Buying & on-sales · Ticket resale glossary
On-Sale Date
Also known as: On-sale time, Ticket release date
The on-sale date is the date and time tickets for an event are released for purchase. An event usually has several: one for each presale and one for the general sale.
Times are set in the venue's local time zone, which matters when you are buying tickets for events abroad. Tours often stagger on-sales by region, and add extra dates when demand for the first show is strong.
Before the on-sale the event page may show tickets as unavailable or sold out; that's a sale-not-started state, not a real sell-out.
How an on-sale schedule is built
A tour announcement normally comes with a full on-sale schedule, and each step has its own date and time. Reading the whole schedule, not just the general sale, tells you when inventory will actually move.
- Announcement: the tour, venues and sale dates are published.
- Registration deadline: the last moment to sign up for registration presales such as Verified Fan.
- Presale on-sales: one on-sale per presale, often on consecutive mornings.
- General on-sale: the general sale, open to the public.
- Later releases: extra dates, new ticket tiers and production releases, each with their own on-sale.
Time zones and regional on-sales
On-sale times are set in the venue's local time zone. A London show going on sale at 10:00 opens at 11:00 in Paris and 05:00 in New York, which matters when you're buying for events abroad or tracking several countries at once.
International tours often go on sale country by country, sometimes on the same morning and sometimes days apart, on different ticketing sites: Ticketmaster in one market, Eventim, AXS or See Tickets in another. Each site has its own queue and its own rules.
Example: an on-sale week
A European arena tour is announced on a Monday. Fan registration closes on Wednesday. The artist presale runs on Thursday at 10:00 local time in each country, a promoter presale on Friday at 10:00, and the general sale the following Monday at 10:00. A second Berlin date is added on Tuesday with its own presale on Wednesday. In nine days there are eight separate on-sales across five countries.
Why on-sale dates matter for resellers
On-sale dates set the rhythm of the resale market. Before the on-sale, resale prices are based on speculative listings and guesswork. In the hours after it, the first real sales set the market, and the get-in price often moves sharply.
On-sale dates also mark restock windows. Expired baskets and cancelled orders tend to come back in the minutes and days after each sale, so the time right after an on-sale is when a restock is most likely.
Sale not started vs sold out
Before the first on-sale, ticketing sites can show an event as unavailable or with no tickets, and some displays read that as sold out. It isn't: the tickets simply haven't been released. Always check the on-sale date before treating an event as a sell-out, and check again between presale stages, when one allocation is gone but the next hasn't opened.
Track it with Eventory
Eventory shows sale status for the events it tracks, so you can tell a show that hasn't gone on sale yet from one that has actually sold out.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find out when tickets go on sale?
The on-sale dates and times are listed on the event page of the ticketing site and in the tour announcement. Signing up to the artist's and venue's newsletters gets you presale dates and codes as well.
What time do tickets usually go on sale?
Most on-sales open on a weekday morning in the venue's local time, often at 9:00 or 10:00, but this varies by country, promoter and ticketing site. Always check the time zone.
Why does an event show sold out before the on-sale date?
Usually because the sale hasn't started. Before release there are no tickets to buy, and the page can look sold out. Between presales the same thing happens when one allocation has gone and the next stage hasn't opened.
Can on-sale dates change?
Yes. On-sales can be moved, for example when a venue is changed, a presale is added or a technical problem forces a delay. The ticketing site and the artist's channels announce the new date.
Do presales and the general sale have different on-sale dates?
Yes. Each presale has its own on-sale date and time, usually on the days before the general sale. An event with three presales and a general sale has four on-sale moments, each with its own allocation and queue.