(Guest Post by Toi Williams. Want to guest post too? Let us know.)
Giving tickets to a favorite concert, show, or sporting event can be a great gift, but there can be a number of problems that make buying tickets as a gift difficult, or potentially embarrassing. Some of these issues are mere inconveniences while others make the tickets completely unusable. Here are some tips that will help you avoid the hassles that could turn your gift into a nightmare for you and the recipient.
Use A Ticket Seller That Is Reliable
If you are buying event tickets to give to another person, be sure that you are buying the tickets from a reliable ticket seller, such as StubHub! Fly by night ticket sellers may be selling fraudulent or invalid tickets and there is often no way to tell until the gift recipient is turned away at the door of the event. If you are unsure about the company that you are considering doing business with, check their ratings with the Better Business Bureau and see if they have gotten a large number of complaints.
Review The Guarantee Policy
Most legitimate ticket sellers will guarantee the tickets that they sell. These guarantees usually state that the ticket seller will replace them or provide refunds to consumers if they receive the wrong tickets, their tickets are invalid, or an event is cancelled. In many cases, the tickets brought from resellers and online auction sites do not have these guarantees. In order to ensure that the recipient receives some benefit from your gift, only give event tickets that come with a guarantee.
Double Check The URL
If you are buying tickets online, either from the venue or from an online ticket broker, double check the URL at the top of the page to make sure that you are on the right website before you start entering payment information. This will ensure that you don’t get duped by an imposter who has created a fake website in order to steal your information or a reselling website posing as a legitimate vendor. These imposters are really good at creating websites that look official, so double checking the URL is the best way to identify what website you are really on.
Read The Fine Print
Before giving an event ticket to someone else, be sure to read all of the fine print on the ticket so you can avoid potential headaches. Some tickets are non-transferable, requiring the buyer to show up at the venue with the purchasing credit card and a photo ID. In any case where you do not receive a physical paper ticket to enter the event, there is a potential for problems to occur. Unless you want to risk the recipient not being able to attend the event without your presence, only give paper tickets as gifts to others.