Ticketmaster TicketExchange: Buy Sold Out Tickets directly from Ticketmaster
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Ticketmaster has always been the powerhouse when it comes to Ticket sales directly to the public. Most venues, concerts, and sports teams use Ticketmaster to handle the initial sale of tickets.
Having said that, Ticketmaster has never been a player in the secondary ticket market. Instead, billions of dollars are spent on tickets via eBay, StubHub, and Ticket Brokers.
Times are changing: Ticketmaster now allows fans or Brokers to sell tickets through TicketExchange.
The concept is simple. You go to Ticketmaster and look for tickets at face value. If they are unavailable, you can click on the TicketExchange tab, and see if Tickets are available from other Sellers who have listed them on Ticketmaster for resale. Most events are available, but not all.
Fans and Brokers can set their selling price anywhere they want, and Buyers are able to see the Sections, Rows, and Seats available. Both the Seller and Buyer pay fees that are typical with any ticket transaction (although they vary by event.)
Buyers pay with their major Credit Card and are dealing directly with Ticketmaster, not the Seller. I consider this a major advantage to buying tickets through TicketExchange. Once you have completed payment, your tickets will be shipped either via UPS or e-mail - your choice.
There are other major advantages for using Ticketmaster’s TicketExchange. First, sometimes there are great deals to be found. Like any site where fans list tickets - most tickets are prices accurately, but some are way overpriced and some are underpriced. This can be an excellent opportunity to buy tickets at face value or lower. If you are wondering why fans sometimes price their tickets too low - the answer is usually one of the following: they don’t know what the market value is for the tickets, they don’t want to risk breaking the laws for selling tickets, or they are simply fans wanting to help other fans.
Possibly the largest advantage to buying tickets through TicketExchange is that they are the only tickets on the secondary market that are 100% guaranteed to be authentic. That’s because when you sell your tickets on TicketExchange, you have to provide the barcodes on the original tickets. Ticketmaster verifies their authenticity before placing them for sale. Once purchased, Ticketmaster cancels the original barcodes, and issues new barcodes for your new tickets.
Next time you need tickets for a sold out event, check out Ticketmaster’s TicketExchange: http://www.ticketmaster.com/ticketexchangehome/
One thing that I did not see in this article was the fact that Ticketmaster adds a “Commission” to the tickets on the “Back End & Front End.” Keep up the good work Jessica.
Thanks Carlos - I will make that change. You are correct. Ticketmaster collects 4 seperate fees in one of these transactions. When the tickets originally go on sale, the original Buyer pays a fee and does the artist. So Ticketmaster makes money on both sides. Then if the Buyer resells the tickets - both the Buyer and Seller pay fees again.
You convinced me - I want to be Ticketmaster!