Buying concert tickets in Singapore: which platform, which presale, which fee

The platforms

• Ticketmaster SG: most stadium and arena shows, and most K-pop tours. Doh Kyung Soo, Malcolm Todd and Westlife’s Singapore dates on this site all sell there.
• SISTIC: part of AXS; theatre, the Esplanade, The Star Theatre, and many Marina Bay Sands shows.
• BookMyShow: some regional acts and mid-sized tours.

The reliable way to know which one sells your show: start from the venue’s own event page or the promoter’s announcement and follow its link. A search result or an ad can lead to a resale marketplace charging several times face value, laid out to look like the real thing.

Presales, and why the general sale is often what is left

• Fan club presales: usually through the artist’s official membership, with a code.
• Bank cardholder presales: some shows set aside a window for one bank’s cardholders. Which bank varies from show to show.
• Promoter presales: Live Nation’s, for example, which need a free sign-up beforehand.

For the most in-demand shows, much of the best seating goes in presales. If your show has one, the real work is qualifying for it in advance, not being fast at the general sale.

Fees and limits

• Booking fees are per ticket. Doh Kyung Soo’s, for example, is S$6 on every ticket. Compare the final total, not the headline price.
• Limits are per transaction or per account, and differ by show. Doh Kyung Soo’s is six per transaction.
• The hotline often opens at the same time as the website. It is not a shortcut, but it is a second route if the site stalls.

Resale and scams

• A screenshot is not a ticket. A seller who can only send a picture of a QR code can send the same picture to ten people.
• Pay through a protected channel. A bank transfer to a stranger has no recourse at all.
• Check the name. Where a show prints or checks the buyer’s name, a ticket in someone else’s name may not get you in.

Resale marketplaces have at times paused ticket listings altogether for the most in-demand shows. An unusually cheap listing for a sold-out show is a warning, not a bargain.

Where Tao Meo fits

If you are free at the on-sale and your card works, buy it yourself. This guide exists so you can. We are worth it only when you cannot be at a screen at the moment: we queue in the official sale, buy in your name at face value, state our fee beforehand, and send the booking confirmation as the order goes through. Our record is public on the booking confirmations page.