Buying Tickets Online? Our top safety tips

DoneDeal Trust and Safety Officer Finbarr tells us how to keep safe when buying tickets online.

There are a number of major sporting and music events coming up this winter in Ireland and there will be a huge demand for tickets from the general public.

While most of our users have a pleasant experience when buying tickets on DoneDeal, we recommend that you don’t rush into any deal without first preparing yourself with our top tips for buying tickets:

1. Exercise caution – for all major events, thousands of counterfeit tickets flood the markets

2. Beware that e-tickets can be reprinted numerous times

3. Be extra vigilant if prompted to lodge money into a bank account or to pay online on the promise the tickets will be posted to you

4. If using PayPal, NEVER pay as “Friends and Family” as that type of payment is not disputable if anything goes wrong

5. Meet the seller in person and examine tickets carefully

6. Individual sellers are not licensed or bonded, so you have no comeback if sold a fake

7. Always ask if the ticket was originally purchased from an official agent

8. Check with Ticketmaster or the official distributor of the tickets to verify their authenticity

How to identify forged tickets:

1. Examine the ticket in detail

2. Read the information on the ticket carefully, look for misspellings, wrong dates, wrong telephone numbers.

3. Compare a genuine Ticketmaster ticket, for example, issued in the last six months with the one you are thinking of buying.

4. Does it contain similar information such as seat information, section, restrictions?

5. Compare font size and logos.

6. The genuine ticket will be of good quality paper and the print won’t smudge. Scrape your finger on the ticket to test the quality of the ink.

Check out comprehensive buying and selling safety tips on DoneDeal.ie.

If you have any concerns, you can report an advert to hello@donedeal.ie or contact your local Garda Station or the Crimestoppers confidential line.