Gig Ticket Resale Rules

Reselling a gig ticket is legal in the UK, but a resale site must show you the seat or standing area, any restriction on who can use the ticket and its face value before you pay. Unofficial sales through social media carry the highest risk, so always check the seller, the listing details and how you are being asked to pay.

What the law requires a resale listing to show

Under Section 90 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, anyone reselling a ticket for a cultural, sporting or recreational event in the UK through a secondary ticketing site must give the buyer:

• The seat or standing area in enough detail to identify it, such as the area of the venue, block, row and seat number where they apply, plus any unique ticket number
• Any restriction that limits use of the ticket to a particular kind of person
• The ticket's face value
• A statement if the seller is the site's operator, a business linked to it, one of its staff, or the event's organiser

This information must be given clearly and before you are bound by the contract. In 2018 it also became a criminal offence to use software bots to buy more tickets than an event's sales limit allows.

Why resale is not the same as "anything goes"

Organisers set their own terms, so some tickets are named, checked against ID at the door or marked non-transferable, and a ticket resold in breach of those terms can be cancelled. Many primary ticket sellers run official fan-to-fan resale at face value, where a returned ticket is reissued to the new buyer. When you have missed the on-sale, that is the safest place to look first.

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 lets the Competition and Markets Authority fine businesses directly for breaking consumer law, with those powers in force from April 2025. In November 2025 the government announced plans to make resale above face value (the original price plus unavoidable fees) illegal and to cap resale platforms' service fees, and the King's Speech in May 2026 promised a draft bill. Until that becomes law, check GOV.UK for the current position.

The scam patterns to avoid

Most ticket fraud starts on social media and messaging apps: accounts offering spares for sold-out gigs, hacked profiles of people you know, and cloned websites that copy an official seller. The red flags are the same every time: pressure to pay quickly, a request to move off the official platform, and payment by bank transfer, cryptocurrency or gift card. Government advice is to buy only from the venue box office, an official ticketing website or official resale.

Pay by credit card where you can. Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 can make the card provider jointly responsible if the tickets never arrive, within limits set out by your provider. With a debit card you can ask your bank for a chargeback; this is a card-scheme process rather than a legal right, but banks often use it. A direct bank transfer to a stranger gives you very little protection.

If your money has already gone, contact your bank straight away, then report the fraud. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland that means Report Fraud, the police service that replaced Action Fraud in December 2025; in Scotland, report it to Police Scotland. Before paying for any resale ticket, check four things: the seat or area, the face value, any restrictions, and a normal, traceable payment method.