How to Buy Tickets for a Sold Out Concert
Imagine for a second that you are trying to win the hottest ticket in town and concert tickets sold out. Or maybe it’s a group you only kind of but don’t want to give up the $ 79 plus service fee to see. Ticketmaster is nearly impossible to beat without a collection of tips , and StubHub can often be even more expensive than the resale marketplace.
But fear not, because there are usually people in real life who are not speculators who want to get money back for tickets they cannot use because they got sick, their nanny was canceled or their favorite team played in the Stanley Cup that night … Here’s how to navigate the wide network of resale options before ditching the show entirely:
Make Facebook Event Pages your first stop
When they don’t collect all of your data, Facebook is a great resource for buying concert tickets. Your quest usually starts and ends on the concert page, where potential ticket buyers circle around like hyenas. As you get closer to a concert, it might seem like a bloody day’s bargaining, but you can always get away with a ticket.
If the event page allows it, click what you are visiting and subscribe to notifications for all future posts. On shows with high demand, you will often see a group of people posting “looking for 1/2 / how many tickets” with the highest price they are willing to offer – promoters and seat pages never seem to mind that. , in my experience. It is worth taking the time to publish one of these, but often the most reliable way is to simply be the first to write DM to another user who posted that they are selling tickets. Since this is probably the forum that requires buyers and sellers the most attention, you should give them the least amount of work by taking the initiative, responding immediately to their posts and adapting as much as possible when the time comes for the transfer.
Craigslist may be the Wild West, but it works
Craigslist is never the most ideal section on the Internet, but a few weeks before the show, it is surprisingly one of the safest places to buy tickets – often at face value. As with any anonymous service with no customer feedback, there are inherent risks that you probably already know about. But if the message sounds like it was written by a real person, ideally with a story explaining that they were about to go to the show, rather than a generic or poorly designed universal image that is often used across hundreds of different ticket offices – then you might be in luck.
Getting rid of these things isn’t always easy: Calling them ahead of time and asking them to meet in a convenient location is a good place to start. I usually ask to meet outside of the venue, but if you cannot do so, please select a neutral location to hand over tickets and cash. Electronic tickets are always preferable, but they pose certain obstacles in and of themselves. In such situations, there is always a game of chicken – which should be sent first, a ticket or money? Do you calculate it with one-two-three clicks ? If you are comfortable dealing with a real salesperson, these fears are not so serious. Craigslist is less risky for concert tickets than its reputation for other types of transactions might lead you to believe.
Twitter – Hail Mary
Probably the least reliable option, but worth trying in desperate times. Sometimes, a Twitter search for an artist name on the day of a performance can result in a few tweets from people looking to get rid of extra tickets. If the group isn’t like Beyoncé or Radiohead, try tweeting them saying you’re looking for a ticket to their show – sometimes they’ll retweet and get the attention of other fans.
Beware of scammers
Many of the aforementioned methods – notably Craigslist, which Facebook is behind – inevitably attract scammers. It’s always nice to get some kind of confirmation that the person you’re buying from a) lives in the same city as the show, or b) had at least some intention of going to the show. On Facebook, you can usually find this information by quickly scanning someone’s profile for mutual friends or information that links them to your city. But Craigslist may provide a few more minefields. It’s always best to send the message a few times before agreeing to anything and try to figure out if the person seems friendly, normal, and real. If in doubt, ask for photo confirmation of tickets or receipts before making a sale.
A friend of mine (who will remain unnamed) nearly got scammed ahead of Jeff Rosenstock’s sold-out show last summer through a Facebook user who was Sean Thompson. He very presumptuously sent a fake ticket to my friend, riddled with misspellings and misinformation about the venue, and started an aggressive tone early and often in DM, continuing to threaten legal action if he didn’t pay by money order. This was one case where the scam was clear and preventable but still unsettling, especially with several other Facebook users tweeting that he successfully performed the same trick on other pages of the event.
Cash and face-to-face are preferred when it comes to setting up the safest payment method possible, with PayPal not far behind in situations where this is not possible. If the seller isn’t a match for either of these or Venmo, it’s probably time to look elsewhere.
Haggle if you have to, just don’t be a member
Look, if it comes to eating the entire cost or selling your ticket for less than you spent, obviously someone will choose the latter. Which can sometimes open the door to getting a ticket to a not-so-sought-after show ( hello Smashing Pumpkins ) per day for a discounted price. But please don’t be a greedy fool.
A good rule of thumb: don’t go below two-thirds of the original price on any lowball offer. This is not the best view, we all have bills to pay and this is not a transaction that will make someone feel particularly good.
If all else fails, just get down to business.
This is a real power move and can really backfire if you live more than 10 minutes from the venue. It’s not something I’ve personally tried, but after waiting at the meeting point three times to pick up Craigslist tickets – or in one case, walking up to the ticket counter – and being stopped by people with extra tickets literally wanting to donate them away. I can also testify that it is a worthy last resort. And if the show is played in a big enough room, scalpers can linger at the door – surprisingly most establishments don’t seem to mind their presence – and as the show gets closer to its start time, their market price goes down by the minute. It’s a game of patience, but it can pay off with great success.