Eventim News: Fansale Launches In Scandinavia, Consumer Agency Sues In Germany

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CTS Eventim has launched its resale platform Fansale in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. The platform allows ticket buyers to resell their tickets purchased via Eventim to fans who missed out during the onsale.

Resold tickets are verified, automatically cancelled, with new tickets being booked and delivered in a new order, in order to guarantee tickets are genuine and valid.
The press release sent out by CTS Eventim cites a study conducted by the Ministry of Culture in Denmark in 2019, which found that “44% of the respondents know of at least one person who has had problems with overpriced tickets. 
“In both Norway and Denmark, it is not only illegal to resell tickets at a profit, but it is also risky to buy them outside the official sales channels, because it is impossible to check whether the same tickets have been sold to several different buyers, or to be guaranteed that the tickets will be sent.” 
Jens B. Arnesen, CEO Eventim Scandinavia, commented: “With Fansale, Eventim is taking an important step in Scandinavia to help fans buy and sell tickets safely and legally amongst themselves. 
“Fansale guarantees that tickets cannot be sold for more than the original ticket price. At the same time, buyers are guaranteed genuine, valid tickets to the event.”
Fansale is also available in the UK, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Finland, Brazil and Germany.
Speaking of which, the consumer advice agency in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia has sued CTS Eventim over the way it has been handling refunds during the coronavirus crisis.
Since May 20, 2020, Germany has allowed promoters to issue vouchers instead of full refunds for tickets to postponed – not canceled – shows. The consumer advice agency laments that CTS Eventim has been refusing to refund money even before that date and sued the live entertainment giant at a regional court in Munich.
The other aspect of CTS Eventim’s business the consumer agency took issue with is the alleged practice to retain advance booking fees when refunding tickets to canceled shows.
CTS Eventim CEO Klaus-Peter Schulenberg seemed unfazed when questioned by Bild. He said this was a mere PR stunt by the consumer agency.