Ticketmaster to Ed Sheeran Fans: Better Not Buy Tickets As a Gift

If you’re one of the lucky few to get through and purchase tickets to see Ed Sheeran’s UK tour, you’d better not plan on buying any as a gift. Several outlets in the UK are reporting warnings from Ticketmaster in Ireland about harsh restrictions on transfer.

“Ticketmaster has warned Ed Sheeran fans they shouldn’t buy tickets to his upcoming gigs as gifts unless they will also be attending the concert,” opens a piece in the Belfast Telegraph. Tickets for Sheeran’s shows in Belfast, Dublin, Cork and Galway are up sale this weekend.

At the insistence of the singer’s management, fans attending his concerts must present their ticket, a valid ID, and the credit card tickets were purchased on. In an effort to strangle the secondary market, where Sheeran tickets for his U.S. tour are very hot at the moment, ticket purchasers have essentially no rights once they’ve dropped their money, and better bring lots of proof.

“Ed and his team have a strict stance against anyone using secondary ticketing websites for profit,” a spokesman said. “On this tour, any tickets that are resold will not be valid – this means no profit to touts and no one getting ripped off.”

One wonders how many poor parents will need to go stand in long entry lines for these shows to swipe their children through to see the concert, paying for parking and taking large chunks of their day on behalf of youngsters who don’t have credit cards of their own, all in the name of battling the secondary market.

For Ed Sheeran fans stateside, several upcoming dates are available for purchase at TicketClub.com