Dota 2: Tickets to The International 11 in Singapore scalped for ridiculous prices
If you didn't manage to get a ticket to Dota 2's biggest annual event, The International 11 taking place in Singapore, the bad news is that tickets are probably sold out.
That said, scalpers on Singapore-based online marketplace Carousell are already selling them with absurdly marked up prices.
Finals Weekend tickets, which takes place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, are being sold for as much as S$9,999 for a pair, almost ten times the price of the actual value, S$996.
However, the sale of such tickets are against the rules laid out by the event venue owners, in this case SportsHub Pte Ltd. Tickets are not allowed to be transferred, resold, or offered for resale at a premium.
SportsHub told Yahoo Esports SEA that it was a ticketing issue, and referred us to a statement from Ticketmaster Singapore, who pointed out that they had systems in place to prevent scalpers from bulk purchasing tickets, as well as purchasing limits.
"We urge fans to buy tickets from authorized ticket agents, in this case Ticketmaster. The inherent risk of purchasing unverified tickets is that the venue cannot guarantee the validity of tickets sold through unauthorised third parties as there are some instances where tickets are falsified or duplicated and resold multiple times," the statement read.
One scalper in particular, managed to get 60 tickets, and and was selling them at S$1,000 each. Other resellers are a bit more conservative, only asking for twice the price at around S$2,000. However, playoff tickets don't appear to be as scalped, probably due to the lower value.
A quick search for the S$88 Playoffs tickets showed only a few entries, but with a higher asking price of around more than three times the value at S$350.
One Singapore-based fan, Gene Hyun, told Yahoo Esports SEA he had queued about "30 minutes in advance" and was not even able to get the verification code.
"I think the scalpers scored another win in their books with the actual Dota fans losing out once again. For the folks keeping score at home it's scalpers 6,499,652 to Dota fans 0," said Hyun.
Aloysius Low is an ex-CNET editor with more than 15 years of experience. He's really into cats and is currently reviewing products at canbuyornot.com
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