Concert Ticket Life Hack – Get Killer Seats for Dirt Cheap
When I was a kid and wanted to get some tickets to a concert there were three main options. You could call up Ticketmaster, go on hold, and hope that you got through in time to get anything beyond a nose-bleed seat. Option two was going to a physical Ticketmaster location (or the venue) and wait outside for a few hours until tickets became available. Option number three was to rely on scalpers outside the venue the day of the concert and grab a last-minute ticket that was typically sold at, or above, face value. The first two options have pretty much become a thing of the past thanks to the internet being responsible for well over 90% of ticket sales.
Now, if you want concert or music festival tickets, you go online, hope you’re one of the first in line, and then rush to buy tickets. Thanks to robots and super-scalpers, grabbing amazing tickets to an arena-size act has become nearly impossible. Any lower-level or floor tickets sell out within seconds, and you are left to the mercy of online scalpers and the pure evil that is Ticketmaster to get a ticket. Chances are the price of that ticket will be well over face value.
At this point, you are stuck in a sticky situation. You can either grab some upper-level seat (not for me) or dig deep into your wallet, bite the bullet, and buy a ticket that originally sold for $120 for $400 (definitely not for me). By doing this you are setting in stone that you will be at that show. You can mark it down on your calendar and can rest easy knowing that you have that ticket. If you are ok with spending a few hundred extra dollars, then by all means, do this. If you’re like me, and the thought of giving a scalper (or Ticketmaster) extra money gives you the urge to vomit blood, then there is another option.
Wait Until Last Minute, Save that Money, Get that Killer Spot
The day of the concert or music festival has come, and scalpers and resellers have become desperate. They still have tickets for sale, and the show starts in five hours. They can either hope that someone pays an absurd amount of money, or they can quickly drop their prices to get back some of their investment. Sites like StubHub and VividSeats are a great way to snag last-minute tickets and have them digitally delivered to you. Plus they offer money-back guarantees that your tickets are legit, so you don’t have to worry about getting screwed.
I did this for Mumford and Sons a few months back. Face value of floor seats was around $100, and with Ticketmaster fees they went up to about $130; just not in my budget. Resale tickets a week prior were going for $160-ish. Day of the show dropped to around $80. Five hours before the show they went to $60. Three hours before they went to $45. Then finally an hour before doors opened, they dropped to $13. That’s right, $13, for floor seats to a Mumford and Sons concert. Sure there were a few extra dollars added at the end for “convenience fees” and that nonsense, but whatever, this was still an insane deal.
This is now my go-to way to grab concert tickets. Now, this isn’t completely foolproof; tickets can still sell out at the resale level and not be available, but I’m a gambling man and love saving money.