Ticket Sales

Ticket Sales

How to make sure concert tickets are real
To buy tickets for a concert or sporting event safely online, it is always best practice to purchase your tickets from the official seller of the event or the venue. This is the only way that you can confirm that this is the original price and you are not purchasing fake tickets.

Search for a Company to begin a Claim

Usually, the venue or event websites will have information about the official sellers for their tickets online. Once you have found the names of these sites, then you should find out if they are a member of the Society of Tickets Agents and Retails (also known as STAR). It is also important to check the terms and conditions of the websites to find out what the procedure is if something goes wrong as some ticketing companies might refund you if the event is cancelled or the tickets do not arrive.

What to look out for
There are many safe websites to buy concert tickets, but it is important that you take into account some factors before buying. For instance, you should not buy tickets from a website if the ticketing company is offering concert tickets or tickets for a sporting event which are not officially on sale. Also, if you cannot see ‘https’ at the beginning of the URL of the website, then your payment might not be safe. If the company from which you are buying tickets from only have a PO Box address and a mobile number, then it is best to avoid them as they may be difficult to contact.

There are even things to look out for also if you are purchasing tickets from an official seller. You should check if there are any additional costs like transaction fees and delivery charges and if there is an opportunity to sign up for any pre-sale of the tickets. As well as this it is important to check if you will need to show ID to get into the event. It could be the case that the event or concert will not allow you to resell your tickets, so it is always important to check the details first before purchasing.

Buying from third party ticket sites
Usually, the concert or event will have secondary ticket sites which partner up with them to resell tickets purchased from official sellers. Major sporting events and some music concerts will usually have their own rules and procedures for reselling tickets.

When searching for ticketing companies to buy from it might be the case that third party and secondary ticket sites appear before the official ones in the search engines. This is why it is important to check the website of the artist or event to confirm who the official sellers are.

The resale sites should tell you the full details of the tickets you are buying, whether they are seated or standing and whether they have a restricted view. They should also state the face value ticket prices as well as the total price that you will have to pay for the overall purchase.

As well as this, there should be information on the site if the ticket seller is connected to the event or concert, as they could be an official partner. It is always good practice to make a note of any reference numbers for your tickets which are on the reselling website. This is because you can check them against the original seller if you are unsure where exactly you will be seated.

If the ticket seller has caused you problems, then you should report them to Trading Standards. This could be because they have given you misleading or incorrect information, for example, selling you an under 18 ticket when you paid for a full price adult one.

Other instances which you should report to trading standards include if the ticket seller has put pressure on you to buy by telling you that there are limited remaining or put a restriction on reselling tickets in small print. As previously stated, it is also essential to check for unique reference numbers, and if there are not any on your tickets, then you can report this to trading standards.

What you need to be aware of when using a resold ticket
It is important to note the following factors if you are using a resold ticket.

• The first and main issue is that you may be refused entry if your name is not on the ticket. This is why it is always important to check with the venue beforehand.
• It could be that you have bought fake tickets or have an invalid ticket so could be refused entry.
• If the event or concert is cancelled or postponed, then you may not have the right to a refund, particularly if the ticket has been resold many times.

Buying from a private ticket seller
If you have purchased your tickets from someone through social media, or some kind of auction site this means that you will have little protection if the tickets are not what you expected or you do not receive them.

If you do choose to do this, it is best to meet the seller face to face before paying them as well as meeting them in a public place with someone else with you. Another thing to note is not to be tempted to buy from touts outside the venue as these tickets could be fake.

Paying for the tickets
When purchasing the tickets, you should do this online with a credit card or debit card. If you pay using your card and there is a problem with the tickets, then you should be able to get your money back through a chargeback. If you are using a reselling site and you are asked to pay by bank transfer, then you should not go ahead with the payment as this could be a scam.