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Home > Smart Spending > Archives > 2008 > October > 09
Thursday, October 9, 2008
No ticket? No problem
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If I had a dollar for every time friends tell me they are not attending a major concert or sports event because they lack a ticket, well, I’d have enough buy a marked-up, front-row seat from one of those online ticket brokers.
The point is, you don’t need them. Go to the arena and you’ll get in, usually at below cost. My advice often is met with a look of disbelief. But, hey, they’re my pals. I wouldn’t steer them wrong.
See, when tickets are first placed on sale, many folks purchase the maximum, thinking they will distribute them among relatives, co-workers or acquaintances. Invariably, some buyers get stuck with unclaimed seats.
Even at a high-demand event, most of them don’t care about profiting from a resale. They just want to unload the leftovers, recoup some of their money and get inside. For you, the key is distinguishing these sellers from the onsite scalpers, there to make a buck — or several. It’s easy to tell the difference.
Make sure you avoid conducting the transaction too close to the site if laws forbidding such sales within a certain distance are enforced. (Years ago, a cop snatched an SEC Football Championship Game ticket I was trying to dump cheaply and confiscated it.)
Dress and behave as if you desire to blend in with the pricey-seat patrons. The seller knows whoever takes his extras might wind up next to him.
Your pockets should contain various denominations of bills — twenties, tens, fives and ones — so you don’t have to fool with change after a price is agreed upon.
If you want to enjoy the event dirt-cheap and don’t mind missing the first few songs or plays, wait until it’s showtime. By then, it’s truly a buyer’s market.
Those are my tips. How about yours?
In the past year, I’ve snared a second-row, side-stage ticket at half-off for my favorite band, two deeply reduced Hawks ducats and a $20 seventh-row spot at a Chastain Park performance.
Out of hundreds of sold-old events I’ve attended for work or play, only twice have I not noticed a ticket that wasn’t exorbitantly priced. One was an NCAA Final Four championship when it was held in smaller buildings than now. The other was a Super Bowl at the Dome. These are the exceptions.
So, I don’t want to hear that you are bypassing the big show or game because you are ticket-less. Shoot, I prefer the onsite approach, anyway, to avoid the outrageous fees of TicketMaster, et al. There’s also Atlanta Performs, where tickets are half-price on selected theater shows on the day of the performance (available beginning at noon).
Expect additional deals may be in the future. Tough economic times are perhaps partly to blame for the availability of discounted tickets to what should be considered a hot concert. Fellow blogger, Sonia Murray, writes about half-price ticket sales for Mary J. Blige and Robin Thicke concert tickets.
Let’s hear your experiences, good or bad, from buying tickets outside an event.
And, if you want to read more about saving and other Smart Spending tips check out Your Money.
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