How to get tickets before they sell out

Almost every ticket problem is really a timing problem. The tickets that people pay twice face value for on the resale market are usually the ones that were on sale for a fortnight beforehand and nobody noticed. Here is the order that works.

1. Know the on-sale time before it happens

Every listing on this site carries the general sale time, and where we know it, the presale time as well. Our on-sale calendar lists them day by day, soonest first. If you only do one thing, do this one: find the date, put it in your calendar with an alarm twenty minutes early.

2. Get into the presale if you can

Presales release a slice of the allocation before the general sale. Some need a code from a mailing list, some need membership of a specific scheme, and some are open to anyone with the link. Our presales guide breaks down the types that actually appear in our listings.

3. Buy on the general sale, in the right place

Ticket sellers differ in fees, in how they queue you, and in how they handle a basket that expires. Use the seller linked from the event page rather than searching for the event, because a search result can land you on a resale listing presented as a primary one.

4. Only then look at resale

Resale is a legitimate market, and for sold-out shows it is often the only market. The thing to know is what a fair price looks like. On any event page we show the average price buyers actually paid on the resale market for that artist where we hold the data — not a guess, not a seller's asking price.

What we do not do

We do not sell tickets, we do not hold stock, and we do not add anything to the ticket price. We may earn a commission through a ticket partner if you buy after clicking through from here — that is how the site is funded, and it is why the listings can stay free and in date order rather than in whoever-paid-most order.