Ticket Brokering's Most Frequently Asked Questions

… and, their answers! Ticket brokering is still a mystery to many in the U.S. While some are devoted converts of ticket brokering sites, others spend hours in virtual waiting rooms, and wonder what all the fuss is about … after all, they assume it's just what you have to do to get the good tix! Today we are looking at why ticket brokers are such big business, and the benefits they offer to the consumer … and also answering some of the more obscure questions about the business.

Why would I go to a ticket broker?

So many people in the U.S. are afraid of small businesses. They assume that if a business doesn’t have a brand that has been established for thirty years or more, they can’t be trusted. They automatically go to the Box Office … and they either pay more than they had to, get seats that are less than ideal, or get told that the show is sold out! Ticket brokers are good for many things:

• They offer the good seats that always sell out early,
• You don’t have to spend hours standing in lines, either real or virtual, to buy tickets.
• They still have tickets close to the concert date, or if it was sold out through the promoter

Isn't that what Ticketmaster and Ticketron do?

Not quite. Ticket brokers have to go through the public sale process, just like everybody else does. It's just that they know a few tricks of the trade to ensure that they get concert tickets in bulk amounts at good prices, that will be in high demand.

Why is the price sometimes so radically different than the face value?

The price that a ticket broker charges you is directly related to the demand for a ticket. Tickets in high demand will often cost more than face value; on the other hand, you might get an awesome discount from a ticket broker close to the date if there are lots of seats unfilled. This is the way that our entire market works -- on supply and demand. If you want something that not many other people do, you'll pay less.

But ticket brokers don’t have tickets for every concert, do they? Doesn’t it create a lot of running around?

Actually, if you want tickets for a popular event the ticket broker will often use their network of contacts to get you a ticket. They'll do the running around … it's their job!

Hottest Upcoming Concerts Reviewed

It's holiday season, and everyone is in the mood to party … and performers are only too happy to oblige, for such good audiences! There are heaps of good concerts coming up across the continental U.S. this month. We look at some of the hottest tickets in town this December, and what you can expect from the big names.

Elton John

He toured earlier this year with Billy Joel -- but don’t expect that his solo tour will be a lackluster imitation! He and Billy always have an awesome time playing together, but Elton John has an amazingly strong personality and a voice that sounds twenty years younger than his age. If you get that chill down your arms and legs every time you hear the chorus of Tiny Dancer or Love Lies Bleeding, then Elton John concert tickets are not-to-be-missed this December.

Ani DiFranco

Thanksgiving and Christmas, as wonderful as they are, can get a little stressful. It's easy to get caught up in the competitiveness of gift-giving, decorating your house, cooking the best turkey… Ani Difranco is a breath of fresh air among the consumerism of the season. Every concert of hers is different -- she's prolific, having released over twenty albums, so you'll never buy concert tickets for Ani DiFranco only to hear the same songs you've already heard.

AC/DC

They're getting on in their years, and they may be Australian originally, but they're American icons now more than ever! The concerts are set for early in the New Year, making this the perfect present as a pick-me-up post-Christmas and NYE. The pitch is one of constant frenzy at an Acca Dacca gig, according to reviewers … hot! The big bucks attached to these concert tickets mean they are best bought from ticket brokers.

Arlo Guthrie

He's only doing a few shows, in the early months of 2010. But the Arlo Guthrie performances are set to be intimate gigs, even with hundreds of people in the audience. He's known for being a natural storyteller, which comes through in his stage persona just as well as it does in his music. Concert tickets for Arlo Guthrie will be the closest you can get to seeing Woody Guthrie -- and so much more at the same time.

The Memory of the Perfect Gift

Every so often we manage to pull off giving that perfect gift. The gift that is so special to the person you give it to that words can’t express their elation nearly as well as their face does. I pulled off such a gift two years ago by scoring the hardest NFL tickets to get; the Super Bowl.

My son is probably one of the biggest football fans there is. He certainly has his favorite team but he enjoys every aspect of the game. He counts down the months, weeks, days, and hours until the next season begins. Two years ago when his favorite team made it to the Super Bowl I knew what I had to do. I immediately began searching for online ticket brokers to see if I could purchase two sports tickets to the biggest game in football. I knew they were going to be expensive but I also knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime event that he would never ever forget.

After a few hours of searching, I found a reputable site that had sports tickets for sale. People who held season tickets or had previously bought tickets and won’t be able to attend put those tickets up for sale. I contacted one of the online ticket brokers I found and explained what I was looking for. He immediately found me two tickets for the Super Bowl and I braced myself for the price. They were expensive and put a dent in my budget, but how many times in a life will you get to make one of your child’s dreams come true? This was my chance and I took it. I purchased the tickets and had them sent overnight to me. I could hardly contain myself; I couldn’t wait to give him his gift.

The next day the package arrived and I opened it up to examine the NFL tickets I nearly had to mortgage my home for. These were prize tickets; right on the fifty-yard line. I placed them in the gift box I bought, wrapped the box, then called my son and invited him over for dinner. I sat the table and placed the box on his dinner plate and waited anxiously for him and his wife to show up.

When he arrived he spotted the box right away but I told him he had to wait to open it until the rest of the family arrived. This was a very big deal; almost as exciting as winning the lottery so I wanted to make sure everybody got to be in on the excitement of the moment. Once everybody arrived and we sat down at the table I told him he could open the gift. As soon as his eyes saw the familiar NFL Ticket logo, he knew what it was. His eyes filled with tears and he couldn’t speak. He just looked at me in amazement. And then it hit him and he began screaming, “I’m going to the Super Bowl! I’m going to the Super Bowl!”

Every time I think about or tell this story I get emotional all over again. Those two little sports tickets became one of my son’s best memories to date. I would gladly mortgage my home to get that kind of elation again.

Work with Professional Ticket Brokers to Avoid Sticker Shock

There are two ways to experience sticker shock when buying concert tickets, football tickets or theater tickets. The first is by doing business with someone unsavory or a scalper. These shadowy characters offer tickets at exorbitant prices in order to make a big profit. The second is to work with a ticket broker who isn't up-front about the total cost of your tickets. It's easy to know before you buy how much your tickets will cost when you work with a professional ticket broker, instead.

If tickets are tickets, you may be asking why there's such a wide discrepancy in price. The truth is that unscrupulous online ticket brokers will stack fees on top of the original price quoted. They know most people will suck it up and pay the final asking price if it's the last minute before the event. A professional ticket broker, on the other hand, helps you avoid ticket sticker shock by providing all the information about your tickets before you purchase. Here's what you should expect when buying sports tickets, or any other kind of tickets, from a broker:

1. Clearly advertised prices without additional fees.
2. Tickets they know from personal experience represent good seats in your venue.
3. Simple, fast ticket delivery methods.
4. Courteous customer service from people who understand the needs of ticket buyers.
5. A wide range of entertainment tickets -- whether you need a concert ticket, football ticket or an entire entertainment package.

In other words, working with reputable online ticket brokers takes the surprise out of purchasing tickets. You know from the moment you place your order that you've paid the best possible price for great seats at the upcoming event.

Here's one way to make sure the person selling you tickets is reputable -- see if they're a member of the National Association of Ticket Brokers. This self-governing group of legitimate ticket brokers follows a code of ethics that ensures fair, reliable service to their customers.

The entertainment ticket industry, like any other industry, attracts the good and bad. Knowing up front who you're dealing with can save you big disappointment down the road. Also, give yourself permission to put the brakes on a ticket purchase when exorbitant extra fees start showing up. The choice is up to you the next time you find yourself in need of tickets. You risk ticket sticker shock when you choose a firm that disguises the true price of tickets. Instead, work with a professional, reputable online ticket broker and always know exactly what you're buying.

Get Your Laugh On with Las Vegas Comedy Tickets

Know what works like a charm when you're sick of hearing about the recession? A quick trip to your Vegas ticket broker and then a night of all-out belly laughs at a Vegas comedy show.

Some people see their online ticket broker for concert tickets when they're heading for Vegas. When you just need to laugh, though, have your broker hunt down tickets to the world-class comedians playing Vegas. A good Vegas ticket broker can find the best seats for all the shows. No matter whether it's George Lopez, Jamie Foxx or the Sin City Comedy show, a professional ticket broker has been there, seen that and knows which seats you'll like.

Visitors to Vegas find it easy to see the funniest in Sin City comedy when their online ticket brokers reserve tickets to all the great shows. Ray Milano is a perennial favorite in Las Vegas, and so is Andrew Dice Clay, but be sure to contact your ticket broker in Las Vegas before you come, so you'll get great seats.

Of course, you can score concert tickets or a theater ticket or two, but when it's time to get your laugh on, nothing will do but to have your Vegas ticket broker turn you on to great comedy. Admit it, just the thought of giggling, guffawing and groaning at the stand-up routines of the pros is enough to having you heading for Nevada. If you're lucky enough to live nearby, have your ticket broker in Vegas score tickets for shows as soon as they're advertised.

Turn off the pundits, put down the paper and see your online ticket broker for seats at one of the best in Las Vegas comedy shows. It's the perfect remedy for recession blues, and you're going to be a whole lot more fun to be around!

Best Prices on Concert Tickets with New Technology

I don’t know how many times I've seen a jacket or pair of jeans I liked in a store, and thought "Oo! I'd better buy that before they're all gone" and bought them -- then walked past the same store a few weeks later to see them half price. It can really suck!

While I haven't bought as many concert tickets in my life as I have jeans, the feeling is definitely the same when it happens for your concert. "Seatgeek," a new piece of TechCrunch genius, though, is hoping to remedy the problem, aiming to tell you when prices are going up (hurry, buy quickly!), and when they are likely to go down (wait and grab a bargain). Online ticket sales is a competitive market, and when one ticket broker drops prices, often others will follow suit. We love to see our customers get a bargain … so why not?

Seatgeek is a free online service (although registration provides full functionality) that provides algorithmic data to forecast the price movements of theatre tickets, sports tickets, and Vegas tickets. Within the sports tickets world, baseball is currently the focus, but online football tickets will be added shortly. Most major concert ticket data is already available.

The way that Seatgeek does its magic thing is by weighting the flowing factors, putting them in a big pot and stirring them around:

• Past ticket prices for events, depending on the artist or the sports team in question
• The weather forecast, which may change as you get closer to an event
• Other events in close geographical proximity to the event
• Players and injuries
• Playoff races, in the case of sports tickets.

One tip though -- Seatgeek makes money from referring you to ticket sellers who don’t necessarily have the best prices. They also may not have access to concerts that are otherwise sold out, like many good ticket brokers will. We definitely recommend the Seatgeek service, but we also recommend combining that info with your own research on the best places to buy concert tickets.

The NATB - Best Friend of Concert Ticket Hunters Everywhere

The NATB is the National Association of Ticket Brokers. If you've been trying to find tickets to a popular event and had little luck through major avenues, then these guys will be your best friend! They can point you to a concert ticket or sporting ticket reseller in your local area, and also vouch for their legitimacy. We look at the NATB and what it does.

Too many people equate ticket broking with scalping (not true, by the way!), so in 1994, a group of ticket brokers decided to establish an industry-wide code of conduct, effectively making themselves an accreditation body for ticket brokers across the US.

It is in the NATB's interests to see the counterfeit tickets and fake ticket broking businesses go down the tube, and they have been working with both federal and state law enforcement since their inception to help ensure this.

The NATB also offers you a forum to either report counterfeit tickets, or make complaints against legitimate ticket brokers. However, they also protect good ticket brokers from unfair complaints! Some examples of the standard business practices that the NATB defends include:

• Not offering refunds for postponed shows, only for cancelled shows (for the face value only)
• Selling tickets as clear-view when the promoter has marked them as such
• Paying more than face value for tickets.

Some examples of valid complaints that the NATB investigates, though, include:

· Failing to tell purchasers that their seats are Obstructed View when this is printed on the ticket.

· Failing to adhere to the broker's own published refund policy (which may or may not exist)

· Tickets not being delivered

What NATB membership DOES guarantee you about a ticket broker is that:

• They'll have an actual business address and phone number
• They'll follow the refund policy of the original seller if an event is cancelled
• Won’t use automated systems to purchase your tickets
• Tell you the location of seats prior to purchasing tickets
• Give a 200% refund on any money paid for guaranteed tickets if they do not arrive (barring circumstances like shipping errors, Acts of God and armed conflicts).

Have a look in the FAQs or About Us section of your ticket broker's website to see if they are members, and you can feel much more secure about your tickets and money!

Hannah Montana and the Tween Craze

Premium Tickets is the best place online to purchase concert and events tickets for each of your favorite bands or shows. And we all know how much fun those events can be. As such, we thought you might appreciate some stories and firsthand accounts of great shows! Our first ‘fun facts’ series comes from Hector Saldaña, an Express-News Staff Writer, who reviewed the recent Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana concert:

Nearly 15,000 people — the vast majority girls ages 5 to 14 accompanied by at least one parent — filled the AT&T Center to experience Hannah Montana, aka 14-year-old Disney Channel actress/singer Miley Cyrus.

The squeaky-clean, "Best of Both Worlds" screamfest concert also featured Disney superstars-in-waiting Jonas Brothers, three talented siblings who rocked out on hits such as "Hold On" and "S.O.S.," and later with the split-personality headliner on "We Got the Party (With Us)."

It's a message thing, too.

Hannah Montana songs such as the upbeat "Life's What You Make It," "Just Like You" and "Nobody's Perfect" resonated here as loudly as the screams.

"It's cool to see someone close to our age be a star," said MacArthur freshman Rachel Perrine, 14, attending with friend Aubry Ware. "We love the show."

Twelve-year-old Danner McGill, a rare boy sighting here, put it this way: "It's all good."

Many of the 'tween fans were too young to articulate exactly what the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus magic is, but their moms usually had an answer.

"She's really down to earth. I like the relationship between her and her dad," said Valerie DeHoyas, who chaperoned her daughter, Nadia.

She was speaking, of course, of the art-imitating-life appeal of the Disney Channel's No. 1 show, "Hannah Montana," which stars country music singer Billy Ray Cyrus as his real-life daughter's on-screen dad.

Many parents echoed the sentiment. They like the wholesome image, the welcomed antithesis of the "Girls Gone Wild" era.

Jo Sansing and her 6-year-old daughter, Taylor, along with fellow mom Jennifer Fest and her daughter, Madison, sat near the front row.

Unlike many who were forced to buy tickets at highly inflated prices from ticket brokers, they paid face value for theirs.

"She has a very good message," Jennifer Fest said. "She says to feel good about yourself. She's not doing anything crazy like Britney (Spears)."

You Can't Put a Price on Awesome

There’s nothing like a great show, concert, or game to get the blood pumping and the endorphins going..and there’s no better time than the summer to book and attend such an event. With summer winding down and school about to start, now is the perfect time to buy tickets to a great concert and send summer out with a bang! Whether you’re a teen with a passion for Gwen Stefani or you’re a parent who can’t get enough of Lynyrd Skynyrd, you’ll easily find and purchase killer concert tickets through the utilization of a trusted online retailer. But don’t think concerts are the end of the line.

All year long and for every season, using the Internet to shop for tickets will mean that you have access to everything from live theatre to sporting events! Imagine taking some time out every few months to see a great Broadway show or attend a game of your choice in every sports season imaginable! Or better yet, why not plan now to attend the Super Bowl with your friends, kids, or family? What could be better than knowing you have instant access to tickets to every event in the country with one easy click of the button?

The best part about shopping for tickets online is the vast savings. That’s right, savings. Believe it or not, shopping for tickets online will ensure that you get the most bang for your buck in comparison to using a ticket broker or buying directly from the venue. Another benefit to shopping for tickets online is the fact that tickets to any event, in any location, at any time, are readily available to anyone with a desire to attend. There’s no hunting for tickets, no endless phone calls, and certainly no dealing with a ticket scalper on the off chance that you’ll get a seat.

Concerts and shows are an awesome opportunity to unwind and experience a little culture…whether you’re into classic rock or renaissance theatre, there is show with your name on it… don’t waste the end of the summer sitting around watching TV -- plan your nightlife by buying tickets to an event to remember!

You pick the event and we have the ticket

Are you tired of standing in endless lines or dialing numbers constantly just for a shot at obtaining the tickets for the event you have been waiting to see? What about those extremely hot days or horribly cold winters where you are spending hours upon hours standing in a line just to purchase tickets to a popular concert, sporting event or other social event? Remember that feeling that you overcame you when you finally reached the front of the line and the person behind the counter informs you that the event is sold out or when you finally hear a ringing tone on the other end of the phone to be answered with “sorry, we are sold out” and you miss the event?

Never again will you have to experience that feeling of disappointment when you are searching for tickets to the social event of the month, when you take advantage of the online service offered by a ticket company that can get you the impossible tickets as well as the seats that will leave you amazed.

Whether you are looking for ticket to a New York sports event, a concert that you have been waiting to tour your area or a famous opera, you will find exactly what you are searching for and the seats that only the high payers can obtain. Enjoy no hidden fees and prices that will leave you breathless and your friends cringing with envy. You can surprise the family member, special one in your life, or friend with the tickets to the sold-out event they were waiting to see when you shop all your ticket needs online with the reputable ticket provider. The customer service you will be greeted with will impress you and keep you returning for those special concerts, sporting events and theater must-sees.

Stop sitting on your couch when the rest of the social environment is attending the event of the night and start waving to them from your front row or balcony seat. Sit back, start clicking and start enjoying the events you have been looking forward to attending with the assistance of a company that can offer you the tickets you want for the prices you deserve. No more standing in harsh weather conditions or spending the night on a sidewalk tosee the social event of the season when you have at your fingertips the resource you need to put you in the middle of all the action. Surprise yourself, the special person in your life and your wallet with the ticket service of the online company who knows that it means to offer quality.

Your Online Ticket Connection

Are you tired of missing the popular concerts, operas, or other theater events that all your friends are attending? Are you tired of hearing the recording or seeing the signs SOLD OUT on your favorite social event? Do you spend endless amounts of time in all different weather conditions standing in line for the best seats, only to over pay or find out they have been sold out while you were in line? Put an end to the aggravation and disappointment of missing the tickets to a social event that you or a loved one has been waiting to see. With the service of a professional online company that offers you the best seats in the house at wonderful prices whether the show is sold out or impossible to get tickets to, you will find yourself in the seats you dreamed of and at the event of the season.

Bringing you the latest in hard to find tickets at great prices you will never miss an event again. No more disappointment in seeing "sold out" and no more standing outside the theater or arena trying to purchase last minute tickets. Know that you will put a smile on someone’s face when you show up with the impossible-to-purchase ticket to the popular musical, concert, opera or other social event. You will enjoy the friendly customer service and fast purchasing methods when you utilize the online service of a professional company that has been making individuals dreams come true with the service of providing tickets for the best seats in the house. Imagine sitting within the first ten rows of the social event of the month while others are lucky just to be in the same building. Think about the look on a family member or friend’s face when you show up with tickets to their favorite event and seats that put them in the middle of the action.

Stop spending hours waiting in lines in weather that is unbearable and take advantage of the services offered to you by the ticket company that brings the perfect tickets to your home computer for your purchase. Enjoy a life where you no longer have to settle for second best when it comes to the event of the moment and put yourself and others in the first class world where the best seats and most action is taking place. The fast and friendly customer service staff is waiting on your online visit so they can bring your dream event to reality.