By Imogen Crispe
Labour MP Trevor Mallard denies he is a ticket scalper, despite revelations he sold four Homegrown tickets for a profit and that the on-sale was not his first.
The Hutt South MP sold four tickets to this weekend’s festival on auction site TradeMe for $656, or $164 each. The tickets have a face value of $95 each.
His TradeMe history shows he sold another four tickets to the same Wellington festival last year, and two in 2009. He also sold a Wellington Sevens ticket in 2009.
But Mr Mallard denies this was scalping.
“Scalping is buying tickets for the intention of selling them,” he says.
“I’ve bought them with the intention of going.”
Managing director of Ticketek Brendon Bainbridge says Ticketek was not happy about Mr Mallard selling the Homegrown tickets for a profit and in doing so Mr Mallard breached the website’s terms and conditions of sale.
The terms state that “tickets may not, without the prior written consent of Ticketek or the Seller, be resold at a premium” and if this happens the ticketholder could be refused entry to an event.
Mr Bainbridge says he does not have problems with people reselling tickets at face-value but advises people not to sell them for a profit.
“We think it’s terrible.”
Mr Mallard says he sometimes buys tickets, but then finds out he is not available.
“I quite often buy them when they first come online when I think I want to go to something, but I don’t always go.
“Sometimes I buy for a group of us and not everyone can come.”
Mr Mallard says he was intending to go to Homegrown this year, but a friend’s birthday celebration came up. In another case, he says it was a bike race that got in the way of him going.
Mr Mallard says he goes to concerts regularly.
“I do see a lot of New Zealand music.”
As Sports Minister in 2007, Mr Mallard initiated the Major Events Management Act which says scalpers can face a fine of $5000.
But Mr Mallard says this act only covers circumstances where international events have a “no scalping rule”.
The Act states “No person may, without the authorisation of the major event organiser, sell or trade a ticket to a major event activity for a value greater than the original sale price of that ticket”.
It also says the “substantial purpose” of the transaction should be to sell the ticket for more than the original ticket price.
Mr Bainbridge says Ticketek works with TradeMe to try and prevent it happening, and if they see a photo of the ticket they are able to void it.
He says Ticketek can ban people in breach from buying tickets on the site, but this rarely happens as it is too difficult to trace.
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