Is Ticombo Reliable? A Complete Buyer's Guide

Buying football tickets through the secondary market can be useful when official club channels are sold out, but it also comes with additional risks. Prices may be higher than face value, service fees can increase the final cost, and tickets are ultimately supplied by third-party sellers.

In this guide, we take a closer look at Ticombo, including how the platform works, how sellers are verified, what buyer protection is available, which fees you should expect, and what risks football supporters should be aware of before purchasing.

So, is Ticombo reliable, and when does it make sense to use it instead of official ticket channels?

What Is Ticombo?

Ticombo GmbH is a german secondary ticket marketplace founded in 2016 and it connects ticket buyers with sellers. These sellers can include professional ticket companies, organisers and private individuals. To be more precise we find in their Terms and Conditions the following:

"Ticombo GmbH, Unter den Linden 24, 10117 Berlin, Germany, and its affiliates provide an online platform for the sale and purchase of tickets at the Internet address www.ticombo.com and other domain extensions. In particular, the Platform allows users to offer for sale and to purchase tickets for events in the areas of sports, concerts, entertainment, theatre, and musicals..

Is Ticombo Legit?

In short, Yes. Ticombo is an established ticket marketplace operated by Ticombo GmbH in Germany. The platform has been active for several years and provides buyer protection through its TixProtect programme.

According to Ticombo,

• buyers are entitled to a full refund when tickets are not delivered on time
• do not correspond to what was ordered, are invalid at the entrance or when an event is permanently cancelled. 

That does not mean that every transaction is risk-free, but these protections make Ticombo considerably different from purchasing a ticket directly from an unknown person on Facebook, X or another social-media platform.

At the time of writing, Ticombo has a Trustpilot score of approximately 4.5 out of 5 from more than 31800 reviews, with the large majority being positive. However, negative reviews include reports involving seat-location disputes, delayed delivery and problems resolving certain claims. 

TixProtect Buyer Guarantee

Purchases made through Ticombo are covered by its TixProtect system.

The standard protection is designed to cover some of the most important risks when purchasing secondary-market tickets, including tickets that are delivered too late, tickets that differ from what was ordered and tickets that do not provide entry to the event. Permanently cancelled events are also covered. 

For selected events, Ticombo also offers additional paid protection options that can provide coverage for circumstances such as postponement, illness, accidents or returning tickets for another reason, depending on the protection level selected. 

As always, buyers should check exactly which protection applies to their particular order before completing the purchase.

Seller Verification

One of Ticombo's stronger features is its seller verification process.

Sellers are required to provide identification and proof of address, and ticket listings must be approved before they become visible on the marketplace. Ticombo also asks sellers to provide information showing that they actually possess or have ordered the tickets they are listing. 

Ticombo says it verifies the identity of sellers and reviews uploaded tickets in several ways before allowing them to be offered on the platform. 

For buyers, this is important because it reduces some of the anonymity that is common when buying tickets privately.

Prices and Service Fees

Tickets on Ticombo may be sold above their original face value, particularly for high-demand or sold-out matches.

One interesting feature is that Ticombo says it uses price caps to limit how much sellers can mark up certain tickets. The platform also states that both the ticket's face value and selling price are shown on the individual listing page. 

However, buyers should pay attention to the final checkout price rather than only the advertised ticket price. Ticombo charges a commission or service fee, which is displayed in the order summary during checkout. 

This is particularly important when comparing Ticombo with other ticket marketplaces, as different platforms structure their fees differently.

Advantages of Using Ticombo

One of the main advantages of Ticombo is availability in all competitions. Whereas some platforms are more focussed on Premier League Tickets, Ticombo has a diverse inventory of tickets for example the polish Ekstraklasa competition.

Another key advantage compared to other platforms is that buyers can also see information about the seller and communicate through the marketplace as shown in the example below. This feature provides more transparency than purchasing directly from an anonymous individual through the platform.

And yes, we tested this ourselves when purchasing a single ticket for Everton FC vs Manchester City. After noticing that the ticket links were missing from the confirmation email, we contacted the seller through the platform. The issue was resolved successfully, and we were able to attend match in the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

What Are the Risks?

Ticombo is still a secondary ticket marketplace, and this means there are some risks that do not exist when buying directly from the club.

• Tickets can cost substantially more than their original value, particularly for popular Premier League, Champions League or international matches. Service fees can increase the final price further.
• Ticket delivery can also take place relatively close to the event. This is not necessarily a sign that something is wrong many clubs do not release transferable or digital tickets until shortly before kick-off but it can understandably make buyers nervous.
• Although customer experience review is universally positive. But there are also cases where buyers had some issues regarding their purchased tickets. For that reason, buyers should always check the individual seller, ticket description, seating information and delivery method.

Always Try the Official Club First

Our recommendation is to always try the home club's official website first.

In practice, this means checking normal ticket sales, membership allocations, official ticket exchanges, hospitality packages and authorised travel partners before turning to the secondary market.

Official tickets are generally the safest option and often provide the best price.

However, for highly popular matches this is not always realistic. Membership sales can sell out quickly, ballots may be oversubscribed and some matches simply have far more demand than available tickets.

This is where secondary marketplaces such as Ticombo can become an alternative.

Compare the Final Price

One of the difficulties when comparing football ticket marketplaces is that the first price you see is not always the price you eventually pay. Service and booking fees can make a significant difference.

TicketSeal compares football ticket listings across multiple marketplaces with the service fees included, making it easier to compare the actual price of available tickets rather than only the initially advertised price.

This allows supporters to compare Ticombo with other available marketplaces and identify the most suitable option in one place.

Our Verdict: Is Ticombo Reliable?

Ticombo appears to be one of the more structured options within the secondary ticket market. Seller verification, listing checks, payment protection and the TixProtect guarantee all provide safeguards that you do not normally receive when purchasing tickets directly from individuals online. 

Its large number of positive customer reviews also indicates that many buyers successfully receive and use their tickets, although negative experiences still occur and should not be ignored. 

For that reason, we would still recommend trying official ticket channels first. If those options are sold out and you understand the risks of the secondary market, Ticombo can be a reasonable alternative particularly when you carefully check the seller, ticket details, protection conditions and final price before purchasing.