Are “Sold Out” events really Sold Out, or can I still get tickets?
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You log into Ticketmaster…and you see that it is sold out just a few short minutes after the tickets went on sale. Don’t be discouraged! Tickets for concerts, sporting events, Broadway shows, and other major events are never actually sold out.
Take advantage of the following and you may be able to buy tickets for a sold out event, even after the screen reads – “Tickets no longer available.”
- Single tickets are often left unsold. Even if you can’t get a pair, you can often buy two single tickets that are fairly close, or even piggyback (like seat 1 in Row 17 and seat 1 in Row 18.)
- Large blocks of tickets are held back for friends, family, local radio stations, marketing contests, VIPs, etc. These tickets are released usually 2-3 days prior to the event.
- Handicap seating is held back for every event, and can only be purchased by someone with a qualifying disability (needing a wheelchair, etc.) These seats are released a couple of hours before the event, all the way up to the event actual start time. (Keep in mind you cannot buy directly from Ticketmaster all the way up to event time – so 2 hours prior to the event, the only place tickets may be available is at the box office located on site.)
- Buyers who violate published ticket limits usually have their ticket orders cancelled and released back into the pool. This happens during routine maintenance the day of the ticket sale or Monday for weekend “on sales.”
- If you are just a few minutes into the “on sale” for an event, and you get the “Tickets no longer available” message, you should keep trying. Many inexperienced or indecisive buyers may have beaten you into the system, but had their tickets released back if they failed to complete the purchase in 2 minutes.
Good luck and please continue to send me questions. Feel free to subscribe to my RSS feed or weekly newsletter. Both will provide links to my articles and information about tickets going on sale in the near future. Thanks!
