Consumer Reports' August issue has all the info about buying tickets through ticket resellers.

If you've bought tickets online, you've probably seen ads for sites such as StubHub and RazorGator. CR found that when shows sell out in record time they can often be found on resale sites such as these --- at inflated prices.

The article includes smart tips for getting a deal to see a popular show:  

1. Buy early. If you're a fan, try to sign up for pre-sales, through venues or promoters or the artists' Web sites or fan clubs. According to CR, sometimes they offer a discount as well! You can also pay to play, by paying for access to alerts  about presales and the passwords themselves at  PresalePassword.net or Presalenow.com.

2. Credit-card promotions. CR sez cards such as  American Express, Visa Signature, and MasterCard snag choice seats and discounts to events such as "The Lion King" on Broadway and the U.S. Open tennis tournament for their cardholders.

3. Go direct to the source. You can usually avoid fees by paying for tickets in person. The magazine points out that the fees are also probably lowest at the official Web site of your team or venue. (P.S.  Sometimes this holds true for airline tickets as well!)

4. Hit reload. Ticketmaster lets customers take their time before finalizing their purchases, which can make it appear as if events are sold out, according to CR. But if they change their minds, those seats become available again.

Still seatless? Then here are CR's tips for going the reseller route: 

Lead Cases

Omar Osman, Maryland – 4 affected properties – On June 6, 2008, MDE issued a Settlement Agreement and Consent Order to Omar Osman equaling $8,000 for properties that were out of compliance with lead risk reduction standards.

Joseph L. Russ, Baltimore, MD – 4 affected properties – On June 3, 2008, MDE issued a Consent Decree to Joseph L. Russ equaling $7,000 for properties that were out of compliance with lead risk reduction standards.

Air and Radiation Administration actions

Constellation Energy – Perryman, Harford County -- On April 30, MDE received a penalty payment of $19,000 from Constellation Energy, from a penalty issued on March 17. The penalty action addressed violations of the emission standard for nitrogen oxides (NOx) at Constellation’s Perryman facility. The Perryman facility consists of five combustion turbines that mainly operate during times of peak electrical demand, such as hot summer days. Based on Continuous Emission Monitor (CEM) data reported by the company in their quarterly report, MDE determined that one of the combustion turbines violated the established NOx limit on four different days.

The Better Business Bureau of Greater Maryland provides us with this installment of Naughty Business of the Week: Un-Sun Tanning Salon.

This purveyor of artificial sunlight appeared to have closed up suddenly, leaving customers holding worthless gift cards and tanning packages, according to a story in the Catonsville Times.

Unfortunately, the Catonsville salon is not affiliated with stores of the same name in Reisterstown and Columbia, so those locations will not honor cards prepaid elsewhere.

In a pun-laden warning about customers "getting burned" by the Catonsville salon, the BBB also notes that personal items such as googles and lotions left at the salon before it closed can probably never be retrieved.

What should a consumer do?

That's why I was glad Loyal Reader Beverly wrote in recently to say this:

How did your fearless Consuming Interests leader fail you, you ask?

I was too busy participating in, and enjoying, the city's smallest and (in my opinion) sweetest Fourth of July parade ever (I can't tell you where or else it won't qualify as the smallest anymore), and forgot to share the Treasury Department's Tax Rebate update last week.

So here it is, that special post you wait for every week...

Said Kelly:

I found the below information from my second favorite site on consumer items.

http://consumerist.com/tag/mygallons/?i=5022061&t=bbb-says-mygallonscom-omitted-fact-in-advertising-has-no-contract-to-process-transactions

We're all looking to save money on gas. Short of not driving or limiting the amount of time we spend driving, Faithful Reader Bob and his lovely wife, Leslie, gave us a pretty interesting tip about MyGallons.com, which would allow you to lock in gas prices.

The way it works, you sign up for and pay an annual membership fee (the cost of annual membership is $29.95 when enrolling in the auto-refill program, which pre-purchases more fuel for your account when your balance drops below 15 gallons. Cost of annual membership is $39.95 for the manual refill program.) A MyGallons card will be sent to you.

Once you log in, you can access your account to see how many gallons of fuel you have available, your transaction history, th current price for purchasing more fuel, etc. You can also pre-purchase fuel to add to your account at the current price at that very moment in time.

The good thing behind that is that you could lock in a MyGallon price for as many filler ups as you want, while the actual price at the pump keeps climbing. Or you could be unfortunate enough to lock in a price and see real gas prices go down, I guess. At this rate, though, it doesn't really seem like prices are dropping.

Remember if you're tempted by sales over the long weekend not to buy a lot of stuff. Resist the urge to stimulate the economy with unnecessary things, as we discussed in this post about The Story of Stuff.
 
And if you are in or around fireworks during those assemblies, take these firework safety tips from the Consumer Product Safety Commission to heart.

And don't use Screech and Scream Fountain Fireworks, because the CPSC recalled them yesterday!

Now, about those tips:
 

Real has a special offer for a limited time, they are giving a $10 credit for new or old customers at their new MP3 store.

Chris says on his blog that

Do everyone a favor and program this number into your cell phone first: 1-877-963-TAXI.

AAA, Yellow Cab and the Maryland Department of Transportation have partnered for this year's Tipsy?Taxi! program, giving revelers a free cab ride home from bars this weekend ... up to $50. If you live farther away, you'll have to cover the remaining cost. 

Anyone 21 years or older can take advantage of the program for a ride home ONLY ... they won't take you to another party. Don't try to pretend you live at Mother's Federal Hill Grille!

The free rides are available from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. Thursday, July 3; from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. Friday, July 4; and 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. July 5July 6.

Remember: Tipsy?Taxi! ... it's the only number you want to drunk dial.

(photo: Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun) 

Nora Dunn over at Wise Bread expands on these thoughts with some great tips to save money the easy way.

Some of her thoughts:

1. Change your withholding on your taxes: It's better to have all that money on your paycheck now -- and save it in an interest-bearing account, or use it to pay down debt --- than give the government an interest-free loan.

2. Lower insurance premiums: Shop around for cheaper policies, or at least increase the deductibles on your car and home insurance, which should lower your premiums.

3. Lower credit card payments by transferring credit card debt to cards with lower rates.

4. As Eileen Ambrose suggested, consolidate your student loans.

5. Lower health and child care costs. Set up health and dependent care spending accounts, so you can take pre-tax dollars and set them aside for medical or babysitting bills you are expecting.

And let's not forget Bob's excellent suggestions ...

Consumer Reports Money Lab uncovered six tips that can help you shave oodles of dough from your budget. Consumer Reports, the magazine, will share the news with you in its August issue on sale this week. But me, I care about you readers so much, I'm going to share it with you now (well, mostly because CR gives me permission to).

So, for the Cheap Tricks Thursday, CR says you can save:

These books about sex could be a natural response to couples' desire to stay at home during the market's low points, according to psychotherapist Barton Goldsmith.

"Recession is good for relationships," he said. "People don't want to go out so they can cocoon, and sex can be fun for many couples. It beats the hell out of Monopoly. ... Reclaiming the spark of romance is always a timely subject."

Imagine, for instance, the savings if you traded in a Hummer for a Prius!

Well, Edmunds.com, an online provider of auto information, has come up with a reality check. Its online calculator allows you to plug in the make, model and year of your car and what you want to trade it in for. Then it figures if there's a savings or not.

"Car buyers think they can save money by dumping their gas-guzzler and purchasing a gas-sipper," says Edmund's Philip Reed in a statement. "But when you look at the big picture -- total cash out of pocket -- a very different situation is often revealed."

Edmunds uses the example of ditching a 4-year-old GMC Yukon worth $13,483 for a spanking new Toyota Prius worth $21,647. That's an $8,164 difference. If the consumer drives 1,200 miles per month and gas costs $4.07 per gallon, the monthly fuel savings will be $201.34.

Sounds good, but is it? It will take 41 months - more than 3 years - to pay back the extra cost of the Prius over the trade-in value of the Yukon, Edmunds reports.

I plugged in the information on a 2005 Hummer vs. 2008 Prius. As it turns out, there's no cost savings.

Play around with the site yourself. Let us know if you think it useful or not.