Oasis ticket reseller U-turns on costly booking fee following criticism of the ‘ethical’ brand

The ethical seller has now capped its booking fee at £25, depending on the original ticket price

Oasis ticket reseller Twickets has U-turned on its usual booking fees after fans hit out at charges of more than £100 for the band’s reunion shows next summer.

The ethical reseller was criticised for its sky-high fees, with one fan page noting that they would be charged a booking fee of £138.74 for two tickets that were being sold for £488.25 each.

The secondary market rush came after Ticketmaster was criticised for its dynamic pricing model, which saw fans kicked out of a thousands-long queue as they vied to see the Gallagher brothers together for the first time since 2009.

Following a report by The Independent, Richard Davies, the founder of Twickets, said it would be introducing a £25 per ticket fee cap for the shows to ensure the website “remains hugely competitive against the secondary market”.

“Due to the exceptional demand for the Oasis tour in 2025, Twickets have taken the decision to lower our booking fee to 10 per cent plus a 1 percent transactional fee (to cover bank charges) for all buyers of their tickets on our platform,” he said.

“In addition we have introduced a fee cap of £25 per ticket for these shows. Sellers of tickets already sell free of any Twickets charge.

“This ensures that Twickets remains hugely competitive against the secondary market, including sites such as Viagogo, Gigsberg and StubHub.”

There was huge excitement at the announcement last week, but the mood has turned sour over ticketing problems (PA)

The reversal came today after fans hit out at the pricey booking fee. Twickets is a fan-to-fan ticket resale platform that advertises itself as an “ethical” way for tickets to be resold at no more than face value.

However, the website does have a booking fee of at least 10 per cent of a ticket’s price.

“You can trade tickets securely through our service, with payment and delivery all agreed up front,” Twickets explains. “Sellers sell for free, and buyers pay a standard booking fee of 10-15 per cent of the sold-for ticket price.”

£138.74 Twickets Fee 😳 https://t.co/NSDsDw4ics pic.twitter.com/f5siAbTCy1

— Mainly Oasis (@mainlyoasis) September 1, 2024

Reacting to the fee before the website took action, one Twitter/X user wrote: “So essentially both TM and Twickets making a fortune. Leaving a real bad taste all this when we should be buzzing.”

“I get they need to make a profit, but that [is] ludicrous. Is that real?” questioned a second.

Another X user questioned what the fee was for, writing: “What’s the fee actually for? You’re not paying your staff that much; nor does a first-class stamp cost £138.74 either.”

There has been unprecedented demand for the Oasis reunion gigs, and that’s seen ticket values, driven by dynamic pricing soar (PA)

The complaints come after Oasis said on their official X account that in a bid to prevent touts, tickets for the reunion could only be sold at face value through Ticketmaster and Twickets.

But despite some fans taking issue with the fee, dozens of other music fans jumped to Twickets’ defence and said they are not the problem.

“This is attacking the wrong people,” wrote one X user. “Twickets does a great job going up against the likes of StubHub. The issue here is the ridiculous face-value price. The percentage is the same.”

A second agreed, adding: “The thing is, the fee is set as a percentage of the cost of the tickets across the board.

“So if you sell a £40 ticket, the fee is only gonna be a couple of quid. Hard to begrudge them that. I don’t blame Twickets in this instance.”

Tickets for the Oasis reunion were sold at an initial price of £148.50 for standard standing, but this increased to £355.20 on Ticketmaster because of demand.

A representative for Ticketmaster told The Independent: “All ticket prices, including Platinum, In Demand, and VIP, are set by the tour.”