New to buying tickets online?
For your own protection, read this cautionary note.

Don't see the calendar in the iframe? Click here for html only version

Note: Due to a problem with Google's calendar service, events scheduled without a specific ending time fail to appear on the public calendar. Therefore, in the case of "open-ended" events like this, it has been necessary to give such events an ending time 1/2-hour after the start time. To alleviate any confusion this might cause, times for all events are also listed in the descriptions.

Internet-based "ticket resellers" want to rip you off. Worse yet: it's often perfectly legal.

As internet commerce has matured, there has been a proliferation of what are known as "ticket resellers." Quite simply, the business of ticket resellers is to purchase tickets from established outlets (e.g., Ticketmaster) and resell them at often exhorbitant prices. Many states have laws in place that prevent the reselling of tickets beyond a certain percentage of markup, but this varies from state to state. Texas, in particular, places no limits on how much a ticket may be resold for, and consequently there are some Texas-based sites which will often sell tickets for hundreds of percent markup, even before tickets from the established outlet have sold out. On the website of one particular Texas-based company, I came across a ticket for an Eddie Vedder concert in Vancouver, going for over $1000, and I came across another for a Billy Joel concert in New York going for over $4000. I routinely see markups as high as 200% on sites such as these

"Buyer Beware" are the watchwords, here. When shopping for tickets, the first and best place to check, if possible, is the performer's website, as they will sometimes carry links to legitimate outlets (technically, all licensed resellers are "legitimate," but personally I consider this sordid business a kind of legalized larceny, where the ticket seller makes a hefty profit, state governments collect taxes, and the consumer gets it in the neck).

Shop around, be careful, find consumer watchdog sites on the web, and remember: if the price sounds outrageous, you're probably being taken.

On the other hand, if money isn't an issue and you simply must see Charlie Farguson, or whomever, a ticket reseller may be just what you are looking for after the primary outlet is sold out.

See:
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/money/2008/02/the-scoop-on-ti.html

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