Conchords tickets scalped on Trade Me

Conchords promoters went to great lengths to prevent scalping. Photo / Supplied

The Flight of the Conchords went to great lengths to stop it happening, but tickets to their shows are being sold for more than twice the face value online.

One of the promoters of the New Zealand tour said the only way to stop scalping was to change legislation.

When the in-demand tickets to the comedy duo's show went on sale, the band and their promoters adopted a strategy to prevent potential scalpers bulk-buying tickets to later sell for a profit.

But already two tickets to one of the Auckland shows have sold for $636 - more than two and a half times the most expensive ticket.

Currently there are 12 auctions on Trade Me and nine have already closed - though some are for more than one ticket - just a tiny proportion of all the available tickets, said Paul Ford, spokesman for the online auction site.

Last night bidding had reached $450 for two tickets to one of the Wellington shows. The auction closes on Sunday.

In order to try to prevent this sort of thing from happening, co-promoter Stuart Clumpas said they had a three-fold attack plan.

Firstly, they released 300 tickets at box offices in each of the towns the Flight of the Conchords would perform so the people who really wanted to go would be the ones lining up.

Secondly, they limited each sale to a two-ticket maximum and, lastly, they only released details of extra shows, such as the one at Vector Arena which still has tickets available, once shows sold out.

Mr Clumpas said it was disappointing that there were still people out there that would go to lengths to make a profit from the tickets - but there was nothing stopping them from doing it until there was a change in legislation.

"There's not a lot more we can do the way the way things currently stand ... I would really like to see the Government change the legislation they use for sporting events and extend it into entertainment events. If we say that it's wrong to sell tickets beyond their face value, it may help stop it."

It is perfectly legal to on-sell tickets on Trade Me as long as the seller has the ticket in their possession and the event is not included in the Ministry of Economic Development's list of "major events".