Tickets for Lorde's tour should only be purchased from the authorised ticket seller which for the Black Barn show is Ticketmaster. Photo / Supplied
Tickets for Lorde's tour should only be purchased from the authorised ticket seller which for the Black Barn show is Ticketmaster. Photo / Supplied
A promoter has warned against purchasing Lorde tickets from Viagogo after a $1300 "VIP" ticket to her Hawke's Bay show was seen for sale on the site.
On Thursday morning, "general admission VIP" tickets were for sale on the site for $1354, other general admission tickets in the "best selling"section were for sale for prices varying from $700 to just over $200.
One thousand pre-sale tickets for the Havelock North event sold out within hours at the official ticket price of $120 each.
The last 1000 are up for grabs in the general public sale on Monday at noon and are expected to be snapped up quickly.
Brent Eccles of Eccles Entertainment, one of the show's promoters, said for "a long time" they have been telling people not to purchase tickets from Viagogo.
"We keep saying it, saying it, saying it, but unfortunately they're quite aggressive and they do maintain a very strong presence on websites and Google allow that to happen and this sort of thing is very destructive for our business."
Tickets for Lorde's Black Barn show being sold on Viagogo on Thursday. Photo / Screenshot
A Google search for "Lorde Black Barn tickets" comes up with an ad for Viagogo as the first result.
Eccles said there is no such thing as a "VIP" ticket on Lorde's tour and there is no guarantee that tickets bought from anywhere other than the authorised ticket seller are legitimate.
For all shows, aside from New Plymouth, the authorised ticket seller is Ticketmaster and for the New Plymouth show, Ticketek.
"The problem we have is that people turn up with Viagogo tickets on the day and we can't honour them," Eccles said.
"All we can do is encourage people to buy from the approved ticket sites and if they don't then they're taking the responsibility in their own hands, although it does appear that with Viagogo they have some rights when they don't, that's the tragedy of it."
He would support some sort of Government action from the Government to curtail it.
A Viagogo spokesperson said the site was a 'secondary marketplace' and it was made clear to users that ticket prices were set by the sellers.
"In addition, it is made clear that prices may be listed as higher or lower than the face value, depending on demand, so that all users are aware of this fact prior to their purchase.
"Tickets that are listed at unreasonable prices get the most media attention but rarely, if ever, sell."
Viagogo's guarantee meant that the seller was not paid until a buyer had successfully gained entry into the event.
Viagago had problems with less than 1 per cent of tickets sold worldwide, and if there was a problem, "viagogo steps in to find comparable replacements – or offer a full refund''.
