Buying the Tickets for Everyone, Taking the Chance of Loosing Out on the Money, And Having People Pay You Back?

So I went to one concert where I bought tickets for a concert. Bought 4 seats for a seat down concert because the floor was too expensive and couldn't afford it. And once that concert hit my 4th person couldn't go. So I lost out on the money from that ticket. And then the other person the 3rd person who went told me they would give me the money for their ticket and never paid me so I lost more money. Family and friends insist that I just buy my own ticket and let everyone buy their own tickets as well. But I don't want to do this because we can't sit together if it turns out to be a sit down event in comparison to a standing only event. And then there was this other concert where I lost the money spent on said tickets, and I was paid back but the person complained and said it was disrespectful for me to ask them to pay me the money I lost because I should have just learned my lesson and lost the money. Has any of these instantances happened to you?