The Festival d’été de Québec sold out less than two hours after the full program for its 55th edition was announced. While some pay astronomical sums to snag tickets, others line their pockets. This is the case with resellers.
• Also read: Festival d’été de Québec 2023 program: Imagine Dragons, Green Day, Foo Fighters and more in the Plains
• Also read: Record sales of passports: no anomaly, the summer festival takes care of that
• Also read: Here are the 10 concerts you shouldn’t miss at the Festival d’été de Québec
There was also a discussion on QUB radio at the microphone by Sophie Durocher. It’s a fast growing phenomenon. Despite several measures to avoid bulk purchases, individuals still manage to get their hands on more than a dozen passes. The goal, of course, is to resell them or, even better, rent them out at a price higher than the selling price. That is exactly what Mathieu* does.
“I’m not interested in flipping them at twice the price. I prefer to be patient, pay the rent and maybe get four times the price,” he explained.
At the Desjardins pre-sale of FEQ 2023, held on Tuesday, Mathieu was able to purchase 11 general admission wristbands for the entire event. It cost him $129 apiece. He teamed up with other people to complete his inventory. The next day, three more tickets were purchased for $140. He is now in possession of a total of 14 passports. He confessed that he wanted to buy four more but couldn’t.
“Even I got screwed yesterday. I can usually buy something the day after the program releases, but it was all sold in less than two hours,” he testified.
Do the math, fourteen passes purchased for $1839 including taxes have the potential to yield around $7356, a profit of over $5500. And that in just 11 days!
*Identity has been withheld for confidentiality reasons