Mission Concert manager Garry Craft said it was time for the Government to overhaul laws around reselling tickets for premier events.
The crowd is set to be large again at the Elton John concert on Saturday as people flock to resellers and social media for tickets. Photo / Paul Taylor
"The music industry in New Zealand has been lobbying the government very hard," Craft said.
"There's no question there should be a cap around what people can recharge on a ticket."
A maximum of 10 tickets were able to be purchased from the Mission Concert website when they originally went on sale, for $150 (GA), $250 (Gold Reserved), $378 (Platinum Reserved) and $650 (Prestige Reserved) each.
Tickets are also being on-sold via Trade Me, with sellers stating they are unable to attend the February 15 concert.
Individual GA tickets for February 15 that originally went for $150 are selling for $300 and more, and based on sales for Sir Elton's Waitangi Day concert, are likely to increase in price as the event nears.
Pairs of GA tickets for this Saturday have been resold for $555 to $605.
Last Wednesday, the day before Sir Elton's Waitangi Day concert, two $150 tickets for February 6 were resold for $765 online.
On Tuesday, February 4, pairs of February 6 GA tickets sold for $455 to $550.
Pairs of February 15 Platinum Reserve tickets that were originally sold for $378 each ($756 for the pair) have resold for $1020 and $1300.
Eastern District Police said there had been two instances of people being scammed for Elton John tickets in Hawke's Bay.
The scams involved people paying money to a person through Facebook and then never being sent tickets.
Tickets for Elton John's final Hawke's Bay concert have been reselling at up to seven times the price. Photo / Paul Taylor
"We advise that people always buy goods, including event tickets, off the official vendors.
"Sadly, there will always be some people who try to use online sites, such as social media platforms, to scam and rip people off for money.
"Be aware there are risks with buying things off people you don't know.
"Purchasing off registered and proven trading businesses offers the purchaser a greater level of protection than buying through social media," a police spokesperson said.
Consumer watchdogs around the world have issued "buyer beware" warnings about scalpers reselling tickets on Viagogo for inflated prices.
The Commerce Commission took the Switzerland-based reseller to court in November 2018, claiming that the reseller made false, misleading or deceptive representations in breach of the Fair Trading Act.
A Commerce Commission spokesperson said they have received 1190 complaints about Viagogo since 2014.
So far in 2020 there have been 16 complaints about the company, five of which mentioned an Elton John concert.
In 2018 there were 589 complaints, making Viagogo the most complained about trader in any single year, the spokesperson said.
