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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/  

Don’t be surprised if you are unable to buy tickets for an upcoming concert because you don’t live close enough to the venue.  The Hannah Montana craze of 2007 has prompted Ticketmaster, as well as other ticket distributors to change some of the requirements for buying event tickets.

In an effort to stop Ticket Brokers from buying tickets, some events will now require the buyer to live within a certain geographic region to buy tickets.  At first, this sounds like a great plan.  If only people who live within 100 miles of Philadelphia can buy tickets for a show in Philadelphia - most Brokers around the country would be exempt and more tickets would go to fans.  Sounds great!

Unfortunately, these rules will have little to no impact on Brokers and will actually hurt many fans!

Here are three simple examples of how fans will be punished with these new rules:

1. You live 120 miles from Philadelphia.  There is no venue closer to your home.  You don’t mind a 2 hour drive to see your favorite artist.  You might even get a room and make it a weekend.  You would not be allowed to buy tickets.
2. You live in Miami and want to attend a football game while in San Francisco on vacation later this year.  You would not be allowed to buy tickets. 
3. Your grandson lives in Detroit and you live in Atlanta.  As a gift, you want to buy your grandson tickets for an event.  You would not be allowed to buy tickets.

These three situations are very common, and the new rules for many events are preventing these fans from buying tickets.

The reason these new rules have little impact on Brokers is because they already know what I am about to teach you.  These residency requirements are based on your credit card billing address.

 If you are interested in buying tickets for an event that has residency requirements, consider the following:

• Locate any major business in the area where the event will take place.  Change your billing address on your credit card to that new address a few days before the tickets go on sale.  Select e-tickets (Ticketfast Tickets) so that your tickets will be emailed to you.  Usually the tickets are emailed within a few hours.  Call your credit card issuer once you have the tickets, and change your address back.  This is by far the easiest way to complete the transaction.  Just make sure that e-tickets available for your event, and that your credit card billing cycle does not end while you have the address incorrect in the system.  You don’t want you bill being mailed to Wal-Mart 2000 miles away!
• Other easy ways include changing your billing information to that of a friend or family member who lives in the correct geographic region or opening a post office box in the specific region of the event.

I know it seems like a lot of work - but isn’t it easier and cheaper than paying a Broker 5x face value for the same tickets?

One other tip - Ticketmaster may let your order go even though your zip code is not within the correct region.  Beware - your order will likely be cancelled prior to sending your tickets to you.  Once you have received your tickets (via email or snail mail) you are safe.  Ticketmaster won’t go back and re-verify your address once tickets are sent.

 Good Luck!

If you are wondering why tickets sold out in 5 minutes for your favorite artist, it is likely that many tickets were sold during a “presale.”  It’s true! While you click on the tiny button waiting for Ticketmaster to return anything - even a pair in nosebleeds - die hard fans and Ticket Brokers are relaxing at the beach. 

They bought their tickets yesterday.

Next time you want a hot ticket, consider the following:

• Most big sellout concerts offer some type of presale.  The artists try to make it sound like it is all about letting fans get access first, but that is hardly the case.  Most concert presales are open to buyers in two distinct groups.  First, members of the artist’s fan club – usually at a cost of $19 - $49 annually.  The second group includes buyers who have bought a specific product like Pepsi or customers who have an America Express Card.  Either way, fans who are in these groups are often emailed a password that allows them to buy tickets anywhere from an hour to a few days before the general public.  A recent example would be Hannah Montana.  Fan club members had access to a presale for this massive sellout.

• Sports teams often have presales as well.  These presales are usually open to fans that are on the waiting list for season tickets.  Most professional sports teams collect some type of deposit (usually $100 per seat.) This is a free loan for the team, and in theory rewards the fans that are most loyal - people who are waiting to invest $1000’s a year for tickets.  As with concerts, fans that are on the list, get a password for the presale.  A recent example would be the New England Patriots.  Anyone on the waiting list could buy 5 game packages prior to the general public long before the average fan even knew tickets were on sale.

Possible disadvantages to Presale Passwords:

• Presale passwords do not guarantee you tickets.  Most concerts only sell 20-30% of the tickets for an event through a presale.  So being a card member, drinking Pepsi, and subscribing to Hannah’s weekly advice via newsletter may not get you a seat.  If you don’t get seats for some reason (presale allotment sells out) then a refund is usually given when requested.

• Presale passwords usually limit the seating locations available for purchase.  For example, in a concert scenario, it may only allow you to buy Rows 11-20 on the floor and upper level seats.  In the case of the Patriots, presale buyers could only buy SRO (Standing Room Only Tickets.)  Who would want to stand at a Pats game? $50 SRO tickets for the upcoming Steelers at Patriots game have a market value of $400-$500 a pair. 

A few last words of advice on buying tickets through a Presale:

• Always sign up for free information on your favorite artists, teams, venues, and events through both Ticketmaster and the artist / team website.

• Every team and Concert handles things differently.  Some fan clubs are free.  Some waiting lists are free.  A few minutes of reasearch can save you hundreds of dollars and a ton of disappointment.

• As soon as a tour or event is announced, do some research.  Message boards, chat rooms, general searches online, and the artist / team websites will tell you if there is a presale, and what you have to do to qualify.

• Last, many times the passwords are generic like “HannahFan” or “WaitingList.”  If that’s the case, you can easily get the info from another fan.  If it’s not generic, there are also numerous places to buy the password for a few dollars.  Try eBay as well as fan specific message boards.  For those interested in selling tickets, you can purchase memberships to websites that buy and distribute passwords for big events.

Hope this helps!  Feel free to visit my blog for more information on buying the best seats at the lowest possible price.  Subscribe to my feed and make sure you get updates on tickets going on sale across the country.  Good luck!