As news broke last Friday, about the KISS: Freedom to Rock tour coming to the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in August, secondary market ticket resellers were already advertising tickets for sale at more than an 1800% mark-up over face value.

Fans, who want to purchase tickets to the KISS concert and other popular in-demand events, should be aware of what they’re purchasing and who they are purchasing from. The only authorized sellers of tickets to events at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum are Ticketmaster and the Memorial Coliseum Ticket Office.

“It’s surprisingly easy to be misled by deceptive advertising practices used by secondary market ticket resellers,” says Randy L. Brown, Executive Vice President & General Manager of the Memorial Coliseum. “The most important thing any consumer can do to protect themselves from paying too much is to go to our website, www.memorialcoliseum.com, for the direct link to purchase tickets straight from the source.”

Just hours after the August 12 tour stop by KISS was announced to the public, several resale sites were advertising tickets for sale for as much as $2,200 each. The actual face value of the same seats, near the front on the floor, is $125 before fees.

“The resale market often engages in what we call ‘speculative selling’,” says Brown. “They are advertising and selling tickets that they don’t have yet, or may never have. Often, they sell copies of ‘print-at-home’ tickets which cause lot of heart-ache for fans who thought they bought legitimate tickets, when in fact, they have fraudulent tickets that will not provide them access to the show.”

Tickets for the KISS: Freedom To Rock concert scheduled for August 12 are priced at $125, $89.50 and $39.50, including the facility fee. Other fees will apply when purchasing from Ticketmaster.com or the charge-by-phone system at (800) 745-3000. Ticketmaster fees are not added to the price of tickets when purchased in person at the Memorial Coliseum Ticket Office. Tickets will go on sale to the public on Friday, April 15 at 10:00 a.m.

There will be an internet-only presale for subscribers to Memorial Coliseum’s email alerts on Thursday, April 14 from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Fans can subscribe by visiting www.memorialcoliseum.com and clicking the “All Access Email Updates” box. Followers of the Memorial Coliseum’s content on Facebook and Twitter will also get the presale offer code and link.