Online sellers cashing in on demand for Dalai Lama tickets
Tickets for the Dalai Lama's lecture in Dundee have begun changing hands for several times their face value.
One of the completed auctions, where a pair of tickets sold for £200.
- By Grant Smith
- Published in the Courier : 03.02.12
- Published online : 03.02.12 @ 10.19am
Demand to see the Buddhist leader at Caird Hall in June was so great that the £25 tickets took just two hours to sell out on Wednesday. Now some people are trying to turn a profit by reselling them online at greatly inflated prices, despite them being non-transferable.
One person advertised a pair of tickets on eBay, including a photograph of them clearly depicting the text on the tickets and described them as ''brilliant seats in the front stalls''.
He did note the tickets had cost £25 apiece, but they sold for a total of £199.99 plus postage.
Another pair were still on sale this morning, but it looked as if hoax offers of up to £1,000 had been submitted as a backlash against the seller.
The Dalai Lama's official website notes that most of his international events require paid tickets, although he does not accept any fees for his appearances.
It adds: ''Where tickets need to be purchased, organisers are requested by our office to charge the minimum entrance fee in order to cover their costs only.''
He will give a lecture as part of a Scottish tour and Dundee University is hosting him.
A university spokesman said, ''This is a not-for-profit event. The prices for public appearances across the UK were set by the tour organisers wholly to cover the cost of bringing the Dalai Lama to this country.
''Organising a tour of this size, which will enable several thousand people in this country to hear from His Holiness in person for the first time, costs a significant amount of money, which has to be recouped.
''There is no profit motive behind the setting of ticket prices, and several hundred £10 tickets were available for the Dundee event, with further concessions available to ensure disadvantaged members of the community did not miss out.
''We are disappointed that some people have sold tickets on for a profit, especially given the nature of the Dalai Lama's teachings and the content of the talk he will give.
''The tickets clearly state that they are not transferable. Furthermore, they are marked with a code which allows staff to check they are being presented by the person who bought the tickets and a full ticket check will be carried out by staff.
''We would advise people not to buy tickets from a third party as they will not be allowed in to the venue if the ticket is not in their own name.''
The visit is being coordinated by Edinburgh Inter-Faith Association, and the chaplaincy centre at Dundee University is one of the partners which has helped to organise it.
The Buddhist leader will be welcomed to the city by a pipe band before delivering his lecture, entitled Education of the Heart.
10.27am - 03.02.2012 Laura Thomso - Dundee, Scotland Report This
Thats capitalism for you. Everything has a price and profit is king.
10.33am - 03.02.2012 Bill R. - Dundee, UK Report This
Greed and avarice. Shame on these parasites.
12.25pm - 03.02.2012 Maryfield Resident - Maryfield, Scotland Report This
I guess some tickets have been Reincarnated! LOL
01.02pm - 03.02.2012 theatre goer - dundee, scotland Report This
since the picture of the tickets is on show and it shows the seat numbers make these tickets void and issue new tickets for these seats.
05.25pm - 03.02.2012 Daz - Fujisawa, Japan Report This
shame on what parasites?? those that "are covering their costs to bring the Dalai Lama over"? Damn right!! He accepts no fees so why are tickets 25 quid?? Oh he has to get here, well if he is so pious, shouldn't he pay his own fare if he really wanted to be in Dundee/Scotland/UK?
04.07pm - 04.02.2012 Ayn - Dundee, UK Report This
It's called the efficient distribution of product, Laura. Nothing wrong with that. Dundee was foolish for not charging more in the first place...the money could have been used to clean up the garbage in this city.
06.07pm - 05.02.2012 Jenny - Dundee, UK Report This
The same person sold another pair for £399.99. Surely, given the number of people that were trying to get tickets because they really wanted to go, someone in the Caird Hall ticket office could check these somehow- for a start he managed to buy 4 tickets at least.
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