The official channels show that the Phoenix Legend's "Auspicious and Wishful" 2024 tour concert in Hohhot is out of stock, but the Ferris Wheel ticketing has all the tiers available, with the 1380 yuan in-field tier tickets already resold for 6600 yuan.

Such phenomena have become common during the peak concert season. Beijing Business Daily reporters received feedback from several consumers who, after purchasing tickets at a high premium from merchants on the Ferris Wheel ticketing platform, encountered slow ticket issuance, difficulty in refunds, and high service fees. Some consumers even said, "I thought it was a legitimate business, but it turned out to be a scalper in disguise."

The reporter found during the investigation that there are currently dedicated agents who can provide users with "Ferris Wheel platform merchant qualification agency" services, with the other party stating: "You can complete the agency for 7500 yuan, with a 100% audit success rate."

Consumers: Buying tickets at a high premium leads to difficulties in rights protection.

"Helpless and frustrated!" Consumer Chen Yu told the Beijing Business Daily reporter, "I chose the platform because I was afraid of paying a high price and being scammed by scalpers, but I didn't expect to get involved in so many issues."

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According to Chen Yu's introduction, the Eason Chan concert ticket he ordered on the Ferris Wheel ticketing was announced to be postponed. "My friend bought the ticket from the official channel, not only can they get a full refund, but they also enjoyed the compensation for travel and accommodation provided by the organizer. I didn't get the corresponding compensation, and if I want to refund, the platform service fee I paid extra at that time is not refunded to me. If they are all legitimate channels, why treat consumers differently?" Chen Yu said.

Another consumer, Li Yuan, who has not received the concert ticket for a long time, told the Beijing Business Daily reporter that she placed an order on the Ferris Wheel ticketing, and the order was taken by Shijiazhuang Yongxing Culture Media Co., Ltd. The reporter found that the company was established in 2018, mainly engaged in the broadcasting, television, film, and recording industry, but was canceled in 2022.

It is worth noting that according to Tianyancha, the associated company of the Ferris Wheel ticketing, Shanghai Juqi Network Technology Co., Ltd., was fined more than 210,000 yuan by the Shenzhen Longgang District Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism, and Sports Bureau for violating the "Regulations on the Implementation of the Business Performance Management Regulations". The penalty reason shows that in the case of the "Business Performance License" of the Shenzhen-based cultural communication company's merchants expiring, it still allowed it to operate ticketing on the ticketing platform for a long time.

Agency: Certification can be passed with payment after review.

On August 7, the Beijing Business Daily reporter logged into the Ferris Wheel ticketing App and noticed that at this stage, many popular concerts, which are sold out on the official ticket sales channels, are all available in stock on the Ferris Wheel ticketing. Li Ming, a scalper who has been in the industry for many years, said, "The audience is afraid of fake tickets, and we are also afraid of the audience's regret and running orders, so the secondary ticketing platform is actually a guarantee for our business, but the key to the platform is to solve the problem of the company's qualifications."Audiences purchase tickets through the app called "Ferris Wheel Ticketing," while merchants sell tickets primarily through another app owned by the associated company of Ferris Wheel Ticketing, Shanghai Juqi Network Technology Co., Ltd., known as "Seller's Treasure." According to the introduction of the app on Tianyancha, it is described as a "Ferris Wheel Merchant Ticket Management Software."

Beijing Business Daily reporters, upon actually experiencing the registration process, noticed that during the actual registration for Seller's Treasure, the platform requires the upload of personal and corporate information, which includes legal representative and business license, business performance license, and other materials.

A Beijing Business Daily reporter contacted an agent who assists in handling the merchant qualifications for Seller's Treasure. The agent stated that for 7,500 yuan, they can handle the merchant qualifications for two years, covering the entire process from account registration to passing the review. "We guarantee that once you receive the account, you can directly post links to start selling tickets. We open links on e-commerce platforms. If you don't get the account, just don't confirm receipt. We won't charge if it doesn't pass the review."

An agent who sells for 8,000 yuan stated that the account can be activated within 3-4 weeks. Judging from the account information of this agent on the second-hand trading platform, in addition to assisting with the merchant qualifications for Seller's Treasure, the agent is also involved in the business of "scalping tickets."

When the Beijing Business Daily reporter inquired about whether tickets from unofficial public sales channels such as "invitation letters" and "information entry" can be sold normally on the platform, the agent gave an affirmative response: "The process is the same as for normal tickets, as long as there are corresponding vouchers such as information uploads, they can be sold like normal tickets."

Lawyer: The platform has an obligation to verify qualifications.

In September 2023, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Ministry of Public Security jointly issued the "Notice on Further Strengthening the Standardized Management of Large-scale Business Performances to Promote the Healthy and Orderly Development of the Performance Market." The notice clearly states: to further increase the proportion of ticket sales for large-scale performances, the number of tickets sold to the public by the event organizers must not be less than 85% of the approved audience number. For the remaining 15% of tickets, personal information binding should be carried out 24 hours before the performance to achieve "real-name binding, real-name entry."

However, in reality, internal tickets and "scalped tickets" that rely on various technical software have encroached on a significant number of ticket sources. It is true that merchants have the responsibility to ensure that "all materials and qualifications are legal and compliant documents, with no acts of theft or forgery." However, the user agreement of Ferris Wheel Ticketing also has clear provisions regarding the verification of merchant qualifications.

The "Seller's Treasure Service Agreement" indicates that during the registration or activation process, Party B (the merchant) should provide Party B's information accurately according to legal requirements and the prompts on the corresponding page, and update it promptly when the information changes to ensure the authenticity, timeliness, completeness, and accuracy of the information submitted by Party B. If there is reasonable doubt about the accuracy, truthfulness, timeliness, or completeness of the information provided by Party B, Party A (the platform operator) has the right to issue inquiries or correction notices to Party B, and has the right to directly delete the corresponding information, until it suspends or terminates the provision of some or all of Party A's platform services to Party B.

A person in charge of Ferris Wheel Ticketing also stated to the Beijing Business Daily reporter that Ferris Wheel requires merchants on the platform to have business licenses, performance operation permits, and other operational qualifications. Consumers can view the name of the ticket provider and the verification entrance of the merchant qualification certification before the transaction to ensure the legality of the merchant's qualifications. Through the admission threshold for merchants and the platform's guarantee mechanism, efforts are made to ensure that transactions are regular and legal.The "E-commerce Law" stipulates that operators of e-commerce platforms should require businesses applying to sell goods or provide services on the platform to submit their identity, address, contact information, administrative licenses, and other truthful information for verification, registration, and the establishment of registration files, with regular updates. Zhao Hu, a lawyer from Zhongwen Law Firm in Beijing, pointed out that ticketing platforms, as third-party platforms providing transaction services, have a duty to audit the qualifications of merchants when they join, which is also the platform's responsibility for consumer rights protection. Zhao Hu further discussed that acting on behalf of or through the platform's qualification audit, if it involves providing false information to deceive the platform into passing the audit, could very likely constitute illegal operation or other illegal acts. In addition, if the agency behavior itself is for profit, and without legal authorization such as equity transfer or in violation of legal regulations, it may also constitute illegal operation.