Diana ticket touts kicked off eBay

Tickets for the Concert for Diana seem to be almost more sought after than the PS3 this week. eBay took the decision to ban them from re-sale on the site, before they went on sale yesterday morning. Needless to say the official source sold out within minutes of sales opening, leaving many disappointed buyers who failed to secure a ticket.

eBay moved quickly to remove all auctions that were placed on the site for Diana tickets, working in conjunction with the event organisers and Royal press office. Last night a spokesman for Clarence House said: "We are very pleased that eBay have taken this decision." No one will be paying over the odds putting money into the pockets of touts on eBay.

Sadly this isn't the case elsewhere. Tamebay pointed out that eBay's sponsored links on Google were unfortunately picking up on the phrase "Diana Tickets". eBay moved swiftly to rectify this, and the ad was removed. Other companies are not as ethical - currently a company is paying for the first result on Google directing buyers to their site where tickets are on sale for an incredible £338.29


As with all events of this nature there are plenty of people willing to pay over the odds for tickets. The organisers seem poorly prepared to cope with inevitable re-sales and the many channels available to touts. Simple steps like issuing tickets to named people and requiring photo id to gain entry would have deterred profiteering. The ticket price seems exceptionally low as well at £45, compared to similar concerts which don't benefit charity - with the rocketing levels of demand, a higher price would have raised much greater funds for the benefitting charities.

It's a shame the organisers didn't work with eBay to place a certain number of tickets for sale through eBay for Charity to raise more funds, and allow those desperate for a ticket to bid knowing they're donating at the same time.