Wicked tickets are being sold to Ticket Brokers from venues - NOT Ticketmaster.

Wicked tickets are being sold to Ticket Brokers from venues - NOT Ticketmaster.
by: Josh Harsteen © 2006

Ticketmaster may not be the dominate ticket force they appear to be. For over 20 years Ticketmaster has dominated the ticket retail industry. Wicked Tickets were sold by the thousands through Ticketmaster. Many of those tickets went to Wicked fans, and many of those tickets went to Ticket Brokers. Ticket Brokers in turn sold those Wicked tickets through eBay, Craigslist, TicketsNow, StubHub, Razorgator, and the list of ticket exchanges goes on and on. The Ticket scalping (aka…Ticket Brokerage) industry sells hundreds of millions of dollars worth of tickets a year. A majority of these tickets are purchased through Ticketmaster, but an ever growing number of Wicked Tickets are being sold to Ticket Brokers through venues.

Venues traditionally put their Wicked inventory for sale through Ticketmaster or smaller players like Tickets.com. Ticketmaster makes millions of dollars a year by charging “convenience charges” for selling these tickets to the public. The venue certainly doesn’t absorb this convenience charge, instead fans are charged these conveniences! It is unknown what type of contracts that venues enter into with Ticketmaster. It is unknown exactly how many Wicked Tickets venues don’t put up for sale on the Ticketmaster system. Most venues usually reserve under 100 Wicked Tickets for VIP clients, promotions, family members, etc…. However, venues are beginning to reserve hundreds – if not THOUSANDS of premium tickets. These tickets are not being sold through Ticketmaster, but are going into the hands of professional Ticket Brokers.

Large Ticket Brokers maintain massive databases of thousands of tickets for Wicked events all around the country. A majority of these tickets are uploaded by hundreds of independent Ticket Brokers looking to sell their tickets, and use better known Ticket Brokers to help them push their tickets. However, hundreds of premium tickets are also uploaded by venues (or the Ticket Brokers operating on their behalf). Large Ticket Brokers sell over $150 million worth of tickets a year. The names of Ticket Broker companies will not be mentioned in this article in order to prevent them from seeking legal recourse or revenge. Large Ticket Brokers are expanding their reach into many of the largest venues across the country. Venue owners don’t feel it’s wrong to charge $1500 for front row seats to many of their events. They certainly wouldn’t be able to get away with charging these prices through Ticketmaster or even private placement. But selling them through a Ticket Broker legitimizes their greed.

State and local governments need to intervene in order to end venue operator and Ticket Broker greed. Some states, such as Florida, just enacted a new law that allows Wicked ticket holders to sell their tickets for whatever price they choose. Scalping is no longer illegal. This is the wrong stance to take. States allowing scalpers to operate will empower venue operators to continue selling premium tickets to Ticket Brokers. Fans are losing out as they will never be able to purchase premium tickets for face value. Ticket brokers and venue operators working together make millions in additional revenue every year from event enthusiasts. State governments need to wake up to this fraudulent business practice, and label it what it is – PRICE FIXING.

How To Get Wicked Tickets Just Like a Ticket Broker Does

1. The first and oldest method of purchasing cheap Wicked Tickets is by going to Ticketmaster purchasing outlets. In the old days, Ticket Brokers would pay high school students $10 dollars an hour on Saturday's to wait in line at Ticketmaster purchasing outlets. These high school students would often win the random lottery because they far outnumbered the number of non-ticket broker customers at the location. There aren't as many Ticketmaster purchasing outlets as there were in the 1990's. This is most likely a result of the Internet and cost cutting measures by Ticketmaster. However, there are still dozens of Ticketmaster purchasing outlets that can provide you with the ability to purchase front row Wicked Tickets. It's actually an advantage there aren't as many terminals because most people don't consider them anymore when purchasing Wicked Tickets. Because most people try purchasing Wicked tickets on the phone and Internet, it leaves Ticketmaster purchasing outlets relatively free of customers. This gives you a great opportunity to "pull" tickets from that Ticketmaster terminal. If there are no other customers (chances are other customers are trying to get tickets to the same event you are) you MUST inform the employee of the Ticketmaster terminal the name of the event and the desired number of seats before the event goes on-sale. Do this at least 10 minutes prior to the on-sale. Most on-sales take place on the hour. Be certain to inform the employee that you are interested in "Best Seats Available." If not, they will actually ask you if you want tickets in such-and-such location. By the time they inform you of the location, the seats will already be purchased. Also, inform the employee that you want the tickets printed out immediately and not held will-call. Informing the employee of this information will allow him or her to plug in your information without delay and thus acquire the best seats there are. It's extremely frustrating to have a Ticketmaster terminal operator asking you what you want while all the best seats are quickly being purchased. Furthermore, Ticketmaster purchasing outlets in states other than where the event is playing in is a great way to avoid lines created by customers in your own state. Ask family members living out of state or find other event enthusiasts to pool your resources. You can find other event enthusiasts by posting messages on event forums and posting to Craigslist. Additionally, Ticketmaster terminals in other states than where the event is taking place may run on different servers and will possibly run quicker - resulting in better tickets.

How I got face value Wicked Tickets

"The Wicked Tickets Secrets eBook is very useful when trying to get sold out Wicked Tickets for face value. It has always been hard to get Wicked Tickets tickets right when they go on-sale - especially front row seats. Simply the best information out there it's what Ticket Brokers actually use." - Christopher Ricci (New York, NY)