Kitchener mom Melanie Hains was devastated when her family missed out on the initial ticket sales to see Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in Toronto.
But with the concerts more than a year away, she felt confident she’d be able to scoop up tickets from Swifties who had to cancel their plans.
And yet, as the months passed by, her family’s hopes plummeted as ticket resale prices climbed higher and higher. “We have been checking Stub Hub but the costs there are astronomical — $2000 and up per ticket, and that is for restricted views,” she told the Star over email.
For the price of a single $4,000 resold ticket in Toronto, Hains said she could have bought an Eras Tour ticket in Europe, as well as the hotel and flight over. “It is absolutely insane.
“It made me sad because my 12 year old daughter in particular is a huge Swiftie, and I wanted to give her this amazing experience.”
Hains never managed to score tickets to the Eras Tour. Instead, she’s channelling her family’s disappointment into action, and taking on ticket scalpers in a new petition to the government of Canada.
Sponsored by Green Party MP Mike Morrice, Hains’s petition is calling on the federal government to reign in ticket resellers, partly by enacting the ticket resale policies of other countries. The online petition can be found here.
According to the petition, one resale site had tickets listed for $13,000 each — advertised as a “great deal.” Meanwhile, the Star previously encountered tickets on SeatGeek priced up to $121,000.
“Canadian fans are facing resale concert ticket prices that are just so outrageous due to a lack of protections,” Morrice told the Star, adding that he’s been approached on numerous occasions by members of his community calling for action.
“This isn’t rocket science. Other countries have implemented solutions already. And in this petition, we’re just calling for the government to take a look at the other jurisdictions that have already taken action and adopt a reasonable set of measures to protect fans.”
For example, in Portugal and Denmark, tickets cannot be resold for more than their original price. In Germany, a clause can be added to a ticket’s terms and conditions banning resale above 25 per cent of its face value. And in France, unauthorized resellers can face a fine of up to €30,000, according to the petition.
The petition also urges the government to enact measures to decrease the volume of resold tickets and the profit margins of resellers; regulate market practices, including deceptive websites and speculative ticket listings; and enforce the final regulations.
“We’d like to see the government take up some of those measures to better protect fans from these scams and make sure that regular folks can continue to get to concerts across the country for the artists that they love,” Morrice said.
Since launching on Tuesday, the petition has already attracted more than 300 signatures as of time of writing. It must attract at least 500 by Dec. 19 to be presented in the House of Commons; from there, the government will have 45 days to respond.
“Petitions aren’t voted on, so it doesn’t force them to act. But it does give us a way to raise the profile of the issue to offer solutions,” Morrice said. “And the more people who do sign on, the stronger the call can be.”
