Spotting Fake Ticket Broking Sites

Buying concert tickets is perhaps one of the most emotional purchases that many make (excluding wedding dresses!). Musicians provide a soundtrack to the good times and help carry us safely through the bad, so it's little wonder that the possibility of seeing them in person makes the blood rush a little.

Unfortunately, there is a rash of fake ticket broking sites destroying the good name of legitimate ticket brokers, by offering tickets for sale that don’t actually exist. Yes, it is true that ticket brokers can often get you concert tickets and sporting tickets long after they're sold out. It's essential that you check out this site as carefully as you would any other online, though. Here are some tips for spotting, and staying away from, the scammers.

• Do some secondary research: Check with the actual ticket venue to make sure tickets have been released, to avoid being scammed by the pre-sale crowd. Check the website's About Us section, and see if you can find a general description of how they obtain tickets. Legitimate businesses won’t want to reveal all the details (for competition purposes), but are usually happy to give you a general idea.
• Google the website: Anybody can make up a fake testimonial or three. Real online reviews on third party websites and forums will usually quickly let you know if you’re dealing with a scammer.
• Make sure the website is owned by a real business - Look for a geographical address on the website. Try to order your concert tickets by phone, rather than online, if possible.
• When purchasing with credit cards online, look for the usual security symbols: Look for the little padlock in the bottom of your browser screen, a web address that begins with https instead of just http, and the presence of security logos on the pages such as Verified by Visa, etc.

Since online ticket sales began to gain popularity, it's estimated that millions of dollars have been defrauded from buyers in the UK alone. The US, the rest of Europe, Australia and Asia have plenty to add to that, unfortunately. Above all, look for articles like this on your ticket broking sites to help assure you that the concert tickets you’re buying are the real thing!

Fastest Selling Concert Tickets in History!

Whenever we buy concert tickets (especially if we don’t get the seats we wanted!), it always seems like the fastest selling tour in history. It's no surprise, then, that a Google search for the fastest-selling concert ever produces mixed results. We look at some of these concerts, which hold different records (fastest selling tour overall, fastest UK concert, previous records, etc). We think that nowadays, it might have been possible to get tickets to a lot of these, with the wealth of good ticket brokers that are around …

AC/DC's Black Ice Tour

When a band slows down, it only makes every concert they do that much more valuable. The February 2010 tour of Australia by AC/DC went on sale in May 09 and quickly became one of the fastest selling concerts in Australian history. The Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth show concert tickets sold out quickly, but new seats were released for the Sydney and Melbourne shows earlier in the tour. It was the band's first tour in 8 years, and is being billed as their final shows. We'll see…

Michael Jackson's 'This Is It' Tour

33 seats were being sold every minute at one point when Michael Jackson's "This Is It" tour was being heavily promoted. He was another of the old-time legends proving to be plenty more popular than some of the new acts. Unfortunately, now this one only means that there are 33 grieving fans for every minute of the tour's sale time.

The Rolling Stones 'A Bigger Bang' Tour

This tour grossed $558 million over its course, from 2005 to 2007. Not bad for a few nights work, if you aren’t a bank robber! Actually there were some 144 nights work involved, and 4.7 million fans worldwide that got to see the old rockers in person.

Madonna's Sticky and Sweet Tour

It was only recently announced that Madonna broke her own record for concert ticket sales to a solo performance, with her Sticky and Sweet tour out-grossing her Confessions tour of 2006. 85 shows, 3.5 million fans, and $408 million later … I would still be doing the work at 50 if I was Madonna, as well!