How to get concert tickets (without getting scammed)

Getting tickets for a big show now feels like a sport: sign-ups, codes, waiting rooms, prices that change, and a social feed full of people offering spares. This guide goes through it in order, using what the ticket companies and regulators themselves say: how presales work, how the queues work, why prices sometimes jump, where to buy safely if you miss out, how the scams work, and what happens if the gig is cancelled. Rules change and differ between sellers, so always check the page of the company selling your tickets.

Before the sale: get into the presales

Many big tours run presales before the general sale opens. Ticketmaster's UK help centre lists the usual kinds:

Artist presales: sign up on the artist's own site. Venue presales: join the venue's mailing list. Label presales: often unlocked by pre-ordering music or merch from the band's or label's store. Fan club presales: codes are often case sensitive, and Ticketmaster says activation emails can take 7 to 10 business days, so join early. Promoter and partner presales: through your ticketing account (follow your favourite artists and venues), mobile networks, banks and card schemes.

Two things to know. Ticketmaster and AXS both say that a presale code gets you into the sale, not a guaranteed ticket; presales can sell out. And sign-ups are now a target for touts: in October 2026 the BBC reported that bots had created hundreds of thousands of fake registrations for one artist's sign-up, which then had to be reviewed by hand.

Verified Fan, explained

For the busiest tours, Ticketmaster uses Verified Fan: you register in advance, and the company says it checks that each registration "belongs to an individual — not a bot." When demand is higher than supply, it says "a lottery-style process" decides who gets an access code. Fans who aren't picked can go on a waitlist and may be sent a code if tickets remain. Registering more than once doesn't help. Codes usually arrive by text, and a code means you can join the sale, not that you'll get tickets. The details vary by tour, so read the sign-up page.

On the day: how the queue actually works

Ticketmaster. Its UK help centre says to join the waiting room before the sale starts, ideally up to 15 minutes early, because "if you join the queue after the sale starts, you'll be at the back of the line." Places are given out when the sale begins, and once it's your turn your spot is held for 10 minutes. The page refreshes itself: don't refresh, close or leave it.

“Use one browser, tab or device per queue — using multiple tabs will cause errors.”

— Ticketmaster, on its official Substack, September 2025

Ticketmaster also says that refreshing "could get you flagged as a bot", and that joining from a new device or browser puts you at the back. The one exception: when a tour has several dates on sale, you can open a tab for each separate date.

AXS works differently. Its waiting room usually opens about 30 minutes before the sale and, in its own words, "getting there 30 minutes before is no different to joining 1 minute before." It also says not to refresh. The lesson: every seller's system is a little different, so read that seller's queue page the day before.

Why the price jumped: what happened with Oasis

Some tickets are sold at a fixed price; others are "market-based", labelled "Platinum" or "In Demand". Ticketmaster's US help page says the price of Official Platinum seats is set by the event organiser, and that "Ticketmaster does not use any algorithmic surge pricing technology."

That became a national argument in the UK after the Oasis reunion sale on 31 August 2024, when fans watched some standing tickets go from around £150 to about £355 while they were in the queue. The Advertising Standards Authority received 450 complaints, and on 5 September 2024 the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) opened an investigation into Ticketmaster.

In September 2025 the CMA reported that it had found no evidence of dynamic, real-time pricing. Its concern was different: standing tickets were sold at two price levels set in advance, and fans in long queues weren't told the price would rise once the cheaper ones sold out. "Platinum" tickets had also sold for almost 2.5 times the standard price without explaining that they offered no extra benefit over some standard tickets in the same area.

“Fans who spend their hard-earned money to see artists they love deserve to see clear, accurate information, upfront.”

— Sarah Cardell, CMA chief executive, September 2025

Ticketmaster agreed to tell fans at least 24 hours in advance if tiered pricing will be used, to show the price range when people join a queue, not to use misleading labels, and to report to the CMA for two years. The CMA made no finding that the law had been broken, and there were no refunds, which Which? called disappointing. In the US, a separate rule from the Federal Trade Commission has required live-event sellers to show the total price, including mandatory fees, since May 2025.

Missed out? Buy resale at face value

If you miss the sale, the safest place to look is a face-value resale service, ideally the one linked from the official sale:

Ticketmaster UK resale: its help page says sellers list at the price they paid or less, and that it verifies every ticket; Ticketmaster told the BBC its UK resale has been capped at face value since 2018. Ticketmaster Face Value Exchange (US): where the artist opts in, tickets are listed automatically at the total price originally paid. Twickets: describes itself as "capped at face-value (+ fees)"; buyers pay a booking fee of 10–15% of the price, and listings are checked by its team. AXS Official Resale: guarantees its resale tickets are valid, but its US page warns that the resale price might be above face value, so check before you buy.

Resale isn't possible for every show. Some artists and organisers switch it off, and some ticket types can't be resold. Check the event page.

What the law says (UK and Ireland)

In the UK today, reselling a concert ticket above face value is not in itself illegal. What the law does require, under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, is that anyone reselling a ticket through a secondary platform tells the buyer the seat or area, any restrictions on who can use it, and its face value. Since 2018 it has also been an offence to use software, such as bots, to get around a ticket limit for financial gain.

That is due to change. In November 2025 the government confirmed it will ban the resale of tickets above face value (including unavoidable fees), cap resale platforms' fees, and apply the rules to social media too, with fines of up to 10% of global turnover. A draft Ticket Tout Ban Bill was announced in the King's Speech on 13 May 2026 for pre-legislative scrutiny. As of October 2026 it is not yet law.

In Ireland, since 31 July 2021 it has been illegal to resell tickets above face value for designated events and venues, generally those with a capacity of 1,000 or more.

How ticket scams work, and how to avoid them

According to the UK Home Office, reported losses to gig ticket fraud more than doubled to £1.6 million in 2024, from around 3,700 reports, and almost half involved offers on social media. People in their twenties made up 27% of victims. Separate research by O2, published with the Home Office in August 2026, estimated £150 million lost to ticket fraud in a year and found that 14% of gig-goers surveyed had bought a fake ticket. (The two figures measure different things: crimes reported, and a survey estimate.)

The scams follow a pattern: a post offering tickets the seller doesn't have, a fake account or website copying a trusted resale site, and pressure to pay quickly by bank transfer. The government's advice comes down to four points: don't rush; buy only from official sellers (artists usually link to them); never leave the official payment platform to pay by bank transfer or virtual currency; and remember that second-hand tickets always carry some risk.

In the US, the Federal Trade Commission warns that fraudsters use paid search results and social media to lure people to scam sites, and that for tickets delivered in an app, "someone selling paper tickets or a screenshot is likely a scammer." Before buying from any reseller, check its buyer protection and how and when you'll receive the tickets.

If it happens to you: in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, report it to Report Fraud, which replaced Action Fraud in December 2025 (reportfraud.police.uk, 0300 123 2040); in Scotland, call Police Scotland on 101. In the US, report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Tell your bank straight away.

If the gig is cancelled or moved

Cancelled: Ticketmaster UK says no action is needed to get a refund; it goes back to your original payment method. Ticketmaster US says refunds should appear within 14 to 21 days, and AXS says it usually refunds within 30 business days. Rescheduled or moved: Ticketmaster UK says it will email you about the new date, and refund you in full if you can't make it. Postponed: your ticket usually stays valid; wait for the email.

Two catches. Ticketmaster says it can't refund anything beyond the cost of the tickets, so travel and hotels aren't covered. And tickets bought on resale or from another person follow that platform's rules, so check them before you buy.