Ticket scalpers target K-pop band EXO with HK$11,000 tickets

Bigger than boy band sensation “One Direction” in some parts of the world, the K-Pop group EXO are heading to Hong Kong.

And like sharks to the smell of blood, scalpers have already struck, sending the price of the sought-after tickets soaring.

The EXO PLANET #4 – The EℓyXiOn (pronounced “Elysium”) tour, the band’s fourth, is due in Hong Kong in June, following stops in South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand.




Tickets for the two shows in the city don’t go on sale until Monday, April 9, though priority booking for some Bank of East Asia credit card holders began on Monday, March 26 and ends on Friday, April 6.

Already, tickets for the concert, which will be held at the AsiaWorld-Expo, have appeared on re-sale sites like Viagogo for as much as HK$3,500 (US$446) and, according to Ming Pao, tickets have started appearing on mainland websites for as much as HK$11,000 (US$1,400,) around seven times the face value price of HK$1,680 (US$214.)

A spokesperson from Media Asia Entertainment, one of the concert’s organizers, encouraged fans not to purchase tickets from ticket scalpers.

They added that a number of measures have been adopted to curb the practice, including limiting the number of tickets one person can buy per transaction.

According to HK Ticketing — the ticketing platform for the EXO concert — the maximum number of tickets an individual can purchase per transaction is eight.

The news about scalpers targeting EXO’s shows comes after the Hong Kong Philharmonic announced a second concert date and lottery for Japanese film composer Joe Hisaishi’s Hong Kong concert after large amounts of tickets sold out within minutes of going on sale before reappearing on second-party websites at massively inflated prices.

According to the Places of Public Entertainment Ordinance, reselling tickets without consent is illegal, and offenders can be fined up to HK$2,000 (US$255).



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