Think of all the large scale events you have been to. Now ask yourself where did you buy the tickets for these events. Would I be right in saying online? The majority of any tickets sold for major and mega events and even some minor, are all sold online and this method is one which is a quick and simple transaction for everyone involved. Fill in you name, address, email and your payment details, boom you’ve got yourself a ticket. With nearly all events promoting their ticket sales online through third party companies and only a minority being able to be purchased either over the phone or box office is this really the best option out there?
Advantages
- SIMPLE AND QUICK. As I mentioned above it is unbelievably simple to buy tickets online for an event. Pop in your contact details and payment details and you are sorted. Access to these sites are always simple too and with the payment often going through paypal you don’t even have to fill out your card details. Confirmation gets sent to your email and the tickets will arrive a few weeks before the event, what Ticketmaster do, or even with some companies, like Resident Advisor, are sent straight to your phone in a E-Ticket format.
- SECURE. When going with an official events link direct to the site they are selling tickets it will be trusted. This means not only secure payment, confirmation and confidentiality but that you have secured your place at that event. This is sometimes the only way you can secure your ticket before they sell out, but it also means if they are selling in a box office or that the door, that you have the advantage of defiantly getting a space/seat etc.
Disadvantages
- MAJORITY/ALL SOLD ONLINE. What if you didn’t have access to the internet? With 13% of the UK not having access to the internet this would be an issue to those individuals. They would either have to approach someone or pay for internet usage, which also might be a issue, to purchase these tickets. This can demotivate them in attending due to the hassle. With some tickets being available online and the rest in a box office, this could also be an issue to potential attendees as they might not be in proximity to purchase them.
- FALSE WEBSITES. With the increasing amount of fake profiles, false websites and scamming systems out there it is sometimes hard to differentiate between which ticket sites are real and which ones have been created by scammers. Make sure when purchasing tickets its always by approved sites, these are usually the ones promoted by the event itself. With sites such as Gumtree and Ebay out there it is often that they are targeted by ticket misuse but this cannot be controlled by the event itself and they are not entitled to refund the victims of these scams. (Pendersen, 2015)
- BOOKING FEES. When purchasing a ticket for an event online nearly every time you will have to pay a booking. This can either be down to the event using third party sites like Ticketmaster or just for the fact it’s being done in advance online. This may give the attendee reassurance that they have got their ticket, but when purchasing it face to face they would not have to pay this fee (Bachelor, 2014).
Ticket Websites Mentioned:
- http://www.residentadvisor.net/
- http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/
- http://www.gumtree.com/
- http://www.ebay.co.uk/
REFERENCES
BACHELOR, L., 2014. Online ticket companies face scrutiny over booking and delivery fees. [online]. London: Guardian News. Available from: http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/jul/13/online-ticket-firms-booking-delivery-fees-which [Accessed 13 April 2015].
RD MEDIA., 2015. Ticketmaster. [online]. Netherlands: RD-Media. Available from: http://rd-media.org/extensions/ticketmaster/product/7.html [Accessed 13 April 2015].
PEDERSEN, S., 2015. Identity Online, BS1288. Identity Online. Digital Media Practices and Platforms. The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen Business School, room 224, 13 March.
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