So you’ve found the tickets that you want to buy? Awesome. But now what? Now you need to figure out how to buy them. Luckily, third party ticket sites like SeatGeek, StubHub, and any other reputable site, have pretty straightforward instructions and processes for taking care of this. Still, let’s walk through the process and hopefully answer any questions that you might have.
Methods
Most ticket sites offer two main ways of buying from them. These include credit cards and online wallets. PayPal is by far the most popular of this latter choice, but some sites do you other methods. If you are going to buy tickets online, you will need one of these things at your disposal. A credit card is far more universal, but tends to have higher interest charges than e-wallets. Still, whatever works best for you is what you should go with. If you are buying a large number of tickets or tickets to a huge event, be sure that your limits allow you to buy what it is you need. A quick call to the bank or credit card company can sometimes be of help.
Fees
All ticket sites are going to charge you fees in one way or another. Ideally, you want to spend as little as possible in this category, but it really depends on the site that you’re using. Some fees are easy to figure out, while others are a little more vague. For example, a shipping fee is pretty straightforward. The site needs to pay to have the tickets sent to you, and you are expected to cover that cost. Makes sense. You will find that e-tickets are the cheapest way to go when it comes to reducing your shipping fees. Some sites do not charge at all for this, while others can charge a few dollars. These sites that charge explain that the encryption of the ticket data and the hardware and software required to keep the information secure is the reason for the expense. Again, this makes perfect sense.
Service fees or handling fees are a bit more difficult to get. These are where the site makes a profit. Some tickets already have the service fees built into their pricing by the time that the ticket site acquired the ticket and another fee will need to be added on. This area is a bit murkier, and some sites are very good at keeping fees and such as transparent as possible. Other sites make it a bit more difficult.
Here’s our take on it. All sites that sell tickets need to make money somehow if they are going to continue offering this valuable service. We’re okay with the fees, even though we will be the first to acknowledge that we want to spend as little as possible to get great tickets. But paying the site is a necessity for this convenience. When sites are transparent, open, and honest about this process, we’re way more comfortable using their services than ticket sites that just clump everything together and do not itemize what they charge. You might look at it differently, but that’s where we stand.
A Final Piece of Advice
If you’re going to buy tickets online from a third party site, be sure to go with a reputable site. There are plenty of great sites out there that are upfront with their fees, and there’s no reason to risk using a site that could potentially rip you off. Stick with the big names in the business and be sure to follow all of the normal internet safety procedures to protect yourself and your money as thoroughly as possible.