Simon Jolin-Barrette
Quebec Minister Introduces Bill to Tighten Ticket Resale Rules
It looks to extend existing restrictions
Quebec’s Minister of Justice, Simon Jolin-Barrette, has authored a bill that would make it illegal for individuals to resell tickets for more than their original price.
Why it matters:
Under the new legislation, tickets could only be sold above face value with the consent of the event organizer.
As per The Ticketing Business, to do this a reseller must inform a buyer that they’re using a resale platform and not the official seller’s site, and that tickets may be available for less from the official vendor.
Resellers would “also be required to disclose the name of the original ticket vendor,” as well as the name of the ticket’s previous owner and its original price.
Resellers would also have to let consumers know of any changes to an event’s time or location.
Vendors could no longer charge ticket-holders a fee to transfer their ticket.
Existing legislation:
As The Ticketing Business points out, ticket resale legislation from 2011 is already in place in Quebec.
It stops merchants from reselling tickets above face value without “an agreement with the event’s producer.”
That law does not, however, apply to individuals, meaning people can still markup tickets on resale platforms.
Jolin-Barrette’s bill would close that loophole.
👋 Disclosures & Transparency Block
This story was written with information from The Ticketing Business.
We covered it because it’s news of legislation that could impact the secondary ticketing market.
