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Consumer: Buying concert tickets

Purchasing tickets to popular concerts and events can be nearly as exhilarating as the event itself! The first rule is to get a head start. Here are some helpful hints.

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Band aid

Join your favourite artist’s email list or social network page. You’ll get information on tour dates, band members and tickets.

Sign up

Create Ticketmaster and Ticketek accounts. You can customise, so that alerts and presale options for your preferred events are emailed directly to you.

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Also, sign up with major promoters. It’s their business to advertise gigs – and presale options often come as part of the marketing package.

Join venues

Register with venues. Some clubs and pubs sell gig tickets online. If you frequent a venue, join its email list for updates on events.

Be a sport

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Buy season tickets for your favourite team. If they perform well, you’ll get first go on semifinals and finals tickets. Many season tickets also come with presale options for related events held at your home ground.

Early birds

Before tickets are sold to the public, there are always “presales”. They can be a misnomer. For example, at the biggest party of the year, 18,800 Wellington sevens tickets are “pre-sold” to season-ticket holders, rugby clubs, hospitality companies and so on. Another 7700 are distributed to sevens teams and commercial partners.

Just 8500 of the actual 35,000 tickets are sold directly to the public. So, the first rule of ticket buying is to get a head start on direct sales. Precious seconds count when sales begin.

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Log on early

Set yourself up next to a powerful computer and log on before the event goes on sale. Watch the clock closely…

Team tactics

Attack from different angles. Get one friend to phone the ticketing company, while another buys tickets online.

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Stay cool. Online pages will take longer to upload, especially if there’s heavy traffic. Refresh the page if the server “times out”. Likewise, phone calls will take longer to get through. Be patient. And always triple check event dates and times.

Sue Chetwin CEO CONSUMER NZ

Stay informed at consumer.org.nz

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