Kijiji Canada will no longer allow customers to sell event tickets on its platform citing authentication and challenges relating to the shift to digital from physical tickets.
The eBay-owned company indicated that while the option will stop immediately, existing listings will stay up until they expire, the Canadian Press reported. It added that all listings will expire in 60 days.
The Canadian Press noted that the online buying and selling website made the move because of issues relating to authenticity, and while sellers are being more responsible, over the years the issue continues to pose a problem.
“The shift from physical tickets to digital over the years has made it hard, it’s posed some challenges for Kijiji,” general manager Matthew McKenzie said to the Canadian Press.
“There’s always risks related to purchasing tickets from private sellers. And there’s also just an emotional piece too. If you’re looking to go to a concert and maybe time is of the essence and you make that decision that you might not typically have made.”
As an example, the company didn’t allow resales of Toronto Raptors tickets for the NBA Championships as prices for seats were being sold for tens of thousands of dollars.
The company intends to prevent resales of tickets through automated monitoring, customer support teams and users flagging posts, the article added. Community event tickets will be able to be sold through the community category on the site.
Source: The Canadian Press
