Tips for Buying Tickets for Concerts and Sports Events

New Zealand has three main ticket suppliers for major events. Ticketek, Ticketmaster and Ticket direct.

The all charge 'service' charges for the handling of your enquiry on the phone or over the Internet.

Ticketek
Phone $8.50 (fixed rate per transaction)
Internet $8.00 (fixed rate per transaction)

If you order 1 ticket that costs $20.00, they will still add the $8.00 or $8.50 (this is a large percentage of the cost).

Ticketmaster
Phone $5.50-$8.00 (fixed rate per transaction)
Internet$5.50-$8.00 (fixed rate per transaction)

If ordering through Ticketek or Ticketmaster, get all your friends going to the same event to order through you. This will save the transaction fees everyone would have added to their orders (only one transaction now).

Ticket Direct
Phone $0-$2 (per ticket)
Internet $0-$2 (per ticket)

With Ticket Direct you are dealing directly with the venues.

Tricks of the Ticketing trade
Ticketek and Ticketmaster will not show all the costs on the Internet until the last screen of your transaction.
All companies can charge extra for courier and delivery charges. This will also not show up until the end of your transaction. By this time you would have got sick of going through all the screens and will just submit your payment without reading what you are agreeing to pay.
Read the final page carefully, then decide if picking the tickets up would be easier and cheaper

For all terms and conditions please contact the companies directly.