Cover Story: The Science of Scoring Seats
What chance does a little old fan have against all these ticket brokers? Plenty, actually. Here are some tips on getting tickets, culled from conversations with fans and brokers:
THE PRESALE
Many bands free up a certain amount of tickets to be sold to fans in advance. Presales usually require a password. Some websites, such as Bob Dylan’s, offer the password hours before the presale begins. Other fan sites make presale tickets available only to members who pay an annual fee. Presales don’t guarantee tickets, but they give you a fighting chance.
THE PUBLIC SALE
One person sitting at one computer just isn’t enough. Enlist your friends to help on their own computers, so that the second Ticketmaster puts a show on sale, you’ve got allies trying to get tickets. Whatever you do, make sure you have a cable or DSL modem. Dial-up is a loser’s bet. If you want, send a few scouts to a Ticketmaster outlet at Publix. But that’s a long-shot; for shows that sell out in mere minutes, unless you’re the first person in line, your seats may suck, or you may get shut out altogether.
THE SECONDARY MARKET
If you’re left without a ticket during a sell-out, the tendency is to go to eBay right away and put in a bid. That’s the worst thing you can do. Brokers bank on the impatience of buyers. That impatience can be costly.
Take the example of U2’s upcoming shows in Denver. Tickets for the band’s two shows at the Pepsi Center sold out in minutes. Early eBay sales saw brokers making two and three times the face value of tickets. But as of early March, a month after the shows supposedly sold out, tickets are selling on eBay at far below face value. The smart buyer is a patient buyer.
Of course, eBay isn’t the only place where you can find tickets. Fan websites often have trading boards, where scalping is not allowed and extra tickets are sold only for face value. Tickets can also be found on other sites, such as stubhub.com, openseats.com and craigslist.com.
For virtually every concert, promoters set aside a bloc of seats for friends of the band, for colleagues, reviewers and corporate buddies. At least some of those tickets go unused, so venues often “drop” tickets the day of a show.
If the drop doesn’t work, then your only option is the scalper. As always, it’s buyer beware. We’re told Atlanta is one of the worst cities for counterfeits, although most street scalpers will turn in a fellow scalper if they hear of counterfeits, since the practice hurts them all. One thing to be aware of, especially for baseball games - make sure the ticket is for that day’s event. Scalpers have been known to sell tickets for a Braves game that’s already been played.??