The Financial Times reports today that the pop star Madonna is “endorsing the sell-on of concert tickets, condemned by some concert promoters as scalping or touting, by making two leading companies in the secondary ticket market official partners for her forthcoming Sticky & Sweet tour of North America and Europe…..Secondary ticketing companies enable the public to trade their tickets online with customers who are prepared to pay above their face value. The company takes a cut of about 10 to 15 per cent.”

What do you think of secondary markets for tickets to sports events and live concerts? There are all sorts of arguments on both sides and secondary ticket agencies tend to have a rather dire reputation; images of shady touts patrolling venues looking for buyers immediately spring to mind. But if you have bought a ticket to an event weeks or months in advance and then find your circumstances have changed, why shouldn’t you have the option of using a legal secondary market?