New ticket reselling laws started on 1 June 2018, which address ticket scalping. The new requirements have been made by amendment to the Fair Trading Act 1987.
Ticket scalpers systematically buy large numbers of sport and entertainment event tickets with the sole aim of reselling at a high profit above the initial purchase price.
The amendments prohibit anyone from reselling a ticket to a NSW event for more than the original cost price, plus the transaction costs incurred in the original purchase. Transactions costs are capped at 10% of the original ticket cost.
The new laws apply to tickets to NSW events that are first sold from 1 June 2018 and have a resale restriction. A resale restriction is a term or condition of a ticket that limits the circumstances in which the ticket may be resold, or prohibits resale of the ticket.
Advertisements for resale tickets must specify the original cost of the ticket and a resale price that is no more than 10% above the original cost. The advertisement must also include any bay, row or seat number that applies to the ticket.
The new laws include a protection for consumers that prevents an event organiser from cancelling a ticket on the basis it was resold, if it was sold in accordance with the new laws.
The use of 'bot' software is also banned as part of the amendments. Bots are computer programs that allow ticket scalpers to circumvent the security measures on ticketing websites to rapidly buy tickets in large quantities and place them on resale websites at inflated prices.