Museum free reservation tickets are being snatched at a high price?, The difficulty of booking increases sharply. Tickets | Platforms | Museums

Despite offering free tickets, it is now necessary to increase the price and even when visiting a museum, one needs to find a proxy to grab them. As summer approaches, many tourists find it difficult to book popular museums. A recent investigation by a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily found that free admission tickets that cannot be obtained through official channels can be purchased on some third-party platforms. Museum staff have reminded that booking tickets snatched by third-party platforms cannot guarantee authenticity and validity. They hope that tourists can be vigilant and avoid being deceived.

National Expo reservations are fully booked

The "Ticket Package" on third-party platforms is selling well

Before the Dragon Boat Festival, in order to check in at the National Museum, Beijing Youth Daily reporters joined the ticket grabbing army. According to the information released on the official WeChat official account of the National Museum, there are only four channels for visiting appointments: the "National Museum" official account, the "National Museum" WeChat applet, the China National Museum App and the "National Museum" official website on the PC side. The official account is provided by Ctrip, and the audience information is only used for reservation service.

After logging into the National Expo App, the Beijing Youth Daily reporter found that all the tickets for the past week have been sold out. Following the guide provided by netizens, I repeatedly refreshed it and soon there were indeed tickets available. The reporter from Beiqing Daily quickly filled in personal information, clicked on submit order, and the security verification popped up on the app page. After completing the verification, the page showed no network connection, and after verifying again, it showed that the reservation was full. The Beijing Youth Daily reporter switched networks and repeatedly refreshed and tried again several times, but the appointment still failed.

Many netizens have also experienced the same experience on social media platforms. Some netizens have expressed that every time the verification is completed at the end, the page will display an unnamed amount, and they have been engrossed in it all morning without success.

The Beijing Youth Daily reporter attempted to search for "tickets to the National Museum of China" on multiple third-party platforms and found that only Ctrip can make free reservations and indicate "official", but all of them are fully booked. Other platforms also have merchants providing snatching services.

When choosing an order date, prices may vary for different dates, with relatively cheaper prices on weekdays and higher prices on weekends or holidays. Specifically, on weekdays, the ticket prices for the National Expo on various platforms are generally between 45 and 80 yuan. On weekends, the ticket prices for the National Expo have generally increased, with a price range of 80 to 109 yuan. The store with the highest sales has sold over 700 units.

The Beijing Youth Daily reporter noticed that merchants are also very cautious about selling and grabbing national museum tickets on third-party platforms. They usually indicate "electronic tour+ticket reservation" or "ticket package", which includes free tickets and electronic explanations.

The Beijing Youth Daily reporter noticed that in addition to the National Museum, other popular museums such as the Palace Museum, Hunan Provincial Museum, and Shaanxi History Museum also engage in ticket grabbing.

On third-party platforms, the ticket booking package prices for the Forbidden City range from 160 yuan to 288 yuan, while the standard ticket price for the Forbidden City is only 60 yuan. The contract prices of Hunan Provincial Museum are mostly between 25 yuan and 60 yuan, and the highest selling merchant has received over 1000 orders; The approximate ticket price for Shaanxi Museum is around 100 yuan.

Appointment for "proxy snatching" may not necessarily be genuine and effective

Purchase tickets and identify official channels

The official channel shows that there are no more tickets available. How did these merchants grab the tickets? A customer service representative of a store on a certain platform that provides proxy buying services stated that it uses cheating and computer technology to grab tickets. "Tickets on different dates have varying levels of tension, so the prices naturally vary."

On June 28th, a reporter from Beiqing Daily called Guobo and the staff stated that Guobo only has a cooperation with Ctrip for free ticket reservations. The legal department of Guobo has also paid attention to these scalper like ticket grabbing businesses in the market and is currently in contact to resolve them. The staff also reminded that Guobo does not guarantee the authenticity and validity of bookings made on third-party platforms, and will not provide any guarantee for the tickets they sell.

The Beijing Youth Daily reporter noticed that the restrictive measures introduced by China International Import Expo last year against ticket reservation breach can also to some extent curb proxy buying behavior.

According to the "Audience Appointment Notice" on the official channel of Guobo, starting from September 1, 2022, if the same account makes multiple appointments within a week and the non fulfillment rate exceeds 50%, the account will be restricted from making appointments for 30 days.

The Notice for Visiting the Palace Museum will officially come into effect today, which clearly states that the Palace Museum has not authorized any third-party organizations or individuals to act as ticket agents. To ensure smooth admission and avoid economic losses, please make sure to book tickets and exhibitions through the official "Palace Museum" mini program.

Expert: Unauthorized channels are not guaranteed

Third party platforms should strengthen supervision

Is it legal and reasonable to publish free museum reservation tickets on third-party platforms for fee collection? The Beijing Youth Daily reporter interviewed Lawyer Zhao Tengfei from Shaanxi Zecheng Law Firm regarding this matter. Lawyer Zhao stated that among the merchants who act as agents for ticket grabbing, behaviors such as plug-in ticket grabbing may be suspected of infiltrating computer information systems, which is a criminal offense. If it is a large-scale self hoarding of tickets and then selling them at a higher price, it is scalping behavior and suspected of illegal operation. If it is fake tickets, it may be suspected of civil fraud, and if the circumstances are serious, it may be suspected of fraud. Network service providers should bear the responsibility for regulatory oversight in allowing these proxy scalpers to sell tickets at high prices.

Pan Helin, Co Director of the Digital Economy and Financial Innovation Research Center at the International Business School of Zhejiang University, stated that it is not recommended for consumers to buy scalper tickets as there may be hidden risks involved. For museums, existing ticketing systems and appointment mechanisms should be improved to technically curb scalpers.

Lawyer Xu Guilin, a partner at Time Nine and Law Firm, pointed out that based on past cases, some consumers who spent money to buy scalper tickets only found out on site that they could not enter the venue normally. Although most merchants would eventually refund their tickets, consumers lost valuable time and visiting opportunities; A few unscrupulous merchants are even unwilling to refund, and consumers may also suffer economic losses. In fact, no museum will provide ticketing support for unauthorized channels. Therefore, he suggests that consumers should book tickets through official channels to avoid risks.