Best Sites For Concert Tickets: Top 5 Event Ticket Sites

In this carefully curated selection of ticketing sites, readers are informed of critical aspects, such as fees, delivery options, and secondary market features available within each platform. Whether searching for a once-in-a-lifetime concert or an intimate affair, this guide will help you navigate the process and reserve the best seats in the house.

Spotlight Desk

Updated on: 29 November 2023 7:33 am

Best Sites for Concert Tickets

Concert-goers understand the thrill of seeing their favorite artists perform live, and finding the perfect ticketing platform amplifies that excitement. With so many options available for purchasing tickets, both genuine and fraudulent, it's vital to navigate the online ticketing landscape wisely. With this list readers to the best online sites for purchasing concert tickets, ensuring a secure, hassle-free experience.

A reliable ticketing platform should offer a user-friendly interface, authentic tickets, and competitive pricing. Secure transactions, responsive customer support, and a guarantee of ticket authenticity are also essential factors to consider when exploring different websites.

How do you choose the best concert ticket sites?

Best Practices for Buying Tickets

When choosing a site to purchase concert tickets, consider the following best practices:

Compare prices across multiple sites to ensure you get the best deal.
Watch for any additional fees or service charges before completing your purchase.
Look for user reviews and ratings to gauge the credibility of the site.
Look for pre-sale codes that offer a discount or early purchase options.
Create an account with the ticket site ahead of time, to expedite the purchasing process - especially for concerts and events that sell out in minutes.

Understanding Pricing

It's crucial to understand how ticket marketplaces price their products to avoid surprises at checkout. There are three main components to consider:

Face Value: The price set by the event venue or organizer.
Service Fees: Charges platforms add to the face value to cover their operating costs. These can sometimes be up to $50 per ticket.
Resale Markup: Tickets resold by ticket holders or brokers operate by "supply and demand". Often the most popular events will be listed well above face value.

Security Measures

Make sure the concert ticket site you choose includes these security measures:

Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption to protect your personal and financial information during transactions.
Verified ticket sellers , to ensure authenticity and to minimize the risk of purchasing fraudulent tickets.
A clear refund policy in the event the concert is canceled or postponed.

Choosing the Right Time to Buy

Timing is critical when searching for concert tickets. Prices and availability can vary immensely depending upon how far in advance you purchase and the popularity of the event.. Here are some suggestions regarding when to purchase:

At the beginning: Buying tickets when they first go on sale usually guarantees availability and the best seat selection and. For popular events, only resellers may have ticket inventory, and the closer to the event the higher the price may be.

Monitor the market: Some third-party resale platforms, like StubHub and SeatGeek, allow you to set price alerts by either email or text. This is immensely helpful for finding affordable tickets. Keep in mind that the closer you get to the concert date, the more likely ticket prices will decrease. If it's an extremely popular event, like a Taylor Swift concert, you'll only find them on reseller sites and the price will increase.

Last-minute deals: In some cases, promoters and venues may have extra tickets available for less popular events. They will often discount these seats to try earn as much revenue as possible. It is smart to follow their social media channels and sign up for newsletters for any last-minute offers.

By taking a little extra care, you'll be certain to choose the best concert ticket site that best fits your needs.

StubHub

Features

StubHub is a popular online ticket exchange platform that enables users to both buy and sell tickets for various live events, including concerts, sports, and theater productions. It offers a comprehensive and user-friendly interface with the following features:

Event search: Users can easily search for specific events, artists, or venues, as well as find events happening nearby or based on genre.
Interactive Seat Map: When purchasing tickets, users can view an interactive map of the venue displaying the available seating options and pricing.
Price alerts: Set up price alerts for desired events to receive notifications when tickets reach a price range specified by you.
Mobile app: StubHub's mobile app provides a convenient way to browse, purchase and manage tickets on the go.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Wide selection of events: StubHub offers tickets for a vast array of events, including concerts, sports, and theater productions. It's truly a one-stop-shop for a wide variety of ticket needs.
User-friendly interface: StubHub's design is user very user-friendly, allowing users to browse and purchase tickets quickly and easily.
FanProtect Guarantee: StubHub guarantees your tickets will be authentic and delivered on time or you will receive a replacement or refund.
Safe transactions: The platform utilizes secure payment methods, has a dedicated fraud prevention team, and protected users' personal financial information.

Cons

Fees: StubHub charges service fees and delivery fees on top of the ticket price, which can sometimes make the overall cost significantly higher.
Dynamic pricing: Ticket prices may fluctuate with demand, which could potentially make some events more expensive than purchasing directly from the venue or other sources.
No official partnerships: While StubHub is a well-known marketplace, it does not have official partnerships with all event organizers or venues. As a result, some tickets may not be available for certain events.

Ticketmaster

Features

Ticketmaster is the original, most well-known ticket platform launched October 2nd, 1976. It provides easy access to a wide variety of events including concerts and sporting events. They offer access to tickets from both their website and mobile app. Some key features of Ticketmaster include:

Calendar of Events: A comprehensive list of upcoming events, making it simple to find concerts, and other events, by date and location.
Alerts: Users can set up convenient alerts and notifications, by either email or text, for events in which they are interested.
Resale: Ticketmaster provides a Ticket Exchange service, allowing users to resell tickets for which they are unable to attend. The process is secure and convenient.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Large Selection: Ticketmaster offers a vast inventory of concert tickets, across multiple genres and venues.
User-friendly Interface: The website and mobile app are simple to navigate, making it a breeze to find and purchase tickets.
Reliability: As the oldest and most well-know platform, users can trust Ticketmaster to deliver official and authentic tickets.
Protection: Ticketmaster's Fan Guarantee ensures peace of mind via a secure and reliable transaction process. The site guarantees a complete refund in the event a concert is rescheduled or canceled.

Cons

Service Fees: Ticketmaster usually includes additional hefty service fees, which can greatly increase your cost of attending a concert.
Ticket Availability: Ticketmaster usually has a large inventory of tickets for most events but more popular concerts often sell out quickly.
Price Markups: Resold tickets on Ticket Exchange are a true marketplace based upon supply and demand. Prices can often cost significantly more than face value for popular events.
Limited Discount Options: Ticketmaster is not generally known for discounting tickets, although last minute deals can be found through the Ticket Exchange.

VividSeats

Founded in 2001, VividSeats has built a reputation as a reliable supplier of event ticketing for two decades. They are known for having a large inventory of tickets for concert, sports, and theatre seats.

Features

VividSeats offers many features ticket buyers find attractive.

Wide Selection: The platform provides access to a broad range of events, ranging from concerts, sports, and theater shows.
User-friendly Interface: With a clean look and easy navigation, users can easily search for and find tickets for almost any type of live event.
Secure Transactions: They join our other recommendations in ensuring secure transactions and a safe checkout process.
Reward Program: Frequent concertgoers enjoy earning rewards points they can apply to their next purchase.

Pros and Cons

As with any marketplace, there are pros and cons associated with VividSeats.

Pros:

Wide variety of events and venues to choose from
User-friendly and intuitive user interface
Secure transactions and protection of user data
Rewards program customers can apply to future purchases

Cons:

Service fees can be higher than some competitors
Ticket prices may be inflated due to high demand or limited supply
Ticket insurance to protect against event cancellations is not available

While there are some potential drawbacks, like higher service fees and ticket price markups, VividSeats' wide selection, secure transactions, and rewards program make it a popular choice for many concertgoers.

SeatGeek

Features

SeatGeek is a little different than other ticket sites. It is more of a ticket search engine and aggregator. The site provides users with an easy-to-use platform for finding tickets to concerts, sporting events, and other live entertainment. It utilizes advanced algorithms, much like Google, to analyze thousands of ticket listings to provide a Deal Score for each ticket option.

Some key features of SeatGeek include:

A simple, user-friendly interface
Interactive seat maps with a preview of the view from each seat
In-app purchase with mobile ticket delivery
A transparent pricing model, displaying ticket prices with all fees included
Integration with social media for easy sharing of events

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Deal Score: SeatGeek’s innovative system rates the value of each ticket, enabling users to compare and identify the best deals quickly.
Wide selection: SeatGeek searches all the main ticket marketplaces and verified sellers to present users with a comprehensive list of ticket options.
No hidden fees: The platform displays all fees upfront, ensuring there are no surprises at final checkout.
User-friendly: The website's intuitive design and app feels like you're using a search engine, making it simple for users to compare and find the best deal.

Cons:

Potentially higher fees: At times, SeatGeek may show higher fees compared to directly purchasing from a venue's official website. This is common, however, with all of the online platforms.
No price-matching: Unlike some competitors, you "get what you get" with SeatGeek as they offer no price-match guarantee.
Limited customer support: SeatGeek relies mostly on email communication which is not as comprehensive as some of the other ticket sites.

In summary, SeatGeek offers attractive features that help users aggregate and evaluate deals from many sources. Their Deal Score system and "no hidden fees" pricing model offer significant advantages over competitors. Potential higher fees and limited customer service support are a trade-off customers must decide upon.

TickPick

Features

TickPick distinguishes itself by offering no hidden fees compared to other platforms. It is estimated to save ticket seekers 10-15% per transaction, resulting in significant savings. They also utilize an algorithm called Best Deal to rank available tickets, enabling users to find the best value based on price and seat quality. Lastly, TickPick offers a BuyerTrust Guarantee, which ensures ticket authenticity and timely delivery.

Some of the key features provided by Live Nation include:

No hidden fees. The price you see is always the price you pay
Best price guarantee. If you find the same tickets for cheaper elsewhere, they will pay you 110% of the price difference in TickPick credits
Ticket value rating system
360 degree seat view available before purchase
BuyerTrust Guarantee ensures the authenticity of your tickets and transaction

Pros and Cons

Live Nation is held in high regard for various reasons, but it's essential to consider its pros and cons to make an informed decision.

Pros

Best Price Guarantee: eliminates "buyers' remorse" ensuring you're ensured the best price possible
No Service Fees: this site promises transparent pricing, eliminates "sticker shock" at checkout and provides significant savings.
Usability: reviews praise the site for its slick, easy to use, interface.

Cons

Delivery Speed: We have seen some complaints about international tickets taking longer to deliver than US based tickets.
Seat Availability: For the most popular events, TickPick may have a limited number of available seats, which can raise the ask price on seats

Which ticket platforms offer the lowest fees?

Fees always vary across ticket platforms, but sites like SeatGeek and TickPick are well known for offering lower fees than Ticketmaster, for example. These sites generally offer no hidden fees to the listed ticket price, providing a more transparent experience with no surprises.

Are third-party ticket sellers reliable for purchasing concert tickets?

Third-party ticket sellers can be reliable if they are well-established, reputable companies. Just ensure they guarantee their tickets' authenticity and provide customer support in case of any issues. However, it is essential to exercise caution and research any third-party seller before pressing "Buy" on that site.

Where is the cheapest place to buy tickets online?

The cheapest place to buy tickets online depends on the event and ticket availability. Many say SeatGeek, TickPick, and Vivid Seats often have the most competitive prices. TickPick offers a low price guarantee making them a great place to start. It's always best, however, to compare multiple marketplaces. Just be sure to factor in any additional service fees before making a purchase.

What is the most trusted site to buy concert tickets?

Being the oldest concert ticket platform, Ticketmaster is generally considered the most trusted site for purchasing concert tickets. However, reputable resale platforms such as StubHub and SeatGeek also provide reliable services for buying concert tickets.

Disclaimer: The above is a sponsored post, the views expressed are those of the sponsor/author and do not represent the stand and views of Outlook Editorial.