Timing Is Everything!  

Make Sure That You Know What Time Your Show Goes On Sale - The Best Seats Are Going To Go First, And Will Likely Go Early!  Start Refreshing The On Sale Page About 15 Seconds Before The Start Time, And Refresh As Quickly As The Page Will Load Until It Goes "Live".

Take A Look At The Seating Chart Well Before The On Sale - Frequently There Will Be A Link On The Event Page - If There Is One, Use It As It Will Be Customized To The Specific Show You Are Attending! If There Is Not One, Google The FULL Venue Name, And Sort By Images - You Can Almost Always Quickly Locate A Seating Chart This Way.  It Is Very Important That You Know What You Are Looking For - A Quick Look At The Seating Chart Will Prevent You From Purchasing A Pair Of Tickets That Aren't Nearly As Good As You First Thought.  Take A Look At  A Sample HERE. 

Practice !!!   Once You Locate The Show You Are Interested In, I Absolutely Suggest That You Run Through The Process Of Purchasing Tickets Before Your Show Goes On Sale.  This Will Give You The Opportunity To See How The Specific Ticketing System Flows.  Start By Finding Any Other Show That Is Already On Sale Through The Ticketing System That Will Be Selling Tickets For The Show That You Are Interested In - Preferably One That Is Taking Place At The Same Venue, As Certain Options Are Venue Specific. Obviously, You Want To Stop Before You Finalize The Purchase - You Will Know!  

Things To Look For:

Can You Use Two Windows From The Same Browser, Or Two Different Browsers Without The System Canceling The Tickets That You Already Have On Hold?  The Ability To Do This Will Make A Huge Difference - It Will Allow You To "Hold" A Pair Of Tickets In One Browser, While Continuing To Search For Others In Another - You'll Be Surprised At How Often Better Seats Will Get Back Into The System As Brokers Pass On Them, Or Someone Else's Order Times Out.  Just Be Sure To Keep Track Of How Much Time Is Remaining For The Tickets You Are Holding - Some Systems Will Show A Timer In Real Time, Others Will Just Tell You How Much Time You Have To Finish Once It Displays The Latest Page.  If You Pull Better Seats With Your Second Browser/Window, Dump The Tickets You Were Previously Holding And Use That Browser To Continue Searching - A Little Like Playing Leap Frog!.

What Type Of Captcha Does The System Use? These Are Passwords That Prevent Automated Systems From Pulling Tickets And They - Can Take Many Forms - Numbers, Random Letters, Or In The Case Of Ticketmaster, A Series Of Two Words/Numbers.  The Only Trick To Get Through These Quickly Is To Be Prepared - Know What Type Of Captcha To Expect !

Does The System Have A "Best Available" Option?   You Should Always Choose This Option For Your First Pull In Order To Save Time!  You Will Want To Also Note Whether Or Not The System Has Options To Specify Sections, As It Can Sometimes Help To Specify Perhaps "Left Center" As Opposed To "Best Available". The System May Consider "Best Available" To Be 20TH Row Center, Whereas There May Be Some 10TH Row Left Center Seats Available. Obviously, You Want To Make Sure That You Are Not Too Far Off Center!  You May Also Want To "Force" The System To Look For The Closest And Lowest Elevated Section ( This Can Vary, Sometimes Called Loge, Balcony, Mezzanine - But Should Be Obvious If You Check The Seating Chart ).  Front Row Elevated Seats Are Far Better Than 20TH Row Orchestra Seats At Many Venues.  I Suggest That You Always Allow The System To Pull The "Best Available" Seats For Your First Pull, But After That You Will Likely Find Better Seats If You Force Specific Sections.

How Much Time Do You Have?   Some Systems Allow A Specific Time Starting When Seats Are First Displayed, While Others Allow A Specific Time To Move To The Next Step.  In All Cases, This Information Will Be Displayed And You Should Have Plenty Of Time To Get Through The System.  If You Are Searching Through Multiple Browsers Or Windows, Make Sure You Keep Track Of How Much Time Is Remaining!  Nearly Every Ticketing System Will Allow You To Create An Account Before Purchasing Tickets - This Is Probably A Good Idea If You Plan On Using Multiple Browsers/Windows.

If You Try A Few Practice Runs You'll Be Much Better Prepared Than The Average Person Trying To Buy Tickets - Good Luck!