How to Get Concert Tickets Without Getting Fleeced

Ticket prices have gotten silly. But people still walk into shows having paid face value, and they're not all lucky. They just have a few habits. Here are the ones worth copying.

Buy from the source, not the first tab Google shows you

Half the "official looking" sites at the top of search results are resellers with a markup baked in. Find the venue's own page or the artist's official ticket link and start there. On an event page here, the ticket button goes straight to the listed seller, no detour.

Know the two windows that matter

There are really only two good moments to buy:

• The presale. Sign up to the artist's mailing list weeks ahead. Presale codes land in your inbox and you're buying before the general rush.
• The week of the show. Counterintuitive, but promoters and resellers dump unsold and re-listed tickets as the date closes in. Prices often soften. If you can be patient, this is where deals hide.

Set the alarm for the on-sale, literally

For anything popular, the difference between a fair seat and nothing is about ninety seconds. Have your account logged in and your card saved before the clock hits. Decide your maximum price beforehand so you're not "deciding" while the timer runs down.

Watch the fees, not just the sticker

A $35 ticket that becomes $52 at checkout isn't a $35 ticket. Service fee, facility fee, the "order processing" fee that processes nothing. Read the final number before you celebrate. We don't add any of our own on top, but plenty of sellers do.

The headline price is marketing. The checkout total is the real price.

And if it's sold out

Check the smaller acts on the same night. Some of the best gigs I've been to cost ten bucks because I'd never heard of the band yet. Browse a city's upcoming concerts and you'll usually find three good shows for the price of one big one.

None of this is insider knowledge. It's just refusing to buy on impulse from the loudest seller in the room.