An advert was read out on the Political Currency podcast, hosted by former politicians George Osborne and Ed Balls, in April 2024.
Former Conservative Chancellor Osborne said: “It sounds like Viagogo might be the solution next time I need cheaper tickets to the hottest shows in town.”
Balls, a former Labour Shadow Chancellor, told listeners that “over half the events listed on Viagogo had tickets selling below face value.”
FanFair Alliance, which campaigns against online ticket touting, complained to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) about the advert on the podcast.
The ASA subsequently found the site’s claim that “over half the events listed on Viagogo had tickets selling below face value” was misleading.
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When questioned by the ASA, Viagogo said it calculated ‘face value’ by starting with the base price of a ticket, excluding booking fees, service charges, delivery fees or any other charges, and then applying a 20% increase.
But the ASA disagreed. It said: “We considered that definition did not reflect consumers’ understanding of the face value of a ticket, because it included the various booking fees and other charges paid by consumers.
“We also understood that it did not reflect Viagogo’s own use of the term ‘face value’ on their website, where it related to the ticket price.
“Because of the disparity between the ticket price and Viagogo’s definition of face value, we considered that the data provided was not relevant in supporting the claim as it would be understood by consumers.”
Viagogo also claimed that, in 2023, of all UK events for which tickets were sold on Viagogo’s marketplace, 53% had at least one ticket sold at below face value.
But the ASA noted that one ticket per event was not a “significant proportion of tickets” and, as such, did not represent a reasonable chance for consumers to purchase tickets below face value.
The ASA said: “We told Viagogo to ensure that they did not mislead consumers by claiming that over half the events listed on Viagogo had tickets selling below face value, if that was not the case.”
Viagogo and other ‘secondary’ ticketing sites allow professional touts to make huge profits by buying up seats at gigs by acts such as Oasis and Ed Sheeran and selling them on for massive mark-ups.
Secondary ticketing industry is ‘rigged against fans’
Rocio Concha, Which? director of policy and advocacy, said: “The ASA has found that Viagogo’s definition of ‘face value’ clearly doesn’t align with what consumers would expect it to mean, so it’s important that Viagogo doesn’t try this type of tactic in its marketing again. However, this is all too typical of a company that has been repeatedly caught out playing fast and loose with rules and laws designed to protect consumers.
“This reinforces why it is so important for the Government to overhaul the secondary ticketing industry, which is currently rigged against fans. Too many are being forced to pay way over the odds to see their favourite artists perform.
“The Government should shut down online ticket touts by introducing a price cap to ensure that tickets can only be resold on secondary sites at the original price paid – the ticket’s face value plus any fees.”
Viagogo was also reprimanded by the ASA in January 2024 over making misleading claims regarding the sale of Taylor Swift tickets.
