Is it possible to know if second hand tickets are legit.

I got a printed out e-ticket sent to me from the UK once, I was wary of getting it. I was able to ring ticketmaster and at least get them to confirm there were at least no other enquiries or "blackmarks" against the reference code on the ticket. This does not seem to be normal practise and was like getting blood from a stone to get any info from them.


E-tickets can be sold in mulitples of course. The other scam is people buying legit tickets, selling them on, then days before the event they say they never got them in the post, the one you bought is detected at the door via barcode and you are refused entry. The scammer will get new tickets sent to them or collect them at the box office. This only allows them to scam 1 ticket.

Some gigs which are expected to sell out will often have tickets held back to be sold in the upcoming days to the gig, to combat touting. The likes of U2.

Ticketmaster has their own resale website called getmein. I'm not entirely sure if many people use it though but it is the only one that will give a guarantee (which is why they are reluctant to help others out by verifying tickets). It allows people to charge way over face value though.

I run the aforementioned Toutless and while I appreciate the good words above regards the trustworthiness of the community this is only if you take note of our rules and recommendations (which I'd acknowledge there are many).

The very quick version (which applies to all other sites you mentioned) is avoid sending money remotely via payment systems like paypal or even direct bank transfers. We've had some issues in the past and the vast majority was from people blindly sending money to people on the Internet. NONE of these methods will provide you with guarantees (people seem to think Paypal does but I can't find much evidence this is the case by default outside of Ebay). We strongly suggest meeting people for the exchange in person (in a safe & public place) and verifying who they are. It makes things a lot easier if there are problems.

If at all possible wait until closer to the event as a concert in Croke Park will almost always have quite a few cancellations. Also I'm guessing this is One Direction. AVOID any websites on the Internet that appear legit with One Direction in the url etc. These are common occurrences for "parent pressure heavy" events. They're almost always scams and never official. Ticketmaster will be the only official sales point.

pervertedcoffee wrote: »

I'd be surprised if this was the reason they 'held back' tickets. I'd say it's more to create desperation by being able to say it's 'Sold Out'.

Its the reason they give for holding back, whether true or not is another thing alright. I am highly cynical of the whole thing. The resale facility is just them getting their cut from the touts, like these bands with expensive "fan clubs" you must join to get first tickets. I think I saw that documentary too, I think someone was stung on one of these guaranteed sites, some of which are really just 3rd party sellers.

Toast wrote: »

We strongly suggest meeting people for the exchange in person (in a safe & public place) and verifying who they are. It makes things a lot easier if there are problems.

this was about all ireland tickets
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/scam-warning-fans-buying-allireland-tickets-urged-to-meet-seller-at-garda-station-29595064.html

"Be cautious when buying anything online. If they have any suspicions at all, people should contact their local garda station and it will be fully investigated. And if they find they have been the victim of fraud they should immediately contact the gardai.

"We recommend buyers and sellers to meet in a public place like outside their local garda station," he said.

Now while meeting outside a garda station far from any guarantee it would probably have a scam artist a bit worried.

Often sellers will be going to the gig themselves. I have sold tickets a few times where 1 friend has pulled out, I always offer to meet up outside the gig and go in with the buyer to confirm it is legit and that they will definitely get in. I have had bouncers scan tickets for people and then they handed over the money to me.