Oasis ticket sale may have breached consumer law

The use of ‘in demand’ pricing practices during the recent sale of Oasis concert tickets may have breached consumer law, according to consumer watchdog Which?.

Tickets for the band's17 UK dates across Cardiff, Dublin, Edinburgh, London and Manchester in August and September next year went on sale on August 31. Ahead of the sale, standing tickets were priced at £135 plus fees.

Mid-sale, prospective buyers noted that general admission tickets were being sold at up to £355 plus fees on Ticketmaster, with the site rebranding them as ‘In Demand Standing’. The surge points towards the use of dynamic pricing, which raises the price of an event when demand is high and ticket availability is low.

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“It seems extremely unfair that Oasis fans got up early and battled through the queues only to find that tickets prices had more than doubled from the originally advertised price,” said Which? consumer law expert Lisa Webb.

“It appears fans weren’t properly warned about the use of ‘in demand’ pricing until far too late in the purchase journey – leading to a nasty shock at the checkout,” Webb added.

“Oasis and Ticketmaster should do the right thing and refund fans who may have been misled into paying over the odds for tickets that would have been half the price just hours earlier.”

Existing consumer protections state traders must not mislead how prices are presented or leave out key pricing information.

Both Ticketmaster and Oasis have distanced themselves from the decision to initiate dynamic pricing. Ticketmaster’s website says it does not set concert prices, instead saying it is down to the “event organiser” who “has priced these tickets according to their market value”.

Investigation

The government’s Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) is set to investigate Ticketmaster over the sale.

The CMA says it will scrutinise the use of dynamic pricing and whether or not consumer protection law was breached, as well as determine whether other parties should be investigated.

Fans are invited to submit evidence of their experience attempting to purchase Oasis tickets, with submissions accepted until September 19. Which? has said it will also supply evidence.

“It’s important that fans are treated fairly when they buy tickets, which is why we’ve launched this investigation,” said CMA Chief Executive Sarah Cardell. “It’s clear that many people felt they had a bad experience and were surprised by the price of their tickets at check-out.”

A spokesperson for Ticketmaster has commented: “We are committed to cooperating with the Competition and Markets Authority and look forward to sharing more facts about the ticket sale with them.”

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has backed the investigation. She said the government is “determined to improve the transparency” of the ticketing system. Earlier in August, the Labour government revealed plans to investigate ticket touting, a practice which involves buying tickets for an event and selling them on at an often considerably higher price.

Before the sale of their tickets, Oasis posted on Twitter/X that only resales at face value would be permitted. However, within hours of the general sale, tickets were being resold for thousands of pounds – up to over £110,000 – on secondary ticketing websites.

Last week Oasis announced a further two dates at Wembley. Tickets for the extra gigs will be available through an invitation-only ballot, aimed at verified fans who missed out in the original sale. It has been confirmed the sale will not use dynamic pricing.