Making Plans & Avoiding Scams – Your Ticket Guide For Ed Sheeran’s Aus Tour

Ed Sheeran's massive Australian tour kicks off tomorrow night and if you've turned to scalpers for tickets or might be considering buying passes last-minute, here's what you need to know.

How to get tickets

The ÷ World Tour has become a goldmine for scumbag scalpers looking to cash-in on vulnerable fans who missed out on tickets. Sheeran’s Aussie stadium tour sold out at an insanely fast rate, with passes appearing across a wealth of resale sites at inflated prices even during pre-sale, some for up to $3,500.

If you missed out during fan pre-sale, general sale and the ensuing bursts of extra ticket releases, not all hope is lost, with promoters Frontier Touring joining forces with the world’s largest fan-to-fan secure ticket trading platform, Twickets, for Sheeran’s massive run.

Tickets sold via the website are never more than the original price and come from fans who are no longer able to attend the show. At the time of publishing, tickets were available across Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney for face value or less, with Twickets telling The Music they expect to see more pop up as each show approaches. If you sign up, Twickets can notify you when more tickets become available.

What to avoid

The reason that Frontier Touring has partnered with Twickets is to counter resale sites such as Viagogo, Stubhub and others; a lot which host the sale of invalid tickets, leaving fans heartbroken and outside the venue.

Resale platforms like Viagogo have been called out countless times in the past, even by the NSW Government which called for ticket scalping bots to be banned.

There are no security measures in place across those platforms, Gumtree, eBay, Facebook etc. to stop scamming from purchasing a ticket then sending it out to 50 people, meaning the only fan admitted is the one who gets there first.

With that in mind, many fans will turn to the dark underbelly of the resale market, and if that happens to be a road you’re considering, use protection. Whether that’s purchasing passes via Facebook, Gumtree or whatever, ensure you use PayPal and select “Goods and Services”. If you pay cash, do a direct bank transfer or use “Friends and Family” via PayPal and something goes wrong, there’s not a lot you can do.

What to do if you’ve been scammed

Firstly, if you’re reading this prior to the event or just after you’ve been turned away at the door, ask the venue for proof that the ticket didn’t work, whether that’s via a letter or email, as that will go a long way in helping your case.

Secondly, reach out to point of purchase, whether that’s Viagogo (who have a reputation for poor communication) or a seller on eBay, Gumtree, Facebook, etc. If you’re unable to reach a solution, here’s what you can do:

If you paid via PayPal

And used “Goods and Services”, file a dispute online, attaching as much information as you can.

If you paid via credit card or debit card

Call the bank and request a chargeback.

If you paid via cash or direct bank deposit

Your only method of recourse, unfortunately, is to contact the seller directly.

There’s a limited amount of action and power the ACCC and the consumer protection agency in your state or territory have in regards to you being ripped off when it comes to tickets, but filing a complaint with them is a great way to highlight the ongoing issue of punters being ripped off by scalpers. The ACCC has a wealth of information on what to avoid and what you can do if you have been ripped off.

Ed Sheeran’s Australian tour kicks off this weekend in Perth. Check out theGuide for all the details.