Buying Concert and Event Tickets Online

A google search will yield many complaints and frustrating experiences consumers have had with online concert ticket brokers. That doesn’t mean that you can’t find the tickets you need from a safe merchant with a good reputation. Please take a few minutes to read the brief tips below. You will save time and money. Most importantly, you will know that you will actually get the tickets you ordered at the best possible price.

First of all there are two types of ticket sites online. A broker site is a ticket broker who usually has a limited number of tickets for events in their local area. The second type of event ticket site is a broker collective site. By broker collective, I mean a site that has tickets listed from multiple sources. Of the two I recommend a broker collective. They will definitely have a larger ticket selection and generally lower prices. Most single brokers are a member of one or more ticket exchanges. So you will save some time as well.

Second you want to make sure you are buying from a ticket site that has a good reputation. This is fairly simple. First of all go to the BBB and do a search for the business. If the ticket site is not a member or has many complaints find another ticket site. I'd also recommend a google search. Again if you find many complaints on google find another site. Your Official Tickets and many other sites are safe. Just take a few minutes and follow the steps above before you buy.

The last thing to do is to compare ticket prices among the sites. Some sites offer a discount code. Most have a service fee that is not added to the price until you get to the checkout page. You are going to have to pay a service fee and a shipping fee no matter what site you choose. If the ticket service fee is higher than 15% look for another ticket site. You can find them cheaper. Shipping is generally $15 via FedEx.

So now that you've found a safe site with the tickets you want, when should you buy? It depends upon the event. In general though, ASAP. For popular events such as Wicked and NFL tickets, the longer you wait, the more you will end up paying. For most sold out events or VIP tickets, buying tickets 3-4 weeks before the event is fine.

If you've already ordered tickets, here's a good article. It explains how most event tickets orders are processed

Hope this helps. Good luck shopping for tickets online and enjoy the show.