Ontario Passes Law To Ban Scalper Bots, Cap Resale Prices

New Law Caps Resale Prices At No More Than 50 Per Cent Above The Original Price

Your ability to score tickets to the hottest events in the city just received an enhancement courtesy of Queen’s Park. The province of Ontario passed legislation Wednesday that effectively bans the use of scalper bots — software that scalpers use to purchase massive quantities of tickets all at once. The law also introduces a cap on how much tickets can be resold for through the secondary market.

Tickets sold through resale market sites like StubHub and SeatGeek will capped to no more than 50 per cent above the original price, and sellers must disclose the value of surcharges.

According to the Toronto Star, StubHub has indicated it supports the law banning the use of scalper bots, but they oppose the cap on resale prices.

This issue was brought the forefront in the fall of 2016 after many Tragically Hip fans were forced to pay exorbitant prices for tickets to the band’s summer 2016 farewell tour shows. Scalpers were using software to buy large quantities of tickets and turning to the secondary market to sell them at drastically marked-up prices.

It was estimated that scalpers earned somewhere in the range of $25 million-to-$35 million on the resale market during the Hip’s tour.

So, today’s news is a win for concert goers in Ontario.