The UK government recently announced on January 10th that it is placing a cap on ticket resale prices for live events. According to an article from Mixmag, the UK government proposed a “30% above face value or less” limit and this cap comes from UK Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Lisa Nandy‘s plans to “end the ‘misery’ endured by fans at the hands of ticket touts”. Additionally, The Guardian reported that these “touts” had gained huge profits due to selling hundreds of tickets a year, and even to the detriment of the purchasers’ wallets (especially in these uncertain global economic conditions). As a result of these unfortunate actions, there have been many politicians, musicians, and theatre industry professionals who campaigned to stop resellers from marking up ticket prices and sell them on ticket reseller websites, particularly Viagogo and StubHub.
Other plans that strengthen the ticket resale prices cap policy
The legendary British electronic music legend Fatboy Slim even said, “Great to see money being put back into fans’ pockets instead of resellers.” Other plans that strengthen the ticket resale prices cap policy would be implementing legal obligations for these resale websites and apps so they can continue to uphold trading standards. Additionally, the resale websites should also adhere to the competition watchdog to ensure that they provide accurate information to buyers who expressed strong interest in purchasing the tickets.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer chimed in to the new policy and stated via his post on X that he had promised the British people that he vowed to stop the rip offs that consumer had previously suffered from the ticket touts. He then added that his government has “set out plans to cap resale prices and ban ticket hoarding”. The cap on ticket resale prices is a great step to save people from spending more than what they should spend for their entertainment pleasures. The ticket reselling companies have expressed in the past that having the cap will “lead to an increase of outright ticket fraud”. Throughout this whole year of 2025, and perhaps other upcoming years, event consumers should continue to keep an eye out for ticket resellers so that those resellers can keep their promises in upholding this policy.
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