Harry Styles' fans have voiced their anger at Ticketmaster after resale tickets for his upcoming tour were made available with an increased service charge. The 32-year-old singer is set to kick off his seven-city tour in Amsterdam before heading to London, and tickets for these venues have now been listed for resale.
While fans initially welcomed the opportunity to see the "Aperture" hitmaker, many expressed disappointment upon discovering the inflated pricing. They noticed that the additional service charge for purchasing a ticket had significantly increased compared to the fee applied during the first sale.
For instance, rear standing tickets originally bought at face value for £145.39 included a service fee of £18.40 for the buyer. However, those purchasing these tickets on resale now face an additional charge of £21.81, bringing the total to £167.20. For VIP packages, the cost is even steeper; a ticket for the Disco Package, originally £334.93, now incurs a £50 service charge, making the total £385.17 for the purchaser.
This situation has caused frustration among both buyers and sellers. Sellers are concerned that the higher fees make their tickets harder to sell, while buyers are upset about the extra costs. Many fans have taken to X (formerly Twitter) to express their fury.
One user wrote: "So for Wembley fans literally can't list the price higher than they were originally paid for them. The hiked up price is cause Ticketmaster is adding crazy service charges. So not fair on the sellers and buyers." Another commented: "Can Ticketmaster explain why they're adding a £50 service charge for the buyer, on top of each single ticket resold by fans for Harry Styles Wembley? For two tickets, that's almost £100 service charge."
A third fan stated: "Service tweet: If you wanna sell your Harry Styles tickets, do it on here and just transfer. Ticketmaster resale adds like £50 of fees, so it ends up way more expensive than face value." Another added: "Ticketmaster resale count your days bc why is my Harry Styles ticket being sold for £130 by me, coming up as £150 for buyer bc you want to get a £20 service charge!? You already got it from me the first time and now you want it twice?"
Others expressed disbelief: "Why are we charging more than 100 euros for service fees for (2) Harry Styles resale tickets. Is this some kind of sick joke?" and "Harry Styles resale service costs are actually insane why is there a £40 charge." One user highlighted: "Ticketmaster charges- lots of Harry Styles fans are looking to sell their tickets privately cos Ticketmaster are adding about £50+ service charge on top of a £300 single ticket that fans are listing for resale. This is causing frustration among fans who are looking to buy tickets, as well as sellers who are concerned it will make their tickets harder to sell."
That's up to £100+ charges added for the buyer for two tickets that are £300 each. For the Wembley and Amsterdam events. For example, it's only £16.20 service charge per ticket if you buy a non-resale ticket over £300.
According to information surrounding the topic, even though the ticket already existed, Ticketmaster treats the resale as a new transaction. So they charge the buyer for processing the payment, transferring the ticket securely, customer support, and guarantees. The resale service charge is usually tied to the ticket price, so a higher resale price equals a higher fee, which makes already expensive tickets feel even worse at checkout.
The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Ticketmaster and Harry Styles for comment.
