How to Avoid Ticket Gouging for Sports, Concerts and Theater Tickets

Ticket Prices have gotten out of hand for the Tickets and the Fees.

The definition of Price gouging is when a seller increases the prices of goods and services to a level much higher than is considered reasonable or fair.

The high cost of going to an event

Have you noticed the cost of going to any event has gotten to the point where you have to take out a second mortgage to be able to have a decent seat?

Sure, you can buy a seat in a 50 thousand seat arena in the nose bleed section, but wouldn't you prefer to sit close to the action and have the opportunity for better seats?

I am frustrated with the secondary ticket market.

The cost of tickets with these companies is three to four times the face value price, and then they add fees on top of the ticket price.

In my option, you should only use the primary ticket sale companies to buy tickets. For Concerts and sporting, events use ticketmaster.com; or from their sister company Livenation.com, for Broadway shows, use Telecharge.com.

Sometimes for Broadway shows, it will be either Telecharge or Ticketmaster.

They only charge about a 7-20% service fee (depending on the event) for the tickets, and you are buying them right from the ticketed source. You will save hundreds if not thousands of dollars by purchasing from the source.

Here is the reality behind these websites.

Brokers buy tickets to an event during the presale.

The brokers all have insight into when the tickets will go on sale and have the presale codes.

For sporting events, the brokers will have season tickets to many of the teams. This, in turn, allows them to buy many tickets that you end up paying exorbitant prices.

Ticketmaster is the world's largest ticket marketplace. They are the partners with the event organizers.

It doesn't matter if it is a sporting event or a concert; they most likely will be your go-to site for the event.

Broadway shows are a bit different. Telecharge should be your go site.

Below I expose the prices of the secondary companies compared to Ticketmaster and Telecharge.

Some of these are actual tickets I have bought. The prices are for two tickets for each event and all fees. For example, for the Andrea Bocelli tickets, I paid $890, and as you see, Ticket Network is two and half times more. Stub Hub is the lowest and still almost two times the cost.

These are just samples of the pricing for everyday events. Don't be sucked in by the TV ads, and every time you walk into an event, there is an advertisement for one of these companies.

Below are some samples for Broadway shows. The secondary market, as you can see, can be over three times the price of Telecharge. It does not matter if it is New York, Atlanta, Chicago, or Los Angels. Could you imagine what you could do with the money you save by going to the source?

Another caution is to watch out for companies that claim there are no service fees. They don't charge a service fee because they add all the costs and markup on the front end. Take a look at the company that is called Fee Free. There is no service fee, but you are paying $505 more than Telecharge for the Music Man and $281.45 more for the Mocking Bird tickets. If you wanted to go and see the Music Man and bought your tickets off StubHub, you would be paying over 3 times the cost of Telecharge.

If you want to buy tickets presale for concerts, I have the inside tip in my book IF U DON'T ASK.

If you didn't find tickets to your favorite event from Ticketmaster, LiveNation, or Telecharge, click on the Ticket Broker button on the home page and ask for the event you would like to attend. The service is free to subscribers. Tickets are sourced from Ticketmaster broker service through Ticketmizer.