Be wary of the ticket resale market

Given Ticketmaster’s monopoly—which is now being challenged in the US—consumers are left with few choices when buying tickets. Purchasing from a scalper or reseller also poses risks, and tickets are not necessarily cheaper. Resale tickets for Renaissance were listed for as much as $12,000 on surging demand, while Eras tickets shot up to as much as $28,000.

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“When huge stars tour…there’s massive demand for tickets—but that can lead to rogue secondary ticket operators reselling tickets at extortionate prices without providing clear information or warning about the risk that people could be turned away at the door,” said Lisa Webb, a consumer law expert at the UK consumer rights group Which?.

She added: “If you’re on the hunt for tickets, it’s advisable to go through a primary seller as you’ll have more rights should things go wrong compared to a secondary seller.”

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Ticketmaster also hosts resellers on its site, but takes a 10% fee from the posted ticket price.

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