You’re too late - By the time you hear an advertisement on the radio or your friend informs you that your favorite artist is going on tour, you’re too late. Often, the artist will already have had a club presale and a promoter presale, leaving the scraps to the public onsale. If you have an artist that you’re in love with, do yourself a favor and sign up for their fan club if available.
You slept in - Nobody likes waking up at 9:55 A.M. on a Saturday morning to purchase tickets but if you want the best seats you must set that alarm. It’s vital to check details when tickets go on sale because often an artist will have a presale and public onsale the same day; the presale usually taking place an hour before (9 a.m.).
Your connection sucks - still running that measly 3MB down 512K up? Forget it! By the time you’ve typed in the captcha — assuming you get it right the first time — your tickets are already in the hands of a broker. If possible, try to pull tickets at work or school where the Internet connection is reliable and fast. Don’t forget to use TWO different browsers for the same concert pull.
You’re not privileged - AMEX, Citi Card, venue presales, artist presales, these all factor into the quality of seats you can pull. While AMEX presales do require an AMEX card, you can usually slip by a Citi card presale with any old Visa and a six digit ‘presale’ number. Stay up to date with presale passwords by visiting ConcertSPY.com regularly or by staying informed with your local venue and artist.
You’re out of luck - Is Madonna, Prince and U2 a must see concert for you? Yeah I bet, you and another 100 million people. With huge concerts like this you may just be out of luck. You’ll be competing with the top ticket brokers in the world who employ unethical strategies, like spinner software that can pull an entire front row within seconds. If you must purchase tickets on the secondary market then buy them a month or so before the actual show, when seats are least expensive.
photo credit: Jordanius Rex
