Get live event tickets fast with these 3 tips

Most times when we want to get or sell tickets, we don't do a whole lot of research on how to get the best deals. Sure, we have a few tricks of our own, but here's a couple extras you can add to your arsenal when ticket shopping.

Broker websites help their customers pick and choose by displaying all kinds of information and graphics about the concerts, shows and sporting events they offer tickets for.

• For example, they'll have seating charts of major venues across the continent and schedules of upcoming events.
• The displays are ostensibly for paying customers, but it turns out you don't have to be one to gain access to them.
• Just Google online ticket brokers, find a site with good information and find out all you need to know.

Ticket brokers like you to do your shopping online, because there's virtually no labour cost involved. So they don't shout too loud about the call-in service they might also offer that lets you do your purchasing over the phone.

This is worth taking advantage of, and it's not just for the Internet-challenged. One ticket broker boasts more than 100 "customer care representatives" available who can often give you something that the site alone might not — answers to your personal questions, like these ones:

• Which is the shady side of the venue?
• What are the bathrooms like?
• Do they sell Coke or Pepsi?

And, of course, they can sell you the tickets. The site will probably have an 800 number in plain view, but the "Contact Us" button might give you more direct access to the customer service phone connection.

Do you own the right to season tickets that have been in your family for decades? Wouldn't it be a tragedy to have to give them up because of soaring prices?

That particular issue is happening a lot these days, but you can avoid it thanks to the secondary market. Here's how:

• Unless you're a mega-fanatic with no work schedule and a thermonuclear passion for your home team, you probably won't be attending all 81 baseball home games, or all 41 basketball or hockey home games.
• In fact, if you're typical, you probably spend stressful hours arranging to give away the ones you can't use. So go ahead and get your season tickets, check the schedule and plan the games you'll be going to. Then check the Internet for a licensed ticket reseller who will buy the rest en masse.
• True, you can't anticipate those unexpected great mid-season matchups, and you do run the risk of later wishing you had some tickets back.

But consider the payoff: in one stroke, you've:

• kept the season tickets in the family
• drastically reduced your total cost
• removed the headache of constantly dealing with extra tickets
• still guaranteed yourself entry to most of the games you'll want to see

Not bad when you think about it. And you've done nothing involved with scalping, as long as you sell your ducats at face value to a legitimate licensed reseller, who must follow state or provincial laws.