TL;DR. Gone when you got there? It can mean another fan has the tickets in their basket and has not paid yet, rather than that they have sold. If that buyer does not pay before their timer runs out, the tickets can go back on sale. Stay signed in, keep the page open, check again in a few minutes and again a bit later, and do not hammer refresh. Keep your alert on, so if there is another drop you hear about it.
What "gone" can mean
When a resale ticket appears, more than one fan can go for it. The first one to start checkout gets it held in their basket while they pay. Everyone else sees it vanish, or sees a message that it is unavailable.
- Ticketmaster holds tickets on a checkout timer and releases them for others to buy when it runs out. Ticketmaster says the length is set by demand and can differ by event and time of day, so there is no fixed figure.
- AXS says tickets in someone's basket are hidden from searches, and if the purchase is not completed they go back into the system for the next customer searching. It also says the site will not show "sold out" until every ticket is paid for.
- Twickets says it holds tickets for 10 minutes once a buyer is in checkout, and they become available again if the buyer does not pay. An accepted offer does not hold tickets on Twickets: only checkout does.
So a ticket that has gone may come back. It may not, and there is no way to tell which from the outside.
When to check again
The plan
- Stay signed in. Do not log out. If the ticket comes back, you want to be ready to buy straight away.
- Keep the page open. Stay on the event or listing page you landed on.
- Check again in a few minutes. One calm reload, not a burst.
- Check once more a bit later. Checkout timers vary, so a second look later is worth it.
- Do not hammer refresh. Refreshing over and over can get you paused on Ticketmaster. If that happens, see what to do about "Your browsing activity has been paused".
- Keep your alert on. If more tickets come up, an alert is how you hear about them.
Getting there first next time
Most of the race is the seconds between a ticket appearing and you reaching checkout. Be signed in to the seller on the phone your alerts arrive on (ticketmaster.co.uk for UK shows, ticketmaster.ie for Irish ones), with your card details to hand. Alertix watches official resale channels around the clock from our own systems, never with your account, and pushes an alert to your phone linked straight to the listing. We cannot promise tickets, but instant alerts arrive within seconds. Find your show on the events page.
Questions people actually ask
Why did the tickets disappear when I clicked?
Someone else got to them first. It can mean they have the tickets in their basket and have not paid yet, rather than that the tickets have sold: while they are in checkout, the tickets are held for them and you cannot buy them. Or they may already have bought them.
Can tickets come back after they have gone?
Sometimes. If the buyer holding them does not pay before their checkout timer runs out, the tickets can go back on sale. There is no way to know in advance whether a particular ticket will, so check again in a few minutes.
How long does Ticketmaster hold tickets in a basket?
Ticketmaster does not publish a fixed time. Its help pages say the checkout timer is set by demand and can differ by event and time of day.
Should I keep refreshing until they come back?
No. Refreshing over and over can get you paused on Ticketmaster. Check again after a few minutes, then again a little later, and keep your alert on for the next drop.