Radiohead ticket scalping begins

Thom Yorke of Radiohead performs live on stage in London. Photo / Getty Images

Just days after tickets for British rock band Radiohead's Vector Arena date next month were sent out, Trade Me is being swamped with people flogging the tickets off at inflated prices.

The show's tickets were mailed to buyers by Ticketmaster on Monday in a bid to prevent scalpers from making money from them.

However, one Trade Me seller, kiranmatthews, has put two tickets, worth $130 each on the site with a starting bid of $499.

Another seller, rougue, has a Buy Now option for two tickets of $540.

Seller murphy-sua, however, seems to have a legitimate reason for selling his tickets on - he has posted a picture of his injured leg to show he can't make the show. The two tickets are on the site for only a slightly inflated price of $300.

The show's promoter, Chugg Entertainment, posted a warning on the Ticketmaster website for buyers about scalping.

"Unfortunately, there is simply no legislation in place to prevent this activity, at this time. We are taking measures to minimise this market, but there are limitations as to what restrictions to re-sale we can impose."

It warned Radiohead fans across Australia and New Zealand, not to buy tickets from unauthorised ticket sellers and scalpers, including those selling on Trade Me.

"Fans buying tickets from unauthorised ticket sellers also risk the tickets not arriving, having their tickets cancelled or not getting the seats they thought they were getting."

The promoter reserved the right to cancel tickets from unauthorised ticket sellers and there is no right of refund if the ticket is cancelled.

"While we appreciate that there is an overwhelming demand for tickets from genuine fans, we just want everyone to be aware of the potential risks and we strongly encourage fans to only purchase tickets through the registered ticketing agency, so that they know the tickets will be valid."

Trade Me was not available for comment this evening.