticket seller will invalidate resold tickets (‘blacklisting’) and you will therefore no longer have access to the event, even if you have paid an extra high price for it.
What can you do if you bought a ticket on a resale site?
In the first instance, it is best to contact the resale site itself. In some cases, the reseller will refund you the difference from the original ticket price. If he does not do this, you can file a claim with a civil court. In this case, you should read the terms and conditions or the refund conditions of the resale site. After all, some Dutch sellers are members of a professional association and have signed a code of conduct about this. (more information: http://www.eusta.nl).
If you paid with a credit card or via an online payment system (eg PayPal), you can cancel the payment and request a refund. Everything depends on the terms and conditions of your payment system. For Visa and Mastercard you can go to mijnkaart.be.
Also report resale to the Economic Inspectorate
The legislation on the resale of tickets falls under the competence of the Economic Inspectorate of the FPS Economy. By reporting this, the Economic Inspectorate can closely monitor the problems and take action where necessary and possible. Attention: the Economic Inspectorate is not authorized to intervene individually and resolve a dispute. You cannot therefore reclaim the overpaid amount from the resale website via the Economic Inspectorate. This can only be done through the retailer itself or through a claim before the civil court.
You can report the illegal resale of tickets as described above online via meldpunt.belgie.be.
What should you definitely include in your report?
On which website did you buy the ticket?
Which concert is it about? Also state the place and date.
What price did you pay?
The ticket number
And above all: be sure to attach a scan of the ticket or the ticket itself (in the case of an e-ticket)
Last updated April 3, 2019
