The Fan-to-Fan Ticket Exchange

What consumers think about secondary ticketing

Seatwave values fans' opinions about secondary ticketing and so worked with YouGov to find out exactly what people think about reselling tickets

  • An opinion poll of 2,000 people1 examined attitudes towards ticket resale across the population and found that three times as many concert goers want to be able to resell tickets they bought for live events2 than don't, and more than twice as many think the Government should not intervene to prevent them from doing so than do3.
  • 57% of fans either "strongly agree" or "agree" with the statement "If I bought tickets for a live event, I should have the right to sell them", compared with 19% who "strongly disagree" or "agree".
  • 73% of fans who attended concerts the most either "strongly disagreed" or "disagreed" with the statement: "Tickets should only be used by the person who originally bought them, and never resold or returned if they can't make it to the concert".
  • The findings identified ticket distributors as the main culprits of difficulties in getting tickets, with two thirds of fans who attended concerts the most blaming the ticket office and ticket office telephone lines.4
  • Only one in six young people objected to paying more for tickets they couldn't get first time5. The main source of concern for consumers was the high allocation of tickets for corporate and VIP entertaining. Three quarters of all respondents identified this as a source of concern6.



  1. The survey was conducted in October, 2007 by The YouGov Omnibus.
  2. In response to the question "If I bought tickets for a live event, I should have the right to sell them", 57%% either "Strongly agreed" or "agreed" vs. 19% who either "Strongly disagree" or "Disagree".
  3. In response to the question "Tickets should only be used by the person who originally bought them, and never resold or returned if they can't make it to the concert", 56% either "Strongly disagree" or "Disagree" vs. 25% who either "strongly agree" or "agree"
  4. In response to the question "You said you have found it difficult to get tickets to the live events you want to attend. Which, if any, of the following were reasons for this? 66% of respondents who had bought tickets more than ten times a year identified "I couldn't get through to the ticket office line and/ or the ticket office".
  5. In response to the question "If I can't get first hand tickets, I don't mind paying more to get them elsewhere", 16% "Strongly Disagree" with the statement.
  6. 75% of respondents "Strongly agreed" or "Agreed" with the statement "Too many tickets are allocated for corporate and VIP entertaining"