Extra seats have gone on sale for Taylor Swift’s Melbourne and Sydney shows – as fans rush to snap up merchandise from the megastar’s Eras tour.

Limited tickets for Taylor Swift The Eras Tour, including restricted viewing seats costing $65.90, went on sale through Ticketek on Tuesday afternoon.

All the Melbourne tickets were quickly snapped up, with those for Sydney due on sale at 4pm.

Also on Tuesday, Swifties lined up in their thousands to buy merchandise at a pop-up store at Crown Melbourne.

The Melbourne Cricket Ground hosts the first concerts of Swift’s Australian tour from Friday for three nights. The Melbourne shows are the largest concerts not just of the tour, but of the singer’s career to date.

Tuesday’s bonus ticket sale followed a plea from the MCG’s operators for disappointed fans who have not secured tickets not to flock to the parkland surrounding the stadium to listen to Swift perform – a phenomenon known as “Taylor-gating”

Melbourne Cricket Club general chief executive Stuart Fox said last week the warning was for security reasons as Yarra Park was needed to give the expected massive crowds space to get in and out of the stadium, as well as being part of emergency management plans.

“That’s why we’re discouraging people to come down and congregate in big numbers in the par. So I hope people respect that there is a very good reason behind it,” Fox said last Thursday.

“Huge crowds, trying to make sure it’s a safe environment for everyone.”

Venue and event services manager Josh Eltringham said much of the parkland around the MCG will be taken up with accessible parking and merchandise marquees.

“I hope some do [listen to the warning]. Of course, some people won’t and we’ll be prepared for that,” he said.

Asked if the park would be fenced off if large crowds turned up on Friday, Eltringham said concert organisers would “debrief after the first one and see where we land”.

People would not be moved on but were expected to abide by rules such as no consumption of alcohol in Yarra Park, he said.

Melbourne Mayor Sally Capp recommended fans find other ways to celebrate the concerts in the city. A Swift impersonator will perform in Federation Square and other venues will host Swift-themed parties.

“There is going to be Taylor Swift fever, we know, and traders around the city at different venues are really stepping up to provide that party atmosphere,” Capp told ABC Radio.

“From our perspective, there are plenty of ways for people to get into the vibe and enjoy the fact that one of the biggest acts in the world is going to be in Melbourne.”

Malvern East mother Emmy Choi is taking her 13-year-old daughter to one of the Melbourne concerts this weekend. She remains worried crowds outside the MCG could make it hard to enter and exit.

“It is a concern for me, I am worried about the safety of my daughter, because she’s quite young,” Choi said.

“It will be quite overwhelming.”

If a further warning, lucky fans with tickets who line up early have been told not to bother as anyone queuing before 2.30pm on the day of the concert will be sent away from the stadium.

The Australian Eras Tour kicks off on February 16 at the MCG. Swift will also perform at Accor Stadium in Sydney from February 23-26.

– with AAP