FANS WHO BUY tickets under pressure should be allowed to return them for up to 14 days afterwards, Ireland’s consumer watchdog has told the European Commission.

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has called on Brussels to legislate for a “right to withdraw” from high demand live events.

If the EU acts on the Irish regulator’s advice, it will be a shot across the bow of Ticketmaster, the dominant player in live event ticket sales across Europe with a particular stranglehold on the Irish market.

There has been heightened scrutiny of this issue since the August 2024 scramble for Oasis tickets. Some fans paid over €400 to Ticketmaster for tickets for the August 2025 Croke Park gigs, advertised as starting at €86.50.

Fans complained of being confronted with prices well above what they expected after queueing for hours, with the highest prices branded “extortionate”. Fans were also frustrated by the apparent lottery element, whereby they did not know how much they would eventually be charged when they reached the top of the queue.

It’s understood a “tiered” pricing model was used for Oasis, with cheaper tickets selling out first.

Pressure to buy

Now the CCPC has told the European Commission that when it comes to ticket sales for high demand live events, consumers are making decisions that “on reflection, they may not otherwise have made”, with limited time in which to do so.

The “sense of urgency” and “online hype”, as well as being under time pressure, all exacerbate consumers’ tendency to follow through with a purchase they have invested time in pursuing, the CCPC said.

When fans get to the top of an online queue and select tickets, they normally have just 10 minutes to complete their payment.

The CCPC made its suggestion as the EU executive drafts a new Digital Fairness Act, to be published next year, aimed at strengthening consumer protections online.

Dynamic pricing

The CCPC told Brussels that the criteria under which a new “right to withdraw” should apply should include tiered, algorithmic or dynamic pricing, “including a model that uses price discrimination for tickets with the same objective benefits/characteristics”.

These types of pricing models create a situation in which consumers cannot know for certain in advance of entering an online queue what they will need to pay for tickets, the CCPC said.

It added that consumers should be entitled to apply for a refund for all payments. High service charges and booking charges can apply to ticket sales.

Under EU consumer law, shoppers have the right to return something they buy online within 14 days for a refund. However, there is an exception in the law that applies to tickets for gigs and other events.

This exception is supposed to protect organisers of events from being unable to fill capacity if punters return their tickets – but the CCPC argued this is not a real concern in the case of high demand events.

The CCPC noted that it may be argued that consumers have the option to re-sell tickets. It countered that this puts an unfair level of financial risk on the consumer.

Ticketmaster told The Journal it “works to provide a simple and safe ticket-buying experience and does not use surge pricing or dynamic algorithms”.

It’s understood that ticket prices are set by artists, promoters and other event organisers and Ticketmaster facilitates “tiered” pricing, whereby lower price tickets can sell out first.

Ticketmaster said fans are shown ticket prices while in the queue and have “at least an hour to select tickets”.

It added that a timer is displayed once tickets are placed in the basket “as a security measure”.

It said if fans don’t want to go to an event, they can resell tickets at face value on Ticketmaster, which is a “safe and secure process”.