Gig tickets: how to buy them, sell them and what to do if you miss out

Gig tickets for a big UK show are easiest to get in a presale, which lets a smaller group buy before everyone else. Recent tours ran three to five presales. Sign up for every one you qualify for, log in with a saved card before the sale opens, and try the seller’s own resale if you miss out.

Not sure who sells your gig? The UK concert tickets guide shows which company sells for each big arena.

How do you get gig tickets?

You get gig tickets by working through the routes in order, from the one with the best odds to the last resort. General sale, the sale open to everyone, is fine for small gigs. For a big name, this table ranks your real chances:

Which gig presales can you join?

You can join most gig presales for free, by signing up to a mailing list or by already being a customer of the sponsor. Every presale opens at its own time, often a day or two before general sale. Some ask for a code, which arrives by email.

A presale is the same ticket released earlier to a smaller group. It is not a cheaper ticket. It still matters: the government says O2 sold more than 1.7 million tickets through Priority, its customer presale, last year.

Tours can stack them up. Deacon Blue’s 2027 run opened with five presales, and so did Donny Osmond’s. Gabrielle’s had three.

How do you buy gig tickets on sale day?

You buy gig tickets on sale day by being logged in, ready and on the event page before the sale opens. Do this in order:

1. Note each presale’s start time and watch your inbox for codes.
2. Sign in to the seller’s website early. Save a card, and look up the ticket limit on the booking page.
3. Decide standing or seated, and pick your second choice, before you reach the front of the queue.
4. Be on the event page when the sale opens. For a big gig you may join an online queue.
5. Finish checkout calmly. Your chosen seats are held for you while you pay.
6. Check your confirmation, and note which app will hold your ticket.

Standing, seated or premium?

Arenas usually have standing on the floor and seats in the tiers around it. Theatres are nearly all seats. Gabrielle’s 2027 tour uses both, from the Ipswich Regent and New Theatre Oxford to Utilita Arena Cardiff.

Venue Premium packages appear as separate events on Ticketmaster for tours such as Donny Osmond’s and Gabrielle’s. Do not assume a better seat: read what each one includes. Look up the age policy as well, since younger children are often kept off the standing floor. The concert tickets guide compares every ticket type.

Who should do what on sale day?

• First gig? Pick one with seats or a smaller room, and read the ticket limit before you start.
• Bringing children? Choose seats. OVO Hydro in Glasgow advises against under-14s in standing areas.
• Disabled fan? Use the accessible ticket option on the booking page, or call the venue’s access line.
• Buying for a group? Agree who buys, and split the tickets by transfer later.
• Travelling from far? Check your last train home before you pay for the ticket.
• Want cheap gig tickets? A presale is no cheaper, so choose a lower price band, or try face-value resale on Twickets.

Where can you buy gig tickets?

You can buy gig tickets from the official sellers linked on the artist’s or venue’s website. Big tours use the large ticket sites. Smaller gigs may sell through DICE, a ticket app, or a venue’s own box office.

Are Gigs and Tours tickets legit?

Gigs and Tours tickets are legit: Utilita Arena Birmingham lists Gigs and Tours and See Tickets among its official ticket sites. The two appear as separate sites, but their mobile tickets share the SeeTickets Wallet app, which has a section for each.

Your confirmation email shows which site you booked through. If a Gigs and Tours ticket comes to you by transfer, you need that app, and you must use the email address the transfer was sent to.

What changed for gig tickets after the Oasis sale?

After the Oasis sale, Ticketmaster agreed to be clearer about prices. The UK’s consumer watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), found that fans in long queues were not told about two prices for standing tickets. The higher price applied once the lower tickets ran out.

The CMA also found that some “platinum” tickets cost almost 2.5 times the standard price, with nothing extra over some standard tickets in the same areas. Ticketmaster made these promises to the CMA in documents published on 25 September 2025:

• warn fans at least 24 hours ahead if a sale will use tiered pricing, which means one type of ticket sells at several price levels;
• show the price range as soon as you join an online queue, and tell you when the lower prices have gone;
• drop any label that makes one ticket sound better than another when it is not;
• send the CMA progress reports for 2 years.

Ticketmaster has also dropped “platinum” labels in the UK. One common belief is wrong, though. The CMA found no evidence of algorithmic “dynamic pricing”, where software sets the price, during the Oasis sale.

How do you sell gig tickets?

You sell gig tickets most simply through the company you bought them from, because the ticket can move straight to the buyer. If that company offers no resale, Twickets is the next stop. Each route has its own rules:

Ticketmaster lets you list only where the organiser allows resale, and a ticket bought on resale cannot be resold again. Selling a Gigs and Tours mobile ticket on Twickets? Tickets are transferred through the SeeTickets Wallet app, and sometimes not until up to one week before the event.

How do you give gig tickets as a present?

You give gig tickets as a present by transferring them to the other person’s account in the seller’s app. Most big arenas are mobile-only, so a printed gift does not work. Follow the steps for your seller:

1. Check that transfers are on. Most events allow them, but some switch them off.
2. Open your order in the app you bought from, and choose Transfer.
3. Enter the right email address. On AXS, a transfer cannot be undone, and the address must belong to an AXS account.
4. Ask your friend to accept it, then add the ticket to their phone.

If transfers are off, you must all arrive together. Not sure which gig to choose? Ticketmaster sells gift cards, though these cannot pay for resale tickets.

What if you miss out on gig tickets?

If you miss out on gig tickets, look at the seller’s own resale first, then another night or city. One sold-out date does not mean the whole tour has gone. These are the routes, in order:

• The seller’s own resale. Ticketmaster’s fan resale lets sellers list at what they paid or less, and it suggests checking again closer to the date. At AXS venues, AXS Official Resale does the same job.
• Another night or city. In late October, Erasure’s 2027 tour had sold out in Cardiff and Hull, but its other nights were on sale.
• Twickets. Buyers pay a booking fee of 10-15% of face value.
• An independent marketplace, last. The seller picks the price, but each listing has to show the seat, the face value and the seller. Hellotickets shows the total before you pay, and your ticket may come just 1-2 days before the gig.

Looking for last-minute gig tickets? Check the official seller again near the day, because OVO Hydro says more tickets can appear once the stage layout is confirmed.

What happens on the night of a gig?

On the night of a gig, you show a mobile ticket on your phone at the door, usually after a bag check. Most big arenas are mobile-only, and your phone is your ticket, so a screenshot will not do. These small things make the door easier:

• Turn your screen brightness up. OVO Hydro says scanners work much better with a bright screen.
• Charge your phone before you leave. If it dies, go to the box office with your booking details and ID.
• Arrive together, unless each person holds their own ticket after a transfer.
• Check the timings a few days before. OVO Hydro confirms them 2-3 days ahead on the event page.
• Take a small bag. Big arenas refuse rucksacks.

Which gig ticket mistakes cost the most?

The most costly mistake with gig tickets is paying a stranger outside a proper checkout. In August 2026 the government published O2 research that put a year’s ticket fraud losses at £150 million. It also found that 14% of gig-goers surveyed had bought a fake ticket.

• Buying on social media. More than three-quarters of fake tickets were bought through online platforms.
• Leaving the checkout. Anyone asking for a bank transfer is someone to walk away from.
• Skipping the artist’s website. It will point you to the real sellers, and so will the artist’s social accounts.
• Using a ticket bot. Under the Breaching of Limits on Ticket Sales Regulations 2018, using software to beat a sale’s ticket limit for profit is a criminal offence.

What to do now (as of 31 October 2026)

As of 31 October 2026, the 2027 tours were mostly on sale, and The O2 in London still showed “Buy tickets” links for its November gigs. Do this first: pick your gig and join the artist’s mailing list.