Fans frenzy for Blackpink concert tickets

Hong Hanh, 29, from the northern province of Phu Tho, says tickets for "Born Pink" shows in other countries often sell out within minutes of their release.

"I’ve seen many Southeast Asian and Chinese fans saying they want to come to Vietnam to watch the shows," she tells VnExpress.

"They discuss buying tickets in communities for Blackpink’s fans, and I’m worried that I would not be able to get my hands on the tickets.

Tickets for the concerts have been announced to cost VND1.2-9.8 million (US$51-$414) each. The highest-priced tickets come with several benefits, including exclusive laminates and lanyards, collections of eight photocards especially distributed to Hanoi concert-goers, unique merchandise, and early check-in.

The Korean sensations could officially play Hanoi’s My Dinh National Stadium on July 29 and 30.

Korean girl group Blackpink will perform at Hanoi’s My Dinh National Stadium on July 29 and 30. Photo from Blackpink’s Twitter

Thirty-nine-year-old Hanoian Nguyen Huong is planning to buy tickets for her two primary school-age daughters. She has never bought a concert ticket before, and she is afraid she won’t be able to amid the sky-high demand.

On social media, people are currently selling tickets to the concerts for up to VND25 million (around $1,052). Most people ask buyers to transfer the money before being sent the tickets. Compared to this figure, the highest-priced tickets officially distributed by iMe Vietnam cost VND9.8 million.

An iMe Vietnam representative stated that the organizer does not provide tickets to any "black market" sellers. Tickets are digitally available through the Ticketbox portal only.

"We’ve noticed that many Facebook accounts, including blue-badged verified ones, have posted about fake tickets [for the Blackpink shows]," the iMe Vietnam spokesperson said. "We hope fans in Vietnam patiently wait for official public ticket sales on Ticketbox."

Many K-pop fans have been sharing their experiences with others in a bid to make sure they don’t get scammed.

Huong Lan, 24, of Hanoi, says the most basic requirement to successfully obtain a ticket is to have a stable Internet connection. She suggests people sign up for accounts on the ticket portal using their email addresses instead of mobile phone numbers prior to the start of the public sale, to avoid having to wait for an OTP number, which is required for login, to be sent to their phones.

Longtime K-pop fan Hoang Hue, 30, in Hanoi, agreed to help a relative of hers buy tickets to the shows.

She is confident in her ability to get passes because she’s been able to do so for previously-popular shows in Thailand and Vietnam.

She suggests that people link their ticket portal accounts with their digital wallets to complete their payments this way, which is the fastest of all methods. She said she bought four VIP tickets for K-pop boy group Super Junior’s March concerts in HCMC city this way "within a minute."

Lan adds that ticketing agents are a useful channel, but people should verify their identities before transferring their money to anyone. Based on her experience, trustworthy agents are usually long-established K-pop merchandise resellers.

"However, most of these agents are currently fully booked, and they cannot guarantee tickets for you," she says. "Those who promise to get tickets are likely to be scammers."

According to the 34-year-old Hanoian K-pop fan in Hanoi Bui Ly, ticket agents normally ask for a fee of between VND300,000-500,000 per successful transaction. Those who ask for higher fees are often scammers.

However, because of the high demand, people should be prepared to buy tickets from resellers at prices two to three times higher than the original prices. For example, Ly knows a person who had no other choice but to buy a 5-million-dong ticket to a Bangkok K-pop show last month for VND15 million.

Ly also warns that people should be aware that Blackpink concerts’ tickets are issued as QR codes, and thus, a seller can send one code to multiple people.

"It is recommended to meet the seller in person and ask them to provide their identity documents," she says. "Never transfer money before verifying their identities."

Event portal Ticketbox will begin selling tickets for the shows on July 7.

Blackpink, formed in 2016, include Jisoo, Lisa, Rosé, and Jennie.

The band quickly achieved tremendous success in South Korea before becoming one of the most popular in the world.

Their two studio albums, "The Album" and "Born Pink," achieved massive success internationally, with the latter topping the Billboard 200 and UK Albums Chart, making them the first K-pop girl group to do so.