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SEVENTEEN’s CARAT LAND fan meeting shockingly sees empty seats on day 1 despite sold-out status; here’s why
SEVENTEEN’s highly anticipated fan meeting was declared sold out, yet many empty seats at the venue left fans and netizens puzzled. Read to know why!
SEVENTEEN’s much-awaited annual fan meeting, SEVENTEEN in CARAT LAND, was held at Incheon Munhak Main Stadium on March 20. The event was particularly special for fans, as it marked the participation of all active members, including Jun, who has been spending significant time in China due to his solo activities.
Given the group's immense popularity, tickets for the event were expected to be in high demand and as expected, Pledis Entertainment announced that all tickets were sold out during the fan club pre-sale, leaving none available for general sales.
However, despite the sold-out status, attendees were shocked to find numerous empty seats throughout the venue, including highly sought-after spots near the stage. This unexpected sight led to widespread discussions among fans and netizens, sparking concerns about ticket scalping and manipulation of the ticketing system.
While it is common for a few seats to remain empty due to last-minute cancellations or no-shows, the sheer number of unoccupied seats at SEVENTEEN in CARAT LAND raised red flags. One netizen, who had struggled to obtain a ticket, took to social media to expose a troubling issue with the ticketing system.
In a viral post, the user shared screenshots of the ticketing website, showing that seats suddenly became available for purchase on the day of the event, despite having been completely booked during pre-sales. This discovery led to speculation that a major number of tickets had been hoarded by resellers, who only released them at the last possible moment when they failed to sell them at inflated prices.
South Korea’s ticketing platforms allow buyers to refund tickets by a specific deadline to receive a full refund, with partial refunds available after that period. While this policy is designed to offer flexibility for genuine fans who may need to cancel, it is frequently exploited by scalpers who purchase large quantities of tickets, list them for exorbitant prices, and return them at the last minute if they do not sell.
This means that by the time the tickets are re-released, many fans who genuinely want to attend have already given up or made alternative plans. Furthermore, these tickets often don’t appear in official resale sections in time for fans to repurchase them, leading to the frustrating situation of a “sold-out” event with hundreds of empty seats.
The SEVENTEEN in CARAT LAND controversy has reignited concerns about the growing issue of ticket scalping in K-pop. While South Korea has implemented various measures, including fan club pre-sales and identity verification systems, to prevent scalpers from exploiting ticket sales, the problem persists. Fans have long voiced their frustrations over how resellers continue to manipulate the system, making it increasingly difficult for real fans to secure tickets at fair prices.
In response to this incident, many fans are calling for stricter regulations on ticket reselling and better tracking systems to ensure that tickets go directly to fans rather than resellers. Some netizens have even suggested that concert organizers monitor ticket sales more closely and penalize those who repeatedly engage in scalping practices.
Since SEVENTEEN in CARAT LAND is a two-day event, the fan meeting will also take place again today, March 21, as per the official announcement by Pledis Entertainment. With the issue of numerous empty seats at the venue during the first day of the event, all eyes are now on today’s fan meeting to see if a similar situation will happen.
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