Touts and everyday buyers will soon be prevented from charging anything above the original purchase price.
The UK government is preparing to announce new rules this week that will effectively ban making a profit from ticket resale, targeting both professional touts and platforms such as Viagogo and StubHub.
Earlier this year, ministers had explored allowing resales at up to 30% above face value as part of a public consultation.
However, it is now expected that any sale above the original ticket price will be completely prohibited.
The official announcement, set for Wednesday, follows an open letter signed by major international artists – including Radiohead, Dua Lipa and Coldplay – urging Keir Starmer to fulfil Labour’s campaign promise to curb the influence of “predatory” touts.
According to the forthcoming plan, which could appear in next year’s King’s speech, sellers will be restricted to charging only what they originally paid. Resale platforms will still be allowed to add service fees.
Those additional fees will also be capped to prevent companies from inflating them to compensate for the loss of markup profits. The exact limits have not yet been determined.
The new restrictions will also extend to social media sites, which resale platforms argue will become havens for unregulated or fraudulent tickets if the crackdown squeezes formal marketplaces.
Sellers will also be barred from listing more tickets than they were allowed to purchase according to the original ticketing rules.
A licensing framework for resale companies, which was one of the options reviewed by the government, will not move forward. Instead, resale platforms will be held legally responsible if users violate the law, with enforcement handled by the Competition and Markets Authority.
Artists such as Ed Sheeran and the Pixies have long criticised touts taking advantage of their fans, and the Oasis reunion tour this year drew large numbers of professional resellers.
Investigators uncovered hundreds of tickets offered by commercial “traders”, including several UK sellers listing dozens of Oasis tickets worth a combined £26,000.
Companies based abroad have also been cashing in on the UK’s lucrative live events market. One Cyprus-based company listed 1,596 Oasis tickets on StubHub alone.
Consumer group Which? released new findings on Thursday highlighting extreme resale prices in places like Dubai, Singapore and the US.
Tickets for Oasis at Wembley were seen at £3,498.85 on StubHub and £4,442 on Viagogo, while a Coldplay ticket for the same venue reached £814.52 on StubHub. The highest example Which? identified was a ticket for the All Points East festival in London listed for £114,666 on Viagogo.
Such inflated prices are estimated to cost UK consumers £145m each year, according to telecoms group and venue partner Virgin O2. In some cases, campaigners warn that sellers might not even possess the tickets they advertise.
These sellers are accused of engaging in “speculative selling”, where touts list tickets they have not yet secured, then attempt to buy them later at a lower price after taking payment. This practice is fraudulent.
Secondary ticketing firms have strongly opposed the new proposals, claiming the measures will fuel underground markets and increase fraud.
Some of the UK’s most active touts even discussed launching their own political influence strategy during a private meeting last year captured on video.
There are also concerns about whether major platforms like Viagogo and StubHub would remain in the UK if they can no longer profit from large resale markups.
Face-value resale options such as Twickets and Ticketmaster’s internal exchange have grown in recent years as alternatives to profit-driven platforms.
Investigations have repeatedly revealed the practices of the resale industry, including how prolific touts accumulate large volumes of tickets and exploit rising demand at fans’ expense.
Shares in US-listed StubHub Holdings fell by 10% after news of the impending ban circulated on Monday.
StubHub Holdings owns Viagogo, while the UK StubHub brand is now separate, following a split ordered by consumer regulators after the companies attempted to merge in 2020.
A spokesperson for StubHub International argued that the price cap will push fans into unsafe buying channels.
“With a limit on regulated marketplaces, buyers will be driven toward black-market transactions,” they said.
A representative for Viagogo added: “Evidence shows that price caps consistently harm consumers; in countries like Ireland and Australia, fraud rates are nearly four times higher than in the UK because caps push people to unregulated sellers.”
A government spokesperson declined to comment.