How to Avoid Fake “Speculative” Tickets for Live Events

At Ticketmaster, we believe real fans deserve real tickets. That’s why Ticketmaster is dedicated to combatting bots and scalpers, who use a practice called “speculative listing” (spec listing) or “speculative tickets” to sell fans fake tickets. This practice is unfair, unethical and takes advantage of fans and performers.

Below is a list of everything you need to know to avoid scammers and shop safely for legitimate concert tickets to see your favorite artists.

What is speculative ticket listing?

Speculative listing is when sellers create ticket listings even though they do not actually have those tickets. They are betting (or speculating) that they will be able to get tickets and then resell them to fans. People claiming to sell these tickets are committing fraud.

Several U.S. states are taking action against spec ticketing by enacting or considering legislation around banning the practice, including Arizona, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Maine, Nevada, and Pennsylvania.

How does spec ticketing impact fans?

Speculative ticketing forces real fans to compete against scammers and resellers who are acquiring tickets to fulfill the speculations they made. These resellers are actually preventing fans from getting tickets through a legitimate source like Ticketmaster.

It also causes panic by leading fans to believe that tickets are only available to buy through marked-up resale prices, even when they haven’t actually gone on sale yet. These listings often appear as soon as a tour is announced, and make it seem like tickets are selling fast–or that fans have already missed out.

How to spot and combat speculative tickets

When you’re ready to buy tickets, don’t trust individual resellers or sites claiming to have tickets before they have officially gone on sale to the public. Those speculative listings are not real tickets that the seller actually has.

Spec listing is an issue for the entire ticketing industry and we do not allow it on our site. Other sites do, and will even market these tickets that haven’t gone on sale yet. Some sites have even built products that claim to reserve your tickets in advance, but are actually speculative listings in disguise. This creates a lot of confusion among fans, and is a deceptive practice.

To fight speculative ticketing together, we recommend you always purchase from official sources when tickets go on sale to the public. Always check the artist’s website to see where their tickets are being sold, and avoid buying from unofficial sites. If you’re buying tickets after the official general ticket sale period ends, only purchase from trusted resellers that only sell verified resale tickets, like Ticketmaster.

Learn more about protecting yourself from ticketing scams.