'I literally can't believe it,' says B.C. Swiftie as she scores coveted Vancouver tickets
Taylor Swift set to play 3 shows at B.C. Place on Dec. 6, 7 and 8 next year
Micky Harris is in her astonishment era.
The North Vancouver, B.C., resident beat out millions of prospective fans Thursday, securing four tickets to Taylor Swift's 2024 Vancouver tour dates.
"The fact I'm going to be on the floor for Taylor Swift," said Harris — who snagged seats for herself, her fiancé and future sister-in-law at a rate of roughly $600 per person — "I literally can't believe it."
Like many Swifties, the 26-year-old's approach bordered on militaristic.
She tells CBC she conscripted a network of nearly 40 people, including friends, family and co-workers, to register for the presale lottery, which gave winners access to the sale.
Up until the moment of the tickets' confirmation, Harris described the process as "very intense" as she sat at home with her computer.
Harris, who says she's been "obsessed'' with Swift since she released her first album in 2006, plans to play her music at her wedding next month.
She says her fiancé is also a big Swift fan.
"She's become a cultural moment," said Harris, comparing Taylor Swift to The Beatles and Elvis Presley.
"Years from now, you want to be able to tell your kids, your grandkids you were there."
'We've had zero luck'
But while Harris's campaign was successful, she acknowledges the process could be "devastating" with tickets snapped up in "minutes."
Harris and others interviewed by CBC say the approach of Ticketmaster and parent company Live Nation Entertainment feels "unfair," citing issues around transparency and protections against third-part re-sellers.
Within an hour, tickets from today's staggered sales appeared on secondary resellers like Stubhub, with floor seats being sold for more than $2,600.
Last November, the companies faced scrutiny after 3.5 million people registered for a Taylor Swift concert pre-sale, causing Ticketmaster's site to crash when the sale went live.
The fiasco sparked interest from the U.S. Senate, and saw the company's president apologizing to fans and Swift herself.
Similar issues were more recently reported during the 2023 U.K. and French sales of the Eras Tour.
CBC contacted Ticketmaster for comment but did not hear back before deadline.
The company's website says ticket sales for the three shows are being staggered at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. PT, and sold on a "first come, first served" basis.
"It's so frustrating," said Langley, B.C., mom Shae Harding, who tried unsuccessfully to get tickets. "We have tried for Seattle, we tried for Toronto and now Vancouver and we've had zero luck."
Harding says she and her children, Cadence and Chloe, tried to "manifest" victory in the presale code lottery by reciting mantras to their idol and burning candles.
"I want to take them and so it's a little disheartening that we can't even get a code to even try to get tickets."
TikToker Kat Ferrari tells CBC that Ticketmaster's system is "flawed," with many frustrated about the company's opaque practices.
The Austin, TX, resident posts tips for how to navigate the company's Verified Resale, including advice around pricing and on-sale times, as well as how to avoid potential pitfalls such as payment errors.
"Ticketmaster has no motivation to improve these systems and make them more fan-friendly," she said, later suggesting the U.S. Department of Justice should re-examine Live Nation's merger with Ticketmaster.
"We need a systematic change to make these sales more affordable ... and I don't know if we're going to get that when Ticketmaster is the essentially sole ticketing company for live entertainment," she said.
She says things like improved website protections could prevent third-party re-sellers from accessing sales, but would require large investment from the company.
Ticket sales platform encourages re-sales: professor
University of Victoria economic professor Pascal Courty says Ticketmaster's current approach encourages people to re-sell tickets at higher prices.
"Because a fairly large profit can be earned from re-selling these tickets — and because there is a sense of scarcity — one way that people deal with it is by opening multiple accounts," he said, adding the tactic is often used by re-sellers.
Courty says a more equitable approach would be non-transferrable tickets that could be returned to Ticketmaster for refunds if people decide not to attend an event, though that comes with limitations.
"It imposes liability because now you have a log of names, and you have privacy issues because some people don't want to have their names stored somewhere."
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With files from Renee Filippone and The Canadian Press