It's all Nova for touts as Scot launches stock exchange for tickets on internet

Published on Sunday 3 June 2007 00:52

THE launch of a "stock market" for ticket sales could combat the unscrupulous activities of touts and fraudsters.

Ticket Nova, the brainchild of Scottish technology pioneer Grant Lillie, promises an opportunity to buy and sell tickets to sought-after events in complete security.

By accessing the ticketnova.com website, people can trade tickets for concerts and major sports events at current value determined by market demand for the event.

Lillie based his new business on similar exchanges in America which have been operating for almost a decade. "Ticket Nova is unique among existing ticket exchange companies in that it offers a true stock market for tickets," he said.

As with other products sold in a stock market, prices for tickets vary according to supply and demand. Ticket Nova uses revolutionary technology called E-TIPS (Electronic Ticket Information Price System) which provides an instant and reliable two-way price quote to buyers and sellers.

"As ticketnova.com acts as the market maker between buyer and seller customers carry no personal risk and are 100% guaranteed to receive the genuine tickets they ordered prior to the event," said Lillie.

"When buying a ticket from a site such as eBay, customers are taking the risk themselves. With ticketnova.com, there is an accountability that provides a sense of trust."

Buyers will also have the opportunity to purchase cut-price tickets when concerts or events are short of targets, because the supply and demand principle will drive the cost down.

Users of the site will also have access to a seven-days-a-week customer service hotline.

The system is likely to prove most popular for high demand concerts and sports events because they sell out fast, and tickets are often limited to a small number per buyer. This has driven people to buy from disreputable sources who often defraud customers by selling fake or non-existent tickets.

Ticket Nova will check the tickets to ensure they are not fraudulent, and customers are guaranteed to receive their tickets on time.

Those looking to offload unwanted tickets that were perhaps won or given, or who simply can't attend the event, will be guaranteed a buyer.

Ticket Nova, which is based in the Scottish Borders, condemns the abuse of ticket reselling that is exploitative or forces desperate fans to pay prices far beyond market value with no guarantee their ticket will ever arrive, or be valid when it does.

Lillie, who had the idea for the business after studying a masters degree in e-business, said: "Disreputable ticket resellers fuel a risky, unregulated industry which is associated with exploitation, frustration and disappointment."

In the US, the online secondary ticket industry is well established, with leading sites featuring on the stock exchange.

"The industry has boomed since the dotcom revolution, and consumers see the benefit of the secondary ticket business," said Lillie. "Professional, accountable ticket reseller businesses are only just starting out in the UK and it is early days, but the days of disreputable ticket touts as we know them are numbered."