Carousell swiftly suspends Taylor Swift concert ticket sales to deter scalpers

Carousell is suspending the sale of Taylor Swift concert tickets on its platform across all six of its markets.

The marketplace will be suspending ticket sales from 23 February to 9 March 2024, and will be removing existing listings on the platform by 26 February. 

The move comes with a rise of ticket scams leading up to Swift's upcoming concert in Singapore, her only stop in Southeast Asia. 

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Carousell will be using a mix of AI detection and manual moderation to detect and remove listings. Users are also encouraged to help report listings using the 'Report Listing' feature. The listing will reviewed by the manual moderation team within 24 hours from when it is reported. 

“Selling concert tickets is not prohibited in our community guidelines as we are an open and inclusive marketplace. However, this concert is unique in that we expect many overseas concert goers who may not know how to adequately protect themselves from local scam tactics," said Su Lin Tan, chief of staff, Carousell. 

"Additionally, we realise that the two weeks leading up to the Eras tour shows are prime for scammers taking advantage of last-minute panic buying of concert tickets. Hence, we are stepping in to do our part to manage the situation in our platform and working very closely with the Singapore Police Force. We are monitoring the situation vigilantly and taking action against scammers." 

Whilst this is move is a one-off exception unique to the upcoming Taylor Swift Eras tour, Carousell has taken extra measures in the past to ensure safer transactions in its 'Tickets & Vouchers' category. 

Since 3 October 2023, Carousell made it mandatory for all Singapore sellers to verify their identities via Singpass before being able to list in the 'Tickets & Vouchers' category. 

In addition, the platform has put up advisories in the 'Tickets & Vouchers' category to educate users on how to transact safely. 

That said, Carousell urges buyers to do background checks on any deals and has warned that buyers who purchase tickets from third-party vendors will generally increase the risk of dealing with scammers who may be selling counterfeit or stolen tickets, wrote Carousell in a statement. 

For users who are looking to sell their tickets with genuine intent, Carousell strongly urges them to check and adhere to the reselling terms and conditions laid out by the official channels. 

This comes after fans in the region were significantly upset over controversy surrounding Swift's upcoming six shows that will be played at Singapore's National Stadium after Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin reportedly said at the iBusiness Forum that concert promoter Anschutz Entertainment Group said that the Singapore government offered subsidies of up to US$3 million for each concert.

He also reportedly said that this subsidy was contingent on Swift agreeing not to perform anywhere else in South-east Asia during her iconic Eras tour, according to The Straits Times. 

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