How reliable is Ebay?

[Miggy D]

Merged: All eBay Questions and Discussions

I want to get GA tickets to a U2 show before it's too late. I saw them at SJ2 but it was in the first-tier stands with my family. It was a great show but I want to experience U2 the way they're meant to be experienced - on the floor with all the die hards.

I've been thinking about trying Ebay but I am very wary of scammers. The possibility of fraud on a site like Ebay is so high, and I won't be able to tell if my tickets are real until the day of the concert when they're scanned and the security guard tells me my tickets are invalid.

I'm not about to drop hundreds of dollars on fradulant tickets.

What should I do?

-Miggy D

 

[Pleban77]

I say only look for tickets that are "hard"...don't buy TicketFast. This will minimize your chances of them being fraudulent. If you're not sure or if the seller doesn't specify, just ask.

 

[Miggy D]

I say only look for tickets that are "hard"...don't buy TicketFast. This will minimize your chances of them being fraudulent. If you're not sure or if the seller doesn't specify, just ask.

"Excuse me - are the tickets you're selling real? Just wanted to check before I bid on them. Thanks!"

 

[Pleban77]

"Excuse me - are the tickets you're selling real? Just wanted to check before I bid on them. Thanks!"

The asking the seller part was in reference to TicketFast or Hard.

 

[The OOTS]

If they have a good amount of positive feedback...they are usually legit.

I bought GAs on Ebay and they actually got me into the ellipse!
Just do your research, read the sellers feedbacks, and you should be OK.

And, like someone else said, make sure the tickets are 'hard' tickets and not the email tickets.

 

[elevashn_hj]

I want to get GA tickets to a U2 show before it's too late. I saw them at SJ2 but it was in the first-tier stands with my family. It was a great show but I want to experience U2 the way they're meant to be experienced - on the floor with all the die hards.

I've been thinking about trying Ebay but I am very wary of scammers. The possibility of fraud on a site like Ebay is so high, and I won't be able to tell if my tickets are real until the day of the concert when they're scanned and the security guard tells me my tickets are invalid.

I'm not about to drop hundreds of dollars on fradulant tickets.

What should I do?

-Miggy D

I have both bought and sold tickets on ebay. Ebay (despite what a lot think) is a great resource for tickets. All that I have bought or sold have been at or below face value. My requirements for tickets on ebay are as follows:

1. Check the rating of the person selling. If it is below 98% or so, I wont work with them. If it is below 100% possitive feedback, I read the negative feedbacks left for them to see if they were indeed negative or if it is just a case of "Some people are never happy".

2. I stay away from Ticketfast tickets. I have ticketfast for one show and that is because I got it for free. If it ends up being a fradulant ticket, I can't bitch.

3. Stay on top of the auction. If you are buying, pay as soon as you can to expedite the shipment. Make sure that they are using at the least USPS Priority Mail with insurance (and preferably sign on delivery). If you are selling, ship out within 24 hours or receipt of payment.

4. Pay using paypal. That way you can dispute any charges both with Ebay and with Paypal

5. Communicate! Communicate! Communicate! Email requesting status of delivery and whatnot until you receive (if buying), or the buyer receives (if selling).

I have yet to get screwed or screw someone with ebay. So I am quite pleased with it. (BTW, I picked up a ticket for the Denver show a few weeks ago for $1.25, delivery was prompt, and went smoothly. Now I had no intention of going to Denver, but it was a price that I couldn't pass up. I in turn advertised on here that I was selling for "WAY BELOW FACE VALUE". The first person who replied to me, got the ticket for free.)

Ok enough.

Later

HJ

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

paypal can suck it...

i sold a ticket to the san diego opener on e-bay because i couldn't find a buyer here quick enough.

someone bought it and paid for it... done deal, show has been over for a while now...


EHHHH... wrong-o.

turns out the guy who bought the ticket used a stolen credit card to do so. so pay pal returned the funds to the owner of the card... only one problem... the damned concert is over and I can't get my ticket back, and they aren't giving me appropriate compensation for my loss.

i have one more e-mail into them... if i don't get a proper answer, a laywer shall be contacted.

 

[bono_man2002]

I brought 2 tickets off ebay for both LA shows, and No problems.

 

[HappyFatBono]

...turns out the guy who bought the ticket used a stolen credit card to do so. so pay pal returned the funds to the owner of the card... only one problem... the damned concert is over and I can't get my ticket back, and they aren't giving me appropriate compensation for my loss.

Paypal can be a bi-atch!

Did you send the tickets to a confirmed address?

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

yes

 

[ramblin rose]

Paypal can be a bi-atch!

Did you send the tickets to a confirmed address?

That's what I'm really curious about.

Personally, I have another problem. I bought 2 tickets for the 10/7 MSG show from Ebay, the seller had 100% from over 200 sales. Have already received the hard tickets.. I happened to check out what other tickets this person is selling and now they are no longer registered at Ebay.

I wonder if I should now be worried.

 

[HappyFatBono]

yes

This thread has a lot of great information that may help you.

the OFFICIAL Paypal Dispute / Chargeback Defense Thread & FAQ for SELLERS

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/messageview.php?catid=67&threadid=393725

 

[HappyFatBono]

That's what I'm really curious about.

Personally, I have another problem. I bought 2 tickets for the 10/7 MSG show from Ebay, the seller had 100% from over 200 sales. Have already received the hard tickets.. I happened to check out what other tickets this person is selling and now they are no longer registered at Ebay.

I wonder if I should now be worried.

I wouldn't worry since you recieved the hard tickets.

They are "no longer registered" cause they probably have not paid thier eBay fees. (and will become re-registered once they pay thier fees)

 

[ramblin rose]

I wouldn't worry since you recieved the hard tickets.

They are "no longer registered" cause they probably have not paid thier eBay fees. (and will become re-registered once they pay thier fees)

Thanks.

 

[Mr. BAW]

I say only look for tickets that are "hard"...don't buy TicketFast. This will minimize your chances of them being fraudulent. If you're not sure or if the seller doesn't specify, just ask.

But I don't think anyone here has every posted about having a problem with a Ticketfast ticket....I posed this question a couple weeks ago, and so far, so good.....sure the chance of getting ripped is out there but none reported...anyone????

We've used Ticketfast purchased through Ebay and so far, so good...

 

[thetitans2k]

Ebay

No Minneapolis tickets up at ebay, if and when are they going to come up on ebay? I Need tickets to this show badly!

 

[regularguy]

I saw an interesting ticketfast situation in Phoenix. There were two people sitting in seats right near me, they moved within the section a couple of times and it was clear they were up to something. Just before the show began, the people whose seats they were in showed up, and the people moved. They said, "yeah, those are our seats over there, we just wanted more room." So they move to the other seats. During the second song, some other people show up for those seats, and both sides pull out their tickets. I turns out that the slimy people were in the correct seats but had ticketfast tickets and the people who showed up late had hard tickets for the same seat numbers. The arena usher told the people with ticketfast tickets that because they did not have hard tickets, they had to move and be escorted to customer service to have the validity of their tickets checked. If they were valid, they would be reseated in different seats.

I guess what I don't understand is if one group was pulling a fast one, why the scanners scanned in both sets of tickets. But I guess the important part of the story is that it was interesting what the heirarchy for tickets is -- ticketfast had to go to customer service.

I think on ebay, I would only buy ticketfast tickets from someone that has lots of feedback for recent ticket sales -- ie. ebay scalpers.

 

[OffAxis]

Dude the show's in September. Relax, the scalpers are still groggy from their winter hibernation up there and haven't put them up yet.

 

[Pleban77]

But I don't think anyone here has every posted about having a problem with a Ticketfast ticket....I posed this question a couple weeks ago, and so far, so good.....sure the chance of getting ripped is out there but none reported...anyone????

We've used Ticketfast purchased through Ebay and so far, so good...

I haven't heard of any TicketFast problems either, but I would be too nervous the entire time until I got through the ticket scanners. Always wondering. I don't need that added stress!

 

[KBRY]

I only count 11...considering the amount of U2 auctions that is a tiny percentage...maybe the fans got the rest!

http://search-desc.ebay.com/u2-tick...ga10244Z10425QQftrtZ1QQftrvZ1QQfsopZ1QQfsooZ1

 

[paultjr]

I recently used ticketfast tickets I purchased on E-bay for the Phoenix 1 show. Had no problems at all. The seller was a ticket broker with over 1500 feedback messages, only 3 were negative and all had to do with shipping (mine arrived in 2 days). I didn't see a problem, didn't have a problem, and would buy from the guy again. Like mentioned earlier, as long as you do your homework, research and communicate with the seller (and use paypal), it's cool.

 

[bonoed]

I think they can fake regular tickets just as easy as Ticketfast. I still always get my tickets as hard tickets tho, and most sellers on Ebay will list when they have the tickets and they are regular tickets, not Ticketfast. Every once in a while someone does post somewhere that they got scammed, but it doesn't appear to happen all that often. Now with everybody being a ticket broker, thanks to Ebay, a great many of those tkts on sale are just from regular Joe schmoos. The problem with Ticketfast is you can keep printing it out, over and over. So if you buy one from Ebay or a broker, be at the venue when they start letting people in, and be the first person in with your Ticketfast. For a great deal of money, I don't think I would buy a Ticketfast resale. I might take a chance if it was $100 max., but nothing over that, even tho the other tkts can be faked as well.

I thought that "verified" Paypal took care of any problems, i.e., Paypal had "verified" that they had a good credit card and/or checking account? When I have sold things on Ebay, I only take "verified" Paypal people's bids. Call Judge Judy and go on there and get your money from that deadbeat, and tell us when to watch.

 

[daygloeyes2]

I bought 2 GA tickets for the December 4th show on e-bay, and they're the hard ones, not ticketfast. They look pretty genuine to me, but I guess I'll find out in December.

 

[Kinsa]

I was screwed this past weekend by a seller on Ebay for the Glendale2 show - bought the tickets on 4/5, and never recieved them, and never heard from the seller despite daily emails to him.

Now, after the concert is over, and after I put in a claim with Paypal, he miraculously came back from his vacation (on which he had no internet access, surprise surprise), and provided Paypal with a USPS shipping number (bit one that can't be traced? WTF??)I paid $20 for expedited shipping, and he doesn't have a tracing muber that can be traced? I think the problem is that the tickets were way under face value - face value was more than $200, and I paid $100, so he most likely didn't want to sell them at that price.

In the end, it worked out for the best for me (as long as I get my money back through paypal!), because I was able to pick up some fabulous tickets off of Ticketbastard 4 days before the show.

By the way, I will let everyone know the seller's id (he had 100% feedback!), if he lists anymore U2 tickets (I just checked, he doesn't have any listed now), so you all can stay clear from him.

Also, I have bought lots of tickets on Ebay for lots of events and have never had a problem, so this guy really is an exception to the majority of good sellers on Ebay.

 

[u2wedge]

I wouldn't worry since you recieved the hard tickets.

They are "no longer registered" cause they probably have not paid thier eBay fees. (and will become re-registered once they pay thier fees)

or because people in various forums reported them for selling tickets.....

Personally I would never buy 'hard' tickets from someone who puts an entire unblurred image of the tickets including the barcode. Even if they have a million positive feedbacks. People can copy the barcode onto a fake ticket and still get into the show. They can even make a bar code if they can read the digits under it. One of the drawbacks of scanning for admission...

In general, if the seller has good feedback and is careful how they are listing the tickets, you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

 

[U2BROTHR]

I have bought several tickets for U2 off of ebay. I bought tickets for the final show in Miami as well as tickets for NJ for the Elevation tour. All I did was research the feedback that was given. I even contacted some of the ebay members who bought from the same seller prior to me. I travelled from Toronto to see these shows....hard tickets in hand....no problems. Tickets were shipped and I was provided with tracking numbers.

Seems nowadays, for a tout/scalper, ticketfast is the way to go in order to have the tickets ASAP. Scalpers are also starting to realize that fans would rather hard tickets.

I have bought ticketfast tickets recently for the May 22 Philly show. I'm not nervous as this seller has had almost 2000 contacts with customers. The ticketfast tickets came in 3 days....and they were colour printed on super duper paper.

Whatever you do...NEVER buy any tickets that have the barcode displayed in a picture on ebay. Those tickets could be easily cancelled or copied.

 

[lemon_vr6]

I bought 8 shows worth of GA tix on Ebay from brokers with excellent feedback and had no toruble at all. Just insist on hard tix.

 

[u2bigfans]

never buy from people with 0 fb...

 

[8rattoon]

I bought three pairs of tickets for friends for the Denver show coming up on the 20th, all from seemingly reliable sellers. Two pairs are hard tix, one is ticketfast. I am not that worried judging by the overall smooth transactions I experienced with all three purchases. If they are fake, you can get your money back thru Paypal and threaten to piss in the seller's corn flakes by marring their feedback rating.
Has anyone ever gotten a "fake" pair of tickets?

 

[randhail]

I've used both ebay and craig's list to buy tickets - hard tickets and ticketfast. I think that as long as the seller has good feedback, you should be fine. It still can be nervewracking though. Last year I bought Kenny Chesney tickets for my gf and his name was misspelled on the ticket. It sure got my worried but it turned out to be fine. I've bought tickets through ebay for this tour for the fleetcenter and am not worried at all.