StubHub has responded to the recent Waterson report into secondary ticketing, stating that it is in full favour of marketplace transparency, provided it doesn’t impinge upon consumers’ rights to re-sell their tickets.
The report from Professor Michael Waterson made a series of recommendations including that a lead body, such as National Trading Standards, carry out a compliance investigation. That would ensure enforcement action is taken if rules outlined in the Consumer Rights Act (CRA), such as the publication of details including the face value of the ticket, seat number and any applicable restrictions, are ignored.
“We are totally in favour of transparency, but one important consideration is that transparency can be used by promoters to cancel the original tickets,” StubHub general manager Estanis Martin de Nicolas told Music Week.
“We believe in transparency, but it should not come at the expense of people’s right to re-sell tickets.”
The company recently launched its new Virtual View feature in the UK, which is designed to provide customers with a 360° view from the seat they are about to purchase via the StubHub app.
So far, it offers views of several UK venues, including Wembley Stadium and The O2. However, the firm stated that the new function was not introduced in response to the Waterson report.
