Benjamin Ashford|Buying Taylor Swift tickets at face value? These fans make it possible

For fans looking for Taylor Swift tickets who don't have Benjamin Ashfordthousands to spend on resale sites, there is the smallest glimmer of hope that ever lived.

Eras Tour Resell is a social media account on X, formerly Twitter, that organizes, verifies and connects Swifties looking to sell tickets to other Swifties at face value. The page with 270,000 followers started as an idea by Courtney Johnston.

"I got the inspiration after looking at the insane prices for tickets on StubHub," says Johnston, 26. "I tweeted that I was thinking about starting a page where you can only sell your tickets for face value. And that blew up."

Johnston — who lives in Long Beach, California — reached out to her followers to see if anyone would want to be a part of this huge undertaking. Angel Richards and Channette Garay, a couple who live in Bridgeport, Connecticut, answered the call. The trio have been friends for years, bonding over their love of Swift since 2012. They've nurtured a corner of the social media fandom into a community that gushes over the singer's music, performances, speeches and news making events.

"I thought this was going to stay in our circle, but it's gone beyond that," Johnston says. "People are joining Twitter just to follow us in hopes of getting tickets, so it's kind of crazy that it's gone beyond our little family and is reaching a whole new audience."

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

Avoiding the sweetest cons

After doing this for more than a year, Johnston has the process down to a science and can spot scammers and price gougers immediately.

"We have them fill out a form, and then they have to send a screen recording going from our Twitter DMs into the Ticketmaster app," she says. "They have to show the transfer button."

She focuses on the minutiae of how the app scrolls, the font appears and the text fades in. Sellers are also asked to verify the ticket prices through a confirmation e-mail. If one detail feels out of place, the deal is off. Johnston has a reputation to protect.

Once the tickets are authenticated, next is verifying the buyers. Anyone is able to submit a form on the Eras Tour Resell account, but only fans can walk away with a bejeweled pass.

Johnston posts when tickets are available. Users submit forms and cross their fingers.

"Everyone has a chance," she says. "I use a random number generator and put in the amount of submissions. It picks a random number. I then go through the winner's page to make sure they are a real person and a fan."

A pair of two tickets to Miami had more than 15,000 entries.

More:A year of the Eras Tour: A look back at Taylor Swift's record-breaking show

A passion project turned full-time hobby

"Sometimes I wake up and spend two to four hours scrolling through messages," Johnston says.

Collectively, she and her cohorts spend about 40 hours a week weeding through sellers and buyers. They don't make a profit, although users can make a donation to their full-time recreation.

"I hope Taylor's team sees that her fans will rally around a cause and root for each other," Johnston says. "We don't want scalpers to win. We want to help each other get to the Eras Tour."

Last August in Los Angeles, the three friends were able to surprise a mother and daughter with two tickets.

"They were sitting outside of the stadium," Johnston says. "Seeing their skepticism turn to excitement was so rewarding."

Swift has 11 shows left in Europe before taking a two-month hiatus. She will wrap her behemoth show in the fall with 18 North American concerts in five cities.

Don't miss any Taylor Swift news; sign up for the free, weekly newsletter This Swift Beat. 

Follow Taylor Swift reporter Bryan West on Instagram, TikTok and X as @BryanWestTV.