In this second article about purchasing tickets for events, we're going to focus on just where you can buy these tickets from.

Good question. Where DO you get tickets for a Mets game or a night out at a Broadway show?

Well, the first place you can get your tickets is at the location itself. All major league sports teams have box office locations where you can physically drive down there and tell the poor guy or gal in the window exactly what you're looking for. You can haggle with him in real time about seating location, prices and the weather if you like. Depending on the time of year and the event you may or may not have to stand in a long line. Some of those lines for very big tickets can start the evening before. Many a person has parked his carcass out on the street for 16 hours just to get a seat for the World Series.

Another place you can get your tickets is literally out on the streets. For those impossible to get tickets there are always the scalpers. It seems they've got tickets for just about everything. Of course if you're going to spring for one of these bad boys be prepared to spend up to $1,000 or more for a $100 ticket. Scalpers are not called that because they're good to their mothers. Sometimes though if you really want to get a hard to find ticket this is your only option.

But the most popular option today is online ticket buying. The first one of these was Ticketron. Actually, Ticketron was formed in 1965 long before the commercial Internet we know today. Ticketron outlets are found in banks, supermarkets, department stores and other outlets all across the United States. By August of 1969 they were selling tickets for musical events, baseball games and many events at Madison Square Garden in New York. Eventually Ticketron moved to the Internet as well.

But they aren't the only online ticket purchasing place. Many other online sources have popped up over the years, all under the direction and control of the National Association Of Ticket Brokers, which was formed in 1994 by a group of concerned ticket brokers who wanted to create rules and procedures to protect the buying public.

The primary goal of the NATB is to represent the interests of legal ticket brokers by educating the public about the industry itself. This is done by assuring the public that by dealing with an NATB broker, who carries with them their official seal, they are dealing with a trusted source for purchasing tickets and have nothing to fear when making their purchase.

The NATB is a self governing agency but they do also work with law enforcement to make sure that only non counterfeit tickets are sold to the public.

Since it's creation there have been a number of ticket brokers that have emerged online including Ticketmaster, Bestseats.com, Cheaptickets.com, Ticketliquidator.com and others.

The basic procedure for purchasing tickets from these places is about the same. You go to the site, pick the event you want tickets for, they then show you a seating layout of the establishment, you pick the section you want and they show you what's available. If you like the seats you throw them in your shopping cart, pay for them and you're done.

Ticket buying has never been easier. That's of course providing you're not trying to see the NY Jets in their first Super Bowl since 1969. For that you may have to wait in line for a year.

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Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Tickets
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