eBay MD Mark Lewis speaks up for eBay ticket sellers
27/02/2009 at 12:25
It’s not often you see Mark Lewis write an article which is published in the national press, but yesterday he spoke up about the resale of concert and sporting tickets in the Guardian.
The article covers his thoughts on the difficulty fans have in legitimately obtaining tickets, the punitive restrictions on those with tickets who are then unable to attend the event and wish to resell them and the fact that often if a ticket is resold the promoter simply invalidates it and keeps the money they were originally paid.
Like most people, the users of eBay (of which I am UK manager) take for granted that if you pay for something with your own cash, you’re free to sell it at the best price you can get. No one would dream of telling you what price to sell an unwanted CD for. If someone has an unwanted ticket, why shouldn’t they have the right to sell it at the price someone else is willing to pay, just like anything else?
- Mark Lewis, eBay UK Managing Director
It’s also worth noting that the vast majority of ticket sales on eBay are not traders but simply wish to dispose of tickets for events they no longer wish to attend – according to Mark 60% of eBay users that sold tickets in the last year only sold a single ticket – they’re not professional ticket touts.
It’s great to see the leader of eBay UK use his name and the influence of eBay to protect sellers rights. Bravo Mark, more of the same please 
Pete says
1:34 pm on 27/02/2009
Well done Mark, us sellers need some support right now. Keep going!
northumbrian says
2:35 pm on 27/02/2009
I can never get my head round why there is such an uproar about tickets
no one minds when you make a few thousand or more on a house sale , yet if you flog a ticket for more than face value, your branded a vagabond and a spiv
board_surfer says
4:37 pm on 27/02/2009
because when you sell your house you stopping a “real house fan” from buying one
or some such rubbish
northumbrian says
4:49 pm on 27/02/2009
we were once beanie baby touts lol
ebuyerfb says
6:08 pm on 27/02/2009
If people are reselling your tickets for a profit that might be an indication that you need to raise your prices. If these people have a problem with making extra money they could just donate the rest. I remember when the Wii shortage happened everyone blamed the eBay sellers instead of blaming Nintendo.
Whirly says
7:17 pm on 27/02/2009
Uncomfortable with the word “Leader” ,
does Mark walk funny or have a dodgy handshake?
Chris Dawson says
7:36 pm on 27/02/2009
@Whirly – He was perfectly normal last time I saw him, albeit that was best part of a year ago so there’s always a chance he’s changed. What word would you prefer instead of “leader”?
Whirly says
7:45 pm on 27/02/2009
I dunno Chris, I always imagine leaders to be in charge of cults or far right wing governments
Anyway, I don’t want to spoil the party, all quiet on the western front, touch wood…another 3+ months of selling with no fiddling would be a god send.
northumbrian says
9:00 pm on 27/02/2009
Führer is “leader” or “guide” in the German language, derived from the verb führen ‘to lead’.
ebuyerfb says
11:26 pm on 27/02/2009
@ # 8
I recently put my resume on file with eBay and when they parsed it out looking for job titles the system concluded that I was “World Leader” back in 2008. I took a screenshot.