The topics below provide information you need to know when buying tickets. We have a ticket glossary available to assist you with industry specific terminology.
A ticket broker is a business that sells tickets at market price. Market price is determined by the demand for a ticket and the price associated with obtaining them. Market price fluctuates, but is often higher than the face value printed on the ticket. There are thousands of businesses that sell tickets but only a few hundred are ticket brokers, and only a handful of those have experience in the ticket industry. TicketCity is one of the largest ticket companies in the world and offers a wide range of services.
Ticket brokers sell tickets to events, and specialize in providing premium tickets or tickets for sold out events. Ticket broker are a service business that save clients time and make buying tickets convenient. TicketCity clients can buy tickets for events that are not available through any other channels like Masters badges and single events that normally require purchasing an entire season or paying expensive donations.
What is the difference between a ticket broker and a scalper? Not much if you ask some people, but the reality is that ticket brokers provide a valuable service. A ticket broker is an established business with a physical location as their office. Brokers provide benefits on par with any business; phone orders, credit card payments, and a stated refund policy. A ticket scalper is someone that buys and sells tickets directly outside of a venue. Buying tickets from a scalper is a risky proposition because they only accept cash and do not offer refunds. Use our chart to compare the top Ticket Brokers.
There are thousands of ticket brokers on the internet, so how do you which are reliable can provide the tickets that you need? Below are a few requirements you should look for when trying to decide which ticket broker to use:
- Check for hidden fees, some brokers hide their service charge until you have already provided your personal information.
- Know who you are buying from, make sure they have an About Us page and easily accessible contact information.
- Make sure they have a stated return policy.
- Verify whether they offer a money back guarantee.
- Make sure they offer safe, secure ordering on the web. Look for “https” in the URL of the order form, and the secure “lock” symbol somewhere on the browser.
- Ensure they offer a reliable shipping method.
- Look for membership in the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
- Verify they have a stated Privacy Policy.
- Buy from a ticket broker who has been in business for 5 or more years in order to benefit from the experience they have over new brokers.
Ticket brokers buy tickets through the same channels available to you. Brokers buy directly from the team or venue, from season ticket holders, from other ticket brokers and they buy during public on-sales. Many of the tickets that TicketCity sells are seats they own by purchasing season tickets from teams or schools. The advantage TicketCity clients receive is they can purchase tickets to an individual game and do not have to buy the entire season or pay a lot for a personal seat license (PSL).
Most ticket brokers own season tickets for teams or venues, which they pay the same prices, fees, donations and PSLs that everyone else does. The big advantage that TicketCity has in buying tickets is our years of experience. We have been in business since 1990 and have a network of connections with access to the best seats available for all events.
The team or venue box office is the primary ticket market because they print and distribute the tickets at face value plus service fees. Ticket brokers are part of the secondary ticket market because brokers resell tickets purchased through primary vendors at market value. Ticketmaster has a monopoly on the primary ticket market, as they have contracts to distribute tickets for a large number of the venues, promoters and teams. Competition to Ticketmaster is comes mostly from an army of small ticket distributors, but there a few large distributors like LiveNation, Tickets.com and Telecharge, who sell for concerts, Major League Baseball and New York theatre respectively.
When you buy tickets make sure you always check with both the primary source and a reliable ticket broker like TicketCity. The box office is the original distributor of the tickets so their tickets will be available at face value, but their inventory is usually limited after the initial on-sale and might be entirely sold out. Before buying tickets compare the options available through the primary market with the tickets available through a ticket broker, because the broker tickets will be better seat locations and sometimes their prices are comparable. TicketCity often has ticket deals that are at or below face value because we own hundreds of season tickets that we have to sell and occasionally demand on an event drops. Many consumers assume there are no values to be found from a ticket broker, but TicketCity has thousands of values available on our Ticket Specials page.
For championship events few tickets are ever made available to the public, so a reliable ticket broker is always going to be your best option when buying those tickets.
Face value is the price that is printed on a ticket. This price is established by the venue, box office, team or promoter that handles event. Most events are tier-priced so there are an array of face values based on the quality of the ticket; an upper-level seat will have a lesser face value than a floor seat.
Ticket brokers sell tickets at market value, which is a price that reflects the demand for those tickets and cost associated with obtaining them. Mandatory donations, PSL charges, or other membership fees are often required to purchase tickets, so those additional fees are included in the cost of their tickets.
Supply and demand drive ticket prices, which fluctuate just like commodities on the stock market; a hot event will sell for more than face value while a weekday Royals/Marlins game could sell for less. Consumers often assume that ticket prices will decrease as an event nears, but often a short supply causes prices to go even higher.
Like every other facet of commerce, there are unsavory people out there who will try to scam you when buying tickets; particularly for hot events when demand is high. They could be trying to sell fake tickets, counterfeit tickets or offering to sell tickets that they do not own. Ticket scams occur at the majority of big events and some of them are so sophisticated that they are even hard for an expert to spot. Below are some tips that may help you avoid getting scammed buying tickets:
- If the deal seems too good to be true then it probably is, so walk away.
- Never pay with cash or a money order to buy tickets.
- Be extremely careful when buying tickets on the street from a scalper.
- Do not buy tickets that require you to wire money to a foreign country.
- Be extremely careful buying tickets on free classified sites or auction sites.
- Avoid buying from a ticket broker who is not reliable.
Many people ignore these rules because they want to save a few bucks, but they wind up losing a lot more when they fall victim to a ticket scam. Buying tickets from some anonymous person on the web or a scalper on the street does not provide any recourse if your deal is not legitimate. What you should do when buying tickets:
- Buy tickets from a legitimate source, a reputable ticket broker (see above).
- Check the event, date and time to ensure it is correct.
- Know the location of the seats you are buying.
- Understand when the tickets will be delivered to you.
- Pay with a credit card.