Didn’t manage to get tickets to see the artist you really wanted to see? We’ve all been there, and we’ve all spent hours searching the internet trying to find some reasonably priced tickets which are legitimate. But how do you avoid getting scammed when buying tickets? The next time you want to buy tickets remember these helpful tips.
Look for secondary ticketing sites linked to popular primary sites
Lots of secondary ticketing sites are actually linked to the main ticket sites such as Ticketmaster. For example, GET ME IN! is a Ticketmaster site, so although you may have to spend more money on a ticket, you have a guarantee that the ticket you are purchasing is real and you are not the victim of a scam.
Look for indicators on the website
There are lots of small signs on the website that you can look for when buying tickets, to make sure you don’t get scammed. A legitimate ticketing site will always have a VAT number, usually found at the bottom of the page. For further security, if you are unsure about a certain website then you can look them up on something called Companies House, which is a government-run website.
Avoid buying from certain sites
As tempting as that ticket and deal might be on Ebay or Twitter, unless you are willing to take an extremely big gamble, don’t buy from there. If you buy a ticket from somewhere like Ebay, Gumtree, Twitter, Facebook etc, then there is very little protection and you might not receive your tickets OR a refund.
Keep checking back
A lot of the time, even if a show is sold out initially, authorised sellers will release more tickets during the lead up to the event all the way up until the day of the event. So, it is really worth checking back on the authorised sites.
Contact the venue
Before looking at paying over the odds on secondary sites, contact the venue and see if they have any tickets they can sell. A lot of people don’t know that when tickets go on sale the venue get given a certain amount to sell, either via their box office or on their website.
Avoid ticket sellers outside the venue
This is one of the easiest ways for ticket sellers to scam a desperate customer. They know that people go to the venue on the day in hope of tickets, and out of desperation sometimes are willing to pay anything. Typically, ticket sellers outside the venue will charge up to double face value as their starting price for a ticket, so try to avoid buying from them!
To summarise, unless a site has verification or is authorised, stay clear from buying tickets off that site. Always go back and check the authorised sites and the venues websites.
And with festival and concert season fast approaching, there’s only one thing left to say. Good luck getting tickets everyone!