M'sian scalpers make killing from Jacky Cheung’s concert tour
PETALING JAYA - Two hours was all it took for tickets for Jacky Cheung’s solo concert in Malaysia to be fully sold, though not necessarily to his true fans.
The singer, dubbed Hong Kong’s “God of Songs”, successfully sold out all six shows scheduled to take place at Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur from Aug 11 to 13 and from Aug 18 to 20 in rapid fashion right after sales began online at 10am yesterday.
According to concert organiser Unusual Entertainment, tickets for the Jacky Cheung 60+ Concert Tour – tickets offered on my.bookmyshow.com – were snapped up within two hours, with prices ranging from RM388 (S$114) to RM1,188.
Unfortunately, not all tickets were snatched up by his fans.
For example, a photo showed that a Category 3 ticket that was sold by the promoter for RM388 – as the cheapest ticket to the event – was offered for resale at RM6,933.
Checks by StarLifestyle found that scalpers were having a field day on event ticket marketplace Viagogo, with one offering a ticket as high as RM12,993.
Category 2 tickets, with an original price of RM688, were being resold for RM2,663 and RM2,727.
Category 1 tickets were being resold for RM10,399, which is significantly higher than the original price of RM988.
VIP tickets were not spared either.
Originally priced at RM1,188, VIP tickets to Cheung’s upcoming concerts are now offered at up to RM12,993 a piece on Viagogo.
On Tuesday, Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil said several provisions of the law would be studied to prevent scalping.
The statement was issued a few days after several social media users expressed their dissatisfaction regarding the reselling of tickets for Coldplay’s upcoming concert in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 22 at extremely high prices.
One scalper was found to be reselling a ticket for RM43,000.
The British rock band sold out its show in just over three hours after sales went online.
Pre-sale tickets for Coldplay’s Kuala Lumpur gig broke the record of having more than 400,000 fans in GoLive Asia’s virtual queue, which is the biggest in the platform’s history.
Cheung’s achievement is considered very impressive considering that he did not have a pre-sale.
Taking to Facebook to announce the news, Unusual Entertainment thanked the public for their support.
However, many fans who tried their luck at nabbing a ticket took to social media to voice their disappointment, with many leaving comments on Unusual Entertainment’s Facebook page.
Some claimed that they had been stuck in the online queue since 10am, and urged the organisers to improve their ticketing system.
“Expected arrival time on website: More than an hour? After how many hours (will we get to the) buying page?” one user complained bitterly.
“I entered the queue at 10am, but the waiting time was still one hour,” another said.
Another weighed in: “Most people, the genuine ones, won’t be able to get any tickets”. - THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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