How to Resell Concert Tickets
Getting ripped off online over resell concert tickets has become an all-too-common occurrence in the U.S.
With music lovers around the country losing money to scammers, it is now more important than ever to be safe when buying tickets from non-official sources online.
With scammers charging extra for resell concert tickets, not honoring ticket exchanges after being paid and often stealing personal information from prospective buyers, it is now more important than ever to use secure ticket resale websites to ensure you do not get ripped off.
There are thousands of ways you can resell concert tickets. From Facebook to Ticketmaster, we are going to be walking you through some of the do’s and don’ts when it comes to buying and selling resale concert tickets online.
We’ll be introducing you to some of the most secure websites to buy and sell your tickets on, as well as how to ensure real fans are buying your tickets at face value.
First, let’s talk about buying tickets and avoiding scammers online, which can often leave music fans with an empty pocket and disappointed, having missed out on a ticket to see their favorite band.
Staying Safe When Buying Resale Tickets
The internet can be a deep and dark place for selling tickets online, with many scammers looking to prey on naïve music lovers searching for tickets to see their favorite bands.
My first piece of advice is to always buy through official, licensed sources that offer resale concert ticket guarantee policies and buyer protection.
If you do choose to purchase a ticket through an unlicensed source, here are a few things you need to look out for to ensure you do not get scammed.
1. Look Out for Resale Tickets Online
Missed out on the first round of tickets for your favorite concert or festival?
Don’t stress. Often festivals or concerts will have an official ticket resale event where they will release tickets that have become available through venue expansions or even fans giving tickets back to the website.
Make sure to hold out for these events, which happen more often than you may think, especially for bigger festivals like Coachella, Summerfest, or Burning Man.
2. Look Out for Online Sellers on Social Media
Social media can be one of the best and worst places to buy tickets online. If you know where to look, it can be a useful place to communicate and engage with fellow music lovers online.
On the flip side, it can also be full of charlatans ready to take your money. Always be careful with who you are dealing with on social media.
3. Inspect the Tickets You Receive
It’s common for online sellers to send a copy of a ticket with the barcode redacted so buyers know they are purchasing a legitimate ticket. This is where you need to pull out some detective skills.
Leave no stone unturned when checking and scouring through the ticket and ensure that it is legitimate before proceeding with the transaction.
4. Never Pay More Than What You See on Official Websites
This is where doing your homework on the price of an actual ticket for the event is important. Go to the official ticketing page and see what the official retail price tickets are being sold at to ensure you are not getting overcharged for your purchase.
Buying resale tickets online is not a hard or scary thing to do, and there are thousands of resale ticket sites out there that guarantee buyer protection and will ensure tickets are traded at a fair price.
The Best Ticket Resale Sites in the U.S.
The best way to resell concert tickets or purchase concert tickets is by using a legitimate site.
Here are some of our favorite and most-trusted places to buy and sell legitimate resale concert tickets through a secure marketplace.
Tixel
Tixel is an up-and-coming start-up that is made by music fans for music fans. They have only recently set up shop in the U.S. but are doing big things in the ticket resale market, ensuring that tickets can only be bought and sold for a fair price while ensuring no one can reuse an old ticket through their ticket barcode regeneration software.
StubHub
One of the most renowned and reliable ticket resale websites, StubHub is the leading marketplace providing secure fan-to-fan ticket sale interactions without any haggling or dodgy payment arrangements.
Their FanProtect guarantee means buyers are guaranteed the confidence of a legitimate ticket if they purchase through Stubhub, while sellers are not guaranteed a sale, but will be provided with a secure platform to transact on.
Twickets
Priding themselves as the most trusted fan-to-fan marketplace on the web, Twickets is another of the most reputable sites that provides buyers and sellers a secure marketplace to transact resale concert tickets on.
For those selling tickets, you may want to use Twickets, as the site allows you to add an extra 15% on the fee to cover your additional booking fees.
The Pros and Cons of Resale Concert Tickets
Buying and selling resale tickets can be a good way to offload tickets in the event you can no longer make a concert while also bagging a last-minute ticket to a show that is otherwise fully sold.
Here are three positives and three negatives when it comes to buying and selling concert tickets online.
Pros of Resale Tickets
- Flexibility. Picking up a spontaneous ticket and heading to a concert is one of the most popular parts about buying resale tickets. Likewise, if you suddenly cannot attend an event, then you can easily sell it online. It’s a win-win situation.
- Digital. Typically when selling tickets online, they can be digitally transferred to your buyer, meaning you do not have to print them or send them!
- Sell to real fans. Fans can access specific websites and will usually pay fair value for concert tickets.
Cons of Resale Tickets
- Unstable security. If you are not operating through trusted sites, you are open to scammers.
- Compromised legitimacy. Again, if you are operating outside of sites, like StubHub and Twickets, buyers will not receive any guarantees that they are purchasing legitimate tickets.
- Slow transactions. Payments can sometimes be slow to come through for sellers on retail sites who may take an admin fee for processing the transaction.
Top Tip: Use Official Websites
Ultimately, the only way to ensure you are being protected as a buyer or seller is to use official resale ticket platforms, like the three websites aforementioned.
Each provides specific buyer and seller guarantees that ensure clarity, fairness and remuneration for fairly priced tickets.
Now that you have trusted resale concert ticket sites, start selling and purchasing those last-minute tickets!