Best Deals on Tickets

KIMA

Story Published: Jul 16, 2008 at 5:59 PM PDT

By Heather Reese

Have you tried to buy tickets lately for a sporting event, concert, or play, only to get shut out? Or were you able to get tickets but you paid through the nose? Getting tickets to much-sought-after events for a good price has gotten harder than ever.

What used to be illegal is now quite legitimate since most states have either relaxed or eliminated anti-scalping laws. Reseller sites generally don’t sell any tickets at all. But they’re open marketplaces, they’re trading posts much as eBay is and Craigslist is, where they facilitate deals between buyers and sellers who actually own and actually want the tickets. StubHub, TicketsNow, and RazorGator are among the bigger resellers that as a group are earning more than $2 billion a year online.

To see how the reseller market works, Consumer Reports tracked ticket prices over a month’s time for two events: a Yankees-Orioles baseball game and a Santana concert.

In the case of the Yankees game, Consumer Reports saw prices go up and down and up and down and on the day of the game, a $65 ticket went for $25 plus fees, which is pretty good. For the Santana concert, ticket prices went up and down even more. A half hour before the show, tickets were available for $92, slightly above the original price.

One way to get tickets at a good price is to buy them before they actually go on sale. Presale mailings are one option. Joining an artist’s fan club can get you onto a presale list. Also look for credit-card promotions that give you first dibs and discounts, too. But if you have to use a reseller, track those tickets over multiple reseller sites for as long as possible. Don’t buy early on in the process.

Consumer Reports says buying tickets from better-known resellers is a better bet than Craigslist and eBay because online resellers are often sanctioned by sports teams or events, and the sites have strict protection policies. For instance, you’re less likely to get stuck with counterfeit tickets. If you do end up with bogus tickets, reseller sites work to get you replacement tickets or a refund.

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