England Wins Start eBay Ticket Scrum

The two seemingly unlikely wins that took the England rugby team to an October 20 World Cup Final against South Africa caused a ticket scrum on eBay, with some seats attracting bids of six times face value.

By the time Viagogo chief Eric Baker appeared on BBC 1 Breakfast News on October 15th to predict a record secondary market price hike that would be higher than that of Led Zeppelin at The O2, tickets with a face value of £225 were already changing hands for as much as £1,400.

One seller based in France was asking £2,050 for a pair of tickets that could only be picked up outside the stadium on the event day.

Earlier in the competition, after South Africa had beaten the team in the group stage, many England fans would likely have let their tickets go for considerably less than face value.

It’s events like the four-yearly rugby spectacular that make "con artists come out of the woodwork," Baker told BBC viewers.

He advised England fans – who he described as being the "most passionate" – to avoid "buying off the street," and warned them to beware of the ticket sites that aren’t backed by a good reputation and trading record.