Nowadays it is not a great deal to go to another country to the concert of your favorite Madonna or another singer. Thousands of people travel every year from country to country to support their favorite soccer or hockey team. Do they go to booking office to buy tickets beforehand? No! With new opportunities provided by the Internet there is no need to cover miles and miles to get the cherished piece of paper that will allow you to get in touch with your idol. And those opportunities are provided with multiple online ticket sales companies offering to purchase all kinds of event tickets regardless the location of stadium, music hall, theater and etc. The agencies provide full information about the event, make the recommendations, help to choose the best places, and deliver the tickets to your place!

Nowadays the market of online ticket sales companies is presented with several big players and a great number of small ones and their number continue to grow. We decided to cover only the biggest companies just to provide the opportunity to understand the main principles of the agencies’ work. 

People know them by SITE

Ticketmaster is a California-based ticket sales and distribution company was one of the first companies to sell tickets on the Internet. The company was founded in 1976 in Arizona by Albert Leffler, Peter Gadwa, Gordon Gunn & Charles H Hamby Jr. Later company management decided to headquarter in West Hollywood, California. According to the report last year the company has sold more than 142 million tickets valued at $8 billion. And of cause the growing popularity couldn’t fail to influence the company itself. So, in the beginning of the year Ticketmaster has bought Paciolan Inc., a developer of ticketing system applications and hosted ticketing systems. And later Ticketmaster has announced the acquisition of a UK ticket exchange site, Getmein.com, which allows sellers to list the tickets at whatever price they choose. According to some reports the company claims to have over 500,000 tickets listed at any one time and independent research has shown the majority of these to be priced at least 100% above the original face value.

The price issue is a special one with Ticketmaster. Since the company is one of the first ones it has made the exclusive agreements with many ticket issuing companies even the competition has not lowered service fees, and there is a monopoly on the online ticket sales market.

Usually the company adds some additional fees included into the price cost:

• Service Charge is a fee charged by Ticketmaster for the service provided. The fee is charged regardless the way of booking however the amount of fee may vary. 
• Building Facility Charge is changed by the venue itself
• Processing Charge is a fee changed by Ticketmaster for your order processing (call or e-mail)
• Shipping fee is changed for the delivery of tickets including e-tickets sent via e-mail and printed by the users at their own expense. 

The tickets can be ordered by phone, on site or in the company office. 
Alse there is a Ticketmaster Auctions where the company allows its venues, promoters, and artists to sell tickets and ticket packages directly to fans on Ticketmaster.com at a fair market price. 

Euroticket.biz, one of the leading European ticket sales companies, headquarters in Prague, Czech Republic. According to the site information the first ticket sales were made in 2004. EuroTicket.biz serves all kinds of sports and entertainment events including sports matches, concerts, theaters and etc. The site is available in two languages English and Russian. In addition to the tickets Euroticket.biz also offers its help in hotel booking, including visa support and preparation of the necessary documents. 

Alike other companies which being of American origin offer their home events and the events in the neighboring countries, Euroticket.biz offers tickets to various European championships and matches.  

The tickets of EuroTicket.biz can be ordered on the company’s site. Unlike the American companies listed above which accept only credit and debit cards EuroTicket.biz offers a wide range of payment methods including the traditional debit and credit cards of Visa and MasterCard, Visa Electron, Maestro, Cirrus, American Express, JCB, Diners Club International, e-currencies, such as ChronoPay and PayPal and also bank wires transfers. 

The prices for the tickets vary depending on the face value. All the prices are given in euros. Shipment fee are 40 euros regardless you’re the customer’s location. Other fees are not charged. 

Shipment is made by FedEx and UPS services. 

Another giant on online sales ticket marketing is Yoonew, Inc. founded in September 2004 by two friends Gerry Wilson and Hagos Mehreteab in New York. According to the companies history first Yoonew had some financial difficulties and Wilson had to liquidate his 401(k) in 2003 to provide tickets in 2005. It is necessary to add that unlike Ticketmaster which offers tickets to all kinds of events Yoonew deals only with sport events. Actually the idea to create ticket sales company was born when Wilson was unable to obtain affordable tickets to the 2003 World Series. Starting from 2005 the company started to grow and to expand attracting more and more sport fans. 

Company divides its tickets into three categories: Team Fantasy Seat, Matchup Fantasy Seat, and simple tickets for a given event. Unlike Team Fantasy Seat tickets which are provided for some particular team and a particular event which entitles the owner the ticket to the event if the team makes it to the event, Matchup Fantasy Seat tickets are provided for a given matchup and a given event which entitles the owner the ticket to the event if both teams of the matchup makes it to the event.

If Matchup Fantasy Seat tickets are riskier than Team Fantasy Seat, they are also much cheaper. During the playoff, the Fantasy Seats of eliminated teams get expired and are removed from their owner's portfolios. When a team becomes a finalist, the Team Fantasy Seat for the team is converted into a ticket. When both teams of a matchup become finalist, the Matchup Fantasy Seats are converted into tickets. The owners of such Fantasy Seats can choose either to sell the ticket on the exchange for a profit or keeps it to go to the game.

Booking in advance allow the sport fancies to save money since Yoonew provides some discounts and sells tickets at a low prices which are market-based. However, if someone buys tickets beforehand and his or her team failed to pass the next round the customers lose the money spent on the ticket.  

Tickets can be ordered on the company’s site. Prices vary depending on face value and shipment expenses. 

Actually the company reserves a right to deliver up to 12 hours before the start of an event. There are some factors that can influence the delivery. They are as follows: the venue, the country where the event is to be held, the state or country in which you live, how much time is left before the event starts, whether it is a holiday season and/or the overall event demand. In most cases, tickets are available for pick-up 24-48 hours before the start of the event. 

Payment method: If the event is located in the United States, yoonew.com accepts American Express, Visa, MasterCard, and Discover, as well as PayPal, Google Checkout and ACH bank transfers.

StubHub, a California-based company, was founded in 2000 by Eric Baker and Jeff Fluhr, former Stanford Business School students and investment bankers. In 2004 Eric Baker has left the company and in January 2007 it was acquired by eBay. StubHub provides an opportunity to get tickets for sports, concerts, theater and other live entertainment events at fair market value, even for events that happen to be sold out. Alike Ticketmaster the company has several exclusive contracts with lots of professional teams and college sports programs that allows it to provide the cheaper tickets. 

The tickets can be ordered on the site. The whole procedure is very simple: the customer selects the seats and places an order, then StubHub contacts the seller who should provide a confirmation. After getting the confirmation StubHub informs the customer about the date of ticket delivery. 

The prices vary depending on face value, however the company has a fixed commission fee 25% changed from both seller and buyer (15% and 10% respectively). 

There are several ways to deliver the tickets. Generally the most tickets are shipped by FedEx Shipping that allows tracking the shipping. Shipments are made to the US and Canada only. Shipment fees vary from $11.95 to $24.95 depending on location and delivery period. 

eDilivery, the cheapest delivery method of StubHub. eDelivery allows the customers to receive the tickets either electronically or to pick them up from a venue Will Call window or ticket kiosk. Options include standard eDelivery, Instant eDelivery and WillCall/Kiosk. Fees are $4.95. 

And the last method is Last Minute Services which allows the customers to get their tickets right up to the start of the event and pick them up at a convenient Last Minute Service Center. The fee here is $15.00.  

Payment can be made using credit and debit cards. The service accepts Visa or MasterCard debit cards and Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover credit cards.

Live Nation, Inc. was founded in 2005 by a spin-off from Clear Channel Communications. Today the company headquarters in Beverly Hills, California. Unlike other services it deals mainly with the concerts. Among partners of Live Nation are the agents of such stars as Madonna, U2, Jay-Z, Nickelback and Shakira. In 2006 Live Nation acquired House of Blues. Currently there are 12 House of Blues venues located in Houston, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Chicago, Myrtle Beach, Orlando, Las Vegas, Anaheim, Cleveland, San Diego, Atlantic City and Dallas. An additional HOB club is being planned for Boston. House of Blues is headed by President Deb Eybers.

Actually when just founded the company served music concerts, theatrical shows, specialized motor sports and other events, with total attendance exceeding 61 million. But with time flow it decided to specialize in concerts. Earlier this year Live Nation has sold its North American theatrical business (including the Broadway Across America business) to Key Brand Entertainment for $90.4 million.

The tickets can be ordered on the company’s site. However when you press on the button buy now the company redirects you to the site of Ticketmaster. 

The prices vary. 

Company accepts only Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover as a payment method. 

Besides these companies there are lots of other ones, and it’s your right to choose the one you like. Enjoy every moment of your live!