There’s nothing better than seeing your favourite band live. But there’s nothing worse than arriving to the venue, ticket in hand, only to discover that the ticket is not valid. The term in the industry is scalping. Scalping is the buying and reselling of tickets for profit. This has always existed, but the age of digital advancements has meant that the scale of scalping has increased substantially. Resellers have become highly sophisticated in their methods, which has made fans confused and unsure of who the real ticket sellers are. Plus, there is currently limited legislation to prevent the scalping of tickets.
How do you know if your ticket is the real deal?
Here are our 4 top tips to avoid the ticket scalping trap:
- Don’t assume that the top spot on Google is the real deal
We’ve become a society of “Googlers”.
Want to know the capital of Iceland? Just Google it.
Want to find out the opening times of Olio? Just Google it.
Want to buy tickets to your favourite show? Just Google it
Google is amazing at helping us answer our questions. However, the top spots on Google are often ads, meaning that these spots are paid for. What’s stopping ticket resellers from paying their way to the top?
- Double check the price
When you see the price of a ticket you’re buying and your mouth drops to the floor because it’s so expensive, it’s probably best that you double check the price. Ticket resellers sometimes sell tickets for double or triple the price of the original ticket. It’s best to double check another source (preferably the ticket site the artist is promoting).
- Check the artists website and social media
If you seriously love an artist, surely you’re watching their every move on their social media channels, their website and through their event alert emails? The artist will be sure to publish the authorised ticket-seller, such as Ticketek – guaranteeing you a seat at their show.
- Check the venue’s link
Here at BCEC, we want to ensure that everyone who buys a ticket, gets to see the show. That’s why when we post our upcoming events on our website and social media channels, the links go directly to the authorised ticket seller.