Demystifying Arts Ticketing - Part I

John Fraser is the Director of Ticketing at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts as well as a frequent performer with its various Resident Companies.

Do you ever get lost in the mysterious world of event ticketing? I think we all do, even ticketing professionals. The level of detail required to complete a purchase can make a task which seems intuitive become more than a little daunting. Maybe I can shed some light that will make your future ticket buying experience a little better.

Rule #1 - Make sure you are buying direct.

The world and the internet are full of third party ticketing agencies that want to resell tickets to you. If you are looking for tickets to a sold out show or if you are looking to impress out of town guests with premium seats, ticket brokers can be a life line. But, their services come at a hefty cost. Most third party ticketing agencies charge substantially more than double the ticket price for their tickets. Some reputable ticket brokers know what shows are hot and invest early in a supply of prime seats even before customers come to them for tickets. But, in the Anchorage market, most events do not sell out well in advance of the show; so ticket brokers generally wait for someone to purchase tickets from them before getting tickets to fulfill these orders.

For instance, as I write this blog, single tickets for Les Misérables in Anchorage have not gone on sale to the public through CenterTix. At present, the only authorized seller is the event presenter Anchorage Concert Association who is selling Les Misérables exclusively as part of a subscription package. CenterTix will begin selling single tickets to the show in July. Yet several third party ticketing websites are advertising tickets and even providing approximate seat locations for tickets they haven’t yet purchased (see for yourself online).

Third party ticket agencies get a lot of bad press. They have been blamed for denying children Hannah Montana tickets. In the lower 48, they are frequently accused of buying all the available tickets for popular events and then reselling them at astronomical prices. But, not all third party ticket agencies are bad. Consider GrouponLive. For some shows, they are given an allotment of tickets to sell at half price (much like the TKTS booth in New York City, only better because GrouponLive sells half price tickets well in advance of the show). In Anchorage, we also have KTUU Deals and ADN Deals that occasionally sell tickets at bargain prices. People also successfully buy tickets on Craigslist and eBay. However, be careful when purchasing from individuals. Gauge the repute of the seller. Although fraudulent tickets are somewhat rare in Alaska, we have had to turn away people holding fraudulent tickets that were attained from a sketchy source.

So how do you find the real source for tickets? Look for the venue’s website. It will point you to the authorized seller and you will save a lot of hassle and money!

Get tickets for events at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts at www.CenterTix.net.