Football Tickets Online – Goldmine or Minefield?

So that big cup draw has been made, your team has got the tie that they were praying for. A home tie as well. “All you can ask for is a home tie” apparently. It is going to be the game of the season, make no mistake. You simply have to get your tickets for this game. No, you don’t understand – you have to be there.

One snag. Your team’s ground holds 40,000 fans, 25,000 of these are season ticket holders. 7,000 are away fans. This leaves 8,000 seats for Mr. Nobodys like yourself. And about 30,000 people are thinking exactly the same as you.

There are solutions of course, there are loudmouth touts lurking outside the ground, but you are looking at paying through the nose (not even the nose in fact, the eyes) for even the shabbiest seat, with a fair chance that your “Golden Ticket” is in fact Golden Syrup carved into a Ryvita.

Thank the lord then for the internet. Here is your guide to boxing clever in the football tickets market.

Online Ticket Brokers

So to begin with, what exactly are we talking about when we say buying football tickets online? Who is selling these tickets? Well, a ticket broker is a business that sells tickets at market price. Market price is determined by the demand for a football ticket and the price associated with obtaining them. Market price fluctuates, but is often higher than the face value printed on the ticket. There are thousands of businesses that sell football tickets but only a few hundred are ticket brokers, and only a handful of those have experience in the ticket industry.

Ticket brokers like TicketBis sell tickets to events, and specialize in providing premium tickets or tickets for sold out events. Ticket brokers are a service business that save clients time and make buying tickets convenient.

So, what makes the internet any safer for buying football tickets than a shady corner on a shady street round the back of Anfield? After all, at least you can run away from a tout, and the only loss you will make will be a cash one, once a website has your card details it could rinse your account there and then.

But if you are smart, and a bit flush to be honest, there are ways in which you can get hold of priceless football tickets for just about any football match on the planet, and without ensuring that your wife goes without birthday presents for a year or two.

If you decide you fancy delving into this market, there are a number of shipping options which you can select, although obviously some of these are unavailable depending on the location, and the date of the game.

For foreign games, there is either a DHL service which will set you back between £30 & £70 depending on your location, or a hotel/domestic delivery service within Spain, Germany, Portugal, Holland or Italy which costs between £8 & £10.

For UK matches there is a special delivery service which can cost up to £15, or a UPS international delivery that will leave a £40 dent in your pocket, so remember to add that onto your ticket cost before you consider buying. Alternatively, you can in some cases arrange for a collection, free of charge. It just depends whether you fancy marching into the unknown to pick up tickets.

Looking to buy or sell football tickets? Get started with TicketBis.

Selling Football Tickets

In recent years the practice of individuals using football ticket sites to sell their own tickets has grown considerably, and most reliable ticket brokers will now allow you to sell football tickets online as well.

Selling tickets online through a tickets broker like TicketBis usually requires no upfront fees, although if you make a profit then you will need to pay a commission to the broker.

The best part about selling tickets online is that you don’t need to hand your tickets over to a stranger and hope for the best – you only send the tickets to the ticket broker once the sale has been confirmed and you’ve been paid.

It’s a nice way to be able to recover your costs on tickets for events that you can’t attend or, as is the case with many football fans, to make some money back on your season ticket if you’re going to miss a game or two.

Verifying Ticket Brokers

There is always a flip side of course. You do not have to look far on the web to find someone with a horror story to tell about online football tickets not arriving, fake football tickets, double charges and the like. For example, in 2006 two Arsenal fans who paid £1,100 for four tickets for their Champions League final clash with Barcelona in Paris were left heartbroken when said tickets failed to arrive. The online ticket company- The Online Ticket Shop- was named and shamed in the Daily Mirror, and soon after was forced into administration with debts of over £1.1m.

Other risks with buying football tickets online center around one of the fastest growing crimes in the world, identity/impersonation fraud. You are always taking a risk when inputting debit/credit card details onto a website, as in every corner of retail/commerce, there are as many unsavoury characters as there are decent sellers. Here are a few tips in finding a reliable ticket broker, and avoiding online scams:

• Check for hidden fees, some brokers hide their service charge until you have already provided your personal information.
• Know who you are buying from, make sure they have an About Us page and easily accessible contact information.
• Make sure they have a stated return policy.
• Verify whether they offer a money back guarantee.
• Make sure they offer safe, secure ordering on the web. Look for “https” in the URL of the order form, and the secure “lock” symbol somewhere on the browser.
• Ensure they offer a reliable shipping method.
• Look for membership in the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
• Verify they have a stated Privacy Policy.
• Buy from a ticket broker who has been in business for 5 or more years in order to benefit from the experience they have over new brokers
• If the deal seems too good to be true then it probably is, so walk away.
• Be extremely careful when buying tickets on the street from a scalper.
• Do not buy tickets that require you to wire money to a foreign country.
• Be extremely careful buying tickets on free classified sites or auction sites.
• Avoid buying from a ticket broker who is not reliable.
• Buy tickets from a legitimate source, a reputable ticket broker (see above).
• Check the event, date and time to ensure it is correct.
• Know the location of the seats you are buying.
• Understand when the tickets will be delivered to you.
• Pay with a credit card

Recommended Football Tickets Site

Well, typing in “football tickets” will bring you back over 5m matches. These range from the professional to the downright substandard. Whatever your preference, it shouldn’t be hard to find a site that can (at least claim to) match your requirements. We recommend TicketBis – and with good reason:

5 Reasons to buy / sell tickets with TicketBis:

1. A well run, professional looking site that are able to obtain tickets for just about any game in Europe, including many Premier League games. Manchester City playing in the Champions League? No problem. Milan derby? Why not! Barça v Numancia? Easy.

2. You can also get tickets for other sports and events, making it an excellent source for planning a memorable vacation.

3. Accepts all major credit/debit cards, with a 100% guarantee for all transactions.

4. Allows you to both buy and sell tickets (football as well as other events).

5. A range of reliable shipping / delivery methods as well as a hellishly easy to use website.

Buying or Selling?

Selling football tickets online has become a bit of a no-brainer. Sure, you can ask bloggers to retweet you when you’ve got a couple of spare tickets, but it’s a last-ditch, desperate strategy. If you know ahead of time that you’re going to miss a game, a football tickets website is your best bet for selling your tickets / covering your costs / making a profit.

However when it comes to buying, most fans are still hesitant, citing the ticket prices as an obstacle. However you wouldn’t be looking to buy a football ticket online if you already had a friend with a spare ticket or two, would you?

All in all I would say that the thriving online football ticket market has its merits, the better sites should lead you to tickets for just about any match you need, and as seen above there is plenty of scope for organising a barn-storming trip abroad to see a European/South American game.

Yes your success in buying tickets will undoubtedly depend on your budget and the vendor you choose, but there are so many sites around which have pretty good advice on how to avoid getting ripped off (and the points above will help no end) that you really can’t go far wrong, providing you don’t get too desperate.

And let’s face it, anything beats handing over a wad of dirty twenty pound notes to a grubby little man outside Wembley doesn’t it?

Looking to buy or sell football tickets? Get started with TicketBis.