Australian BTS fans blast Ticketmaster’s ‘predatory’ tactic of hiding price until tickets go on sale

Australian fans of the K-pop group BTS are accusing the ticketing giant Ticketmaster of deploying “predatory” and “crazy” tactics, and have urged people to lodge formal complaints with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).Ticketmaster Australia announced concerts at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium and Sydney’s Accor Stadium in February 2027 as part of the South Korean boyband’s comeback tour after a four-year hiatus.But Ticketmaster has not detailed the pricing of the tickets ahead of the presale and general sale next week.“Ticket prices will be made available once the Waiting Room opens and will not change during the Army membership presale or general onsale,” Ticketmaster says on its website. BTS fans are known as the BTS Army.The move has prompted strong criticism from fans and the Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC), which has described Ticketmaster’s strategy for the BTS shows as “manipulative” and “deeply unfair”.“I think this is going to be a really high demand show with a lot of fans who deserve to know how much a ticket will cost before they enter a high-pressure sales funnel,” the CPRC’s chief executive, Erin Turner, told The Guardian.“Ticketmaster should be absolutely upfront about the cost of a ticket. I’m worried that they’ll be charging different fans different prices, there’s nothing to stop them doing that currently. And by not letting anyone know prices or even price ranges beforehand, fans really face the prospect of being manipulated and tricked into spending more than they necessarily need to for a show.”Fans have taken to social media, saying the Live Nation-owned ticketing behemoth is forcing them into a blind, high-pressure digital queue where they must make split-second financial choices under a strict time limit. In order to access presale tickets, fans also need to pay a fee to become an official Army member on the Weverse app.On Instagram, under an official Ticketmaster Australia post, one fan wrote: “What is the purpose behind not releasing the ticket prices and seating maps now? It comes across as very predatory given that you are forcing people to make large financial decisions under a time limit.”Another fan posted on X: “Every other country has price information listed for the BTS world tour prior to tickets going on sale. But for Australia we get this … no prices, no seat map till we are in the queue @Ticketmaster_AU what’s up with that?”“Without access to basic pricing info, [fans] are unable to make complete, informed financial decisions before entering an extremely high-pressured purchasing environment during an already stressful cost of living crisis,” a statement posted on X by fan group BTS Australia said, going on to ask why Ticketmaster had released price details for other stops on the tour’s Asian leg but not for Australia.“We do not believe there are any legitimate reasons to not show us the same respect and provide the same information for the Australian dates.”BTS arrive at Grammy awards in 2022, the year they announced a hiatus. Photograph: Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty ImagesOn TikTok, fan accounts are calling on the local Army fanbase to petition the federal government and the consumer watchdog.“Australian ARMY we need to lock in,” one widely shared post said.“Ticketmaster not sharing the pricing and seating maps for tickets until presale is crazy - in Mexico, ARMY was able to fix this by complaining to government. PLEASE LODGE A COMPLAINT WITH THE ACCC AGAINST TM.”In a statement to The Guardian, the ACCC said it did not usually comment on complaints it received, and that under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), businesses must display clear and accurate prices and must not mislead consumers about their prices for goods or services.Under the ACL, businesses are not required to state the price of their goods or services for a certain period in advance before offering them for sale, the ACCC statement said.“If a business clearly and accurately displays its prices prior to a consumer booking, ordering or purchasing, and does not otherwise mislead or deceive consumers as to price, that business is unlikely to be in breach of the ACL.”In April, the federal government introduced a bill to tighten up unfair trading practices under the ACL, including targeting what the assistant minister for competition, Andrew Leigh, has called digital “dark patterns” – ie manipulative online environments that create an artificial sense of urgency or unreasonably distort a consumer’s ability to make calm, calculated financial decisions.In his address to the National Consumer Congress last year, Leigh said such manipulative tactics were “the online equivalent of a salesperson who won’t let you leave the store”.If passed the new laws will not come into effect until 1 July next year.Guardian Australia has sought comment from Leigh, Ticketmaster and Live Nation.