As frequent live sports game watchers and concertgoers, we’re constantly on the hunt for cheap concert tickets. After all, nothing beats the thrill of attending a concert or our favorite sports game live. Adding to that thrill is the proliferation of choices in ticket event sites that have popped up in the last few years. Given how important these tickets are to us buyers, it’s important that the site selling cheap tickets offers us the greatest sense of protection. One that’s stood out is Vivid Seats – legit, reliable, and reputable. This online secondary marketplace allows fans like us to sell and buy tickets to comedy shows, musicals, music festivals, concerts, sports events, and more across the United States.
That said, it has the highest competition in Ticketmaster, which is both a primary and secondary marketplace, and which similarly helps fans like us buy valid tickets for a wide variety of live events across multiple countries. Ticket types include concerts, sports, theater performances, and more in over 30 countries.
Of course, the question boils down to: which one is better? Read on to know!
Ticket Availability And Volume
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We begin with the all-important factor, the availability and the volumes of tickets. While both sites are popular and were founded in the United States, the actual experiences are quite different. For one, Vivid Seats chooses to conduct their business primarily within the United States. Even then, they have expanded their offerings to include listing events for Mexico and Canada, too. On the other hand, Ticketmaster sells millions of tickets in more than 30 countries annually.
“We loved that we had the opportunity to purchase tickets to live virtual events via Vivid Seats!”
WOW Travel
Obviously, this brings about a huge difference in the type of ticket booking experiences on both websites. However, Vivid Seats gets bonus points for offering tickets for virtual events as well, even if they’re able to offer up live events only in the continental North America.
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Customer Support
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As with any kind of online purchase, there are things that can go wrong even if precautions have been taken. In the end, ticket buyers need to know that they’ll always have access to support if they have any questions or run into any issues during the entire process.
Contacting customer service is stressful in any case. This is where Vivid Seats legit wins this category by offering more quickly accessible options. They not only offer a contact form, but also phone numbers and live chat support, making getting in touch with someone much easier. On the other hand, Ticketmaster, while having good customer service options, makes connecting with a real person much more complicated and lengthier.
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Payment Options
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Tickets for live events are an investment for fans, which is why it’s important to know the payment methods available ahead of time. Both Vivid Seats and Ticketmaster offer credit and debit cards, PayPal, and gift cards. While Ticketmaster offers Venmo and AmEx, and Vivid Seats doesn’t, the latter edges out the former with the Vivid Seats Rewards program. It’s an impressive offer for regular ticket buyers, who get to collect a stamp for every ticket that they buy. Furthermore, collecting 10 stamps gets them a Reward Credit, which can be used toward tickets on the app. Please note that Reward Credits can be redeemed only when tickets are bought from the Vivid Seats app.
The best bit? No event is excluded from this program, and all tickets from all events are eligible for stamps. Also, one can offer to buy the tickets for their entire group of family or friends and get to keep the stamps!
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Ticket Delivery Methods
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Purchasing tickets is one story; getting them actually in your hand is a whole different one. Both Vivid Seats and Ticketmaster allow for all kinds of delivery methods possible when it comes to their tickets. So, deciding which website to purchase tickets from boils down to the event in question and your personal preferences. While some might argue that Ticketmaster’s ticket delivery is almost always free, what makes Vivid Seats legit is the fact that it charges a USD 2.50 delivery fee for digital tickets and more for physical tickets – and that might just work in its favor. That’s because it makes the sale of the tickets more legit, especially since you get to track the delivery.
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Fraud Protection, Refunds, and Policies
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Ticketing fraud is one of the biggest concerns for ticket buyers, as it’s entirely possible for one to buy duplicate, tampered, or counterfeit tickets in the absence of due diligence. Vivid Seats offers a 100% “Buyer Guarantee,” thus reassuring buyers that they’ll get authentic and valid tickets or get their money back. They do their best to prevent and correct any fraudulent transactions or cases, working closely with sellers to ensure that buyers get what they paid for. Ticketmaster also has advanced practices for validating uploaded tickets, as they sell digital tickets and automate a major chunk of the reselling process.
Even the policies for both sites are quite identical and incredibly fair. While both protect their buyers, their refund policies are also the same: refunds are only issued for canceled events. Ticketmaster does say that it offers refunds for significantly rescheduled events, but that remains to be seen.
Also read: Top sports events to book on Vivid Seats this year
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Fees
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Finally, we come to the all-important and deciding factor: fees. Whenever you buy or sell tickets, the fees include a ton of hidden costs, which is important to know.
When we’re shopping for tickets, Vivid Seats uses “all-in pricing,” allowing us to the the cost of a ticket, including fees, right from the very beginning. Besides the listed price, every ticket includes delivery and service charges, which cover the cost of all company operations required to facilitate transactions, including maintaining online privacy measures, finding and listing lakhs of tickets, and coordinating their shipping and delivery.
Ticketmaster, on the other hand, has two main types of tickets, standard admission and resale tickets, with the fees depending on the kind of ticket bought. For standard tickets, teams, sports leagues, promoters, and artists decide how they want to sell their tickets. This includes not only deciding their face value, but also when and how many tickets to put up for sale. On the other hand, sellers, including professional resellers, season ticket holders, and fans, determine the listing price of resale tickets.
For both kinds of tickets, fees could include order processing fees, service fees, facility charges, occasional delivery fees, and any applicable taxes, and they are shared between all parties, including Ticketmaster. Additionally, you might see all-in pricing on some events (some state laws also require this), which is a prerogative of those selling the tickets.
Overall, Vivid Seats fees include only a 10% commission from tickets sold, as compared to Ticketmaster’s 15%, which also has a tendency to change. In such cases, Vivid Seats legit can help reselling fans retain more of their earnings.
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Why are there two different listings for the same section and row tickets sometimes on Vivid Seats?
Since a wide variety of sellers own and manage the listed tickets, the prices might vary since every seller sets their own price. However, the difference in cost doesn’t necessarily reflect the seat’s location and quality.
Can I add more than one set of tickets to my shopping cart?
Sometimes yes. However, if the ticket listings are from different sellers across North America, they might require separate orders due to the difference in their delivery time frame and method.
When will Vivid Seats charge my credit card?
When you place the order, it will place a reserve on the funds through your credit card. However, the charge won’t occur until after the respective seller confirms your order, which you’ll receive via an email notification.
Some images on this article are copyrighted by Vivid Seats.
