Ticketmaster is one of the largest ticket providers for live entertainment events around the world. When trying to purchase tickets on Ticketmaster, many customers have experienced the frustrating situation where the website shows “low availability” or “limited tickets” for an event, but then no actual tickets seem to be available when trying to select seats.
There are a few reasons why Ticketmaster may show low availability despite having no tickets to sell:
Inventory Holdbacks
Often Ticketmaster will only release a portion of total ticket inventory when sales first open to the general public. They may hold back anywhere from 10-50% of seats for various reasons:
- Artist and promoter holds – The artist or concert promoter will often hold a block of seats to accommodate fan club presales, VIP packages, friends/family allocations etc.
- Venue holds – The venue hosting the event may hold some seats for their own presales, season ticket holders, or corporate partners.
- Verified fan presales – Ticketmaster runs “Verified Fan” presales for high demand shows, holding back tickets for registered users selected through their Verified Fan system.
- Platinum seats – Ticketmaster’s dynamic “Platinum” pricing holds back seats to be sold later at inflated market-driven prices.
- General sale staggering – Remaining tickets are sometimes released gradually over multiple sales dates to create urgency and buzz.
So even if an event is listed as low availability, more tickets may be released in the coming days or weeks leading up to the event date.
Bots and Scalpers
Another major factor is that reseller bots and scalpers will snap up large blocks of tickets the moment they go on sale. This instantly drives down visible availability, even though the purchased tickets are not truly sold to fans yet.
Professional ticket brokers use sophisticated bots that can purchase tickets much faster than a normal human user. Some estimates state bots account for 30-40% of all tickets sold through primary marketplaces like Ticketmaster.
Once purchased, scalpers then relist the tickets on secondary market sites like StubHub, Vivid Seats, or Craigslist at highly inflated prices. This further reduces availability on primary sites like Ticketmaster.
Dynamic Pricing
Ticketmaster utilizes demand-based dynamic pricing for many events, similar to how airline tickets or hotel rooms fluctuate in cost. As an event gains popularity or nears sell-out status, Ticketmaster algorithms will automatically raise prices in real-time.
So while technically there still may be tickets available, the prices listed might be too expensive for the average fan. Dynamic pricing aims to capture the full market value for high demand tickets.
Misleading Sales Psychology
Some also speculate that the “low availability” warnings are exaggerated or even misleading. Ticketmaster has a vested interested in creating a sense of urgency and scarcity to drive sales.
Phrases like “tickets selling fast!” or “limited quantity left” prompt fans to purchase immediately out of fear of missing out. Advertising extremely low ticket availability, even if not entirely accurate, plays into this sales psychology.
Website Bugs
It’s also important to rule out possible website glitches that may incorrectly display availability:
- Cached pages – An outdated cached version of the page may show old ticket data that has not refreshed.
- Inventory sync errors – The inventory numbers sometimes get out of sync between various points like payment processors, search algorithms etc.
- Concurrent transactions – If two customers are both purchasing the last two tickets, it will allow both to checkout and show a negative inventory until refreshed.
Trying refreshing the page or switching between desktop/mobile views to get the most up to date inventory numbers.
How Ticketmaster’s System Works
To fully understand the disconnect between low availability and no tickets, it helps to know a bit about how Ticketmaster’s intricate ticketing system functions behind the scenes.
1. Venue Setup
Before tickets go on sale, the event venue provides Ticketmaster their full seating manifest, including sections/rows/seat numbers and capacities. The venue may assign holds for fan clubs, VIPs, platinum seats etc.
2. Onsale Configuration
Working with the promoter, Ticketmaster configures the presales, onsales, ticket limits, and pricing. They build the event page and implement their Verified Fan system if applicable.
3. Allocating Inventory
Behind the scenes Ticketmaster’s systems allocate ticket inventory for the various sales channels – online sales, phone sales, box office sales, group sales etc. Availability visible to customers online is only one slice of total tickets.
4. Managing Holds & Releases
As presales happen, holds are released and remaining tickets open up for the public onsale. Holds may be increased or extended depending on demand. Portions of tickets are dynamically priced upwards as sales progress.
5. Updating Availability
Ticketmaster aims to show estimated availability and locations in real-time as tickets are purchased and holds change. But full inventory data takes time to sync across website, apps, search engine caches, payment processors etc.
6. Public Onsale
When tickets finally go on sale to the general public, masses of customers flood the site at once trying to purchase tickets. Bots and scalpers have automated processes setup to buy tickets within the first few milliseconds.
7. Final Availability Trickle
Any last minute returns, holds releasing late, or inventory adjustments trickle back into availability over the next hours, days, or weeks. Fans refresh constantly looking to score last minute seats.
Tips for Finding Tickets
Here are some tips to improve your chances of actually getting tickets, even when Ticketmaster shows little to no availability:
- Join Verified Fan – This gives you exclusive access to presales to buy tickets before general public.
- Buy immediately – Be ready online the moment tickets go onsale to buy before bots and scalpers can scoop them up.
- Try other sections – Check for availability in other seating areas, even if your first choices appear sold out.
- Avoid platinum seats – Filter out overpriced Platinum tickets to open up more options.
- Refresh constantly – Availability is fluid so keep refreshing listings as holds get released.
- Wait for general sale – There may be more inventory released closer to the event date.
- Remove price filters – Sometimes the dynamic pricing makes tickets appear sold out when they are just very expensive.
The Reality of High Demand
In the end, many hugely popular concerts and shows simply have far more demand than supply of tickets available. Even a large venue may only seat 15,000-20,000 fans, while over a million people may be trying to buy tickets online.
Short of building significantly larger venues, there will intrinsically be very limited availability for the most in-demand events. While frustrating for fans, often the “low availability” warnings on Ticketmaster are grounded in the simple reality that there are far more people who want to attend than seats available.
Conclusion
Ticketmaster’s system is far from perfect, but the disconnect between low ticket availability and no tickets available to purchase can usually be explained by some combination of presale holds, scalpers using bots, dynamic pricing, intentionally exaggerated scarcity claims, or simple incredibly high demand.
The best way to improve your chances is signing up for presales, being ready to purchase immediately, being flexible on seating sections, and constantly refreshing for new ticket releases. But for the most popular shows, there will always be far more demand than supply.
