Hold On To Your Ticket-OR-How To Make An Absolute Mint!

RSC Tracing Tickets Resold Online
The RSC is tracking down and contacting people who are attempting to resell tickets for David Tennant's 'Hamlet' at greatly inflated prices.
In a highly unusual step,the RSC is tracing sellers advertising tickets for the sold out run on online auction sites. The sellers receive a sternly worded letter informing them that reselling a ticket for 'profit or commercial gain' will render them void.
The company has also 'regretfully' rescinded TicketMasters allocation for all present and future RSC performances after discovering that its affiliated auction site -getmein.com -is offering 'Hamlet' tickets at £660 each. The RSC can trace sellers if they have placed the seat numbers in the advertisement. The move represents a new front in the battle between promoters and 'fan to fan' market places on the internet such as eBay and Viagogo.com.
But Erin Baker, the chief executive of Viagogo.com, said 'It is perfectly legal to resell theatre tickets. These terms and conditions are unprincipled and unenforceable'.
A spokesman for eBay.com said 'Reselling tickets is a classic case of supply and demand'

Things were as bad as this if not worse before the internet- prior to the internet it wasn't possible, 99% of the time, to trace a customer or from where theatre tickets were bought.
At a performance of 'Aspects Of Love' about 2 weeks after it opened in 1989 a guy had bought a pair of tickets on the black market for a Friday night performance at £2,500 each ticket. We were gonna tease him and say Michael Ball was off sick but then thought no, it may give him a heart attack! £2.500 each -19 years ago!!!

Updated On: 10/1/08 at 10:05 AM

Yea, the set kind of kinked out over the pit, those seats were later sold as restricted view.
The queues for that show stayed for the first 14 months- Michael's entire contract. People would be outside from 7am until 6pm every day.
Yes, its a long time since a show pulled box office ques like that in the West End.

Someone did say there was a solitary sole outside the New London box office then realized that it was just Lovepidgeon queing for the first preview of 'Imagine This'! lol

Updated On: 10/1/08 at 10:39 AM

The ticket touts, about 3 or 4 of them, that used to make literally 1000s of £s a performance outside 'Aspects' can still be seen today outside 'Wicked', 'Billy Elliott' and all the major new shows.
Some still say 'hi' when they see me!