Seatwave Review

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Seatwave was founded in London in 2006, which makes it about six years younger than StubHub, one of its biggest competitors. Seatwave acts as a marketplace instead of a ticket seller, giving independent sellers more opportunities to reach buyers all over the world. This arrangement has definitely worked in Seatwave’s favor. It remains a popular site for people who want tickets to sporting events, music concerts, theater performances, comedy shows and other types of entertainment.

How Does Seatwave Work?

Seatwave’s online marketplace gives people the opportunity to buy and sell tickets for events around the world. After you create a profile, you can browse events and compare prices to choose tickets that match your budget. If you want to sell tickets, you get to name your own price.

After purchasing your tickets, Seatwave will either send them to you in the mail or let you print them at home. Your options typically depend on the event.

If you want to sell tickets, you list them on the site and wait for someone to buy them. Once a buyer purchases the tickets, you can use Seatwave’s prepaid courier labels to send the tickets to the buyer. You can also use Seatwave’s e-ticket upload tool to send the tickets electronically.

What Makes Seatwave Stand Out?

Seatwave stands out because of its diverse marketplace and extensive event offerings. No matter where you live, you can likely find tickets to popular events near you. Not all online ticket sellers have such a huge selection.

Seatwave also makes it easy for people to sell tickets they cannot use. Some online ticket marketplaces only let companies and affiliates sell tickets. With Seatwave, you don’t have to worry about losing money on a ticket you can’t use. Instead, you post it on the marketplace and wait for someone to purchase it. As long as you set a good price on a ticket to a popular event, you shouldn’t have any problems earning your money back.

Common Reviews of Seatwave

Seatwave is owned by Ticketmaster, so it’s not surprising to see that the company earns a lot of mixed reviews from buyers. Some people who write negative reviews about Seatwave say their tickets arrived too late for them to attend an event. Some claim their tickets never arrived. While Ticket Integrity should solve this type of problem, plenty of Seatwave users say they were never given refunds or replacement tickets. In some cases, buyers may not have known to contact Seatwave about Ticket Integrity. In other cases, the company seems to have ignored their requests. Please keep in mind that only a small number of buyers claim that Seatwave didn’t uphold their Ticket Integrity agreement. The vast majority of buyers say they routinely purchase tickets without complications.

Other negative reviews point to the high prices that some sellers charge on Seatwave. It’s hard to blame the company for this variability since Seatwave doesn’t set any ticket prices. After all, other than the booking fees, the company has no control over prices. Yet some people claim that the Seatwave website overcharges them for tickets. For instance, a person buying a ticket priced at $80 might end up getting charged $100. It’s difficult to tell if the website made a mistake or if the buyer didn’t understand that a booking fee would be added to the total cost. Regardless, very few people say they have experienced this situation.

For the most part, Seatwave receives positive reviews from its buyers and sellers. Buyers also say that the website gives them a chance to purchase tickets to sold-out events. While buying tickets through Seatwave might cost more, the majority of buyers seem to understand that they have the opportunity to walk away from outrageous prices. If they decide to buy tickets with elevated prices, they know that they’re paying a premium to see a popular event. Buyers may not like the high prices, but they know they can either purchase the tickets or lose their chances to attend events.

Ironically, sellers like Seatwave for the same reason that some buyers dislike the company: they get to set their own prices. Savvy sellers know they can charge higher prices for popular and sold-out events. By doing so, they increase their profits. At the same time, the Seatwave marketplace creates competition between sellers, and those who want to sell their tickets quickly will choose reasonable prices.

Is Seatwave for Me?

Seatwave is a good option for people who don’t mind spending more money to purchase tickets. If you refuse to pay more than the ticket’s face value, you probably won’t find the deal you want on Seatwave. Of course, the same is true for nearly all online ticket marketplaces.

About the Author

Jeff Hindenach

Jeff Hindenach is the co-founder of Versus Reviews. He graduated from Bowling Green State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism. He has a long history of journalism, with a background writing for newspapers such as the San Jose Mercury News and San Francisco Examiner, as well as writing for The Huffington Post, New York Times, Business Insider, CNBC, Newsday and The Street. He believes in giving readers the tools they need to get out of debt.