Oh Good, Even Ariana Grande's All-star Manchester Benefit Isn't Safe From Bastard Scalpers
You have got to be f*cking kidding
Sentient garbage-heaps have been trying to turn a profit selling tickets to Ariana Grande's all-star benefit concert in Manchester this weekend, with reports suggesting prices had reached more than five times the entry market value on online auction site eBay.
As News Corp reports, tickets to the gig — the line-up for which also features the likes of Coldplay, Katy Perry, Robbie Williams, Pharrell Williams, Little Mix, Justin Bieber, The Black Eyed Peas and more — appeared on eBay within an hour of the official sale kicking off with Ticketmaster, with brazen resellers asking for sums such as £400 (about $690) for two tickets and £500 for four.
Others, according to The Sun, were selling tickets for €99.99 (about $152) a pop, while another person had started a bidding process on Twitter from £50 — one of the less egregious resales, being tickets were initially sold from £40.
With resale sites such as Viagogo agreeing not to host secondary-market tickets for the concert, it seems eBay quickly became the destination of choice, though, as News Corp notes, ticket sales are against the company's policy.
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A spokesman said eBay was "immediately removing any listing which attempts to profit unfairly from what happened, and the sellers’ accounts will be restricted".
Despite that, concert tickets are abundant on eBay's UK site, with sellers offering up variably priced passes to shows by the likes of Elton John, Phil Collins, Guns N Roses, Take That, Depeche Mode and more.
The "Ariana & Friends: One Love" concert will be held at Manchester's Old Trafford cricket ground this Sunday, 4 June. All proceeds of officially purchased tickets will be forwarded to victims of the attack at the end of Grande's concert in the city on 22 May, which killed 22 people and left several more injured.
Meanwhile, tour promoter Live Nation has confirmed that Grande's September Australian shows will go ahead as planned, releasing a statement this morning that assured fans: "After the conclusion of the European tour, the tour will continue to South America, Central America, Mexico, Asia, Australia & New Zealand as currently scheduled."
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