How, When and Why of Buying Tickets from Ticket Brokers

Posted in Ticket Analysis, Ticket Brokers, Ticket Releases on 20. Jul, 2009

HOW DO TICKET BROKERS GET THEIR TICKETS ?

Most tickets that brokers sell are never available to the general public. At large venues, most of the orchestra seats are sold to season ticket holders. They are much more expensive than if someone purchased them for an individual event. That is the “cost” for that guarantee of better seats.

Unsold season tickets are then made available to the individual artist. Believe it or not, it is the artist who decides how many of the unsold PRIME SEATS are allocated. They may choose to:

Distribute to their fan club for resale.
Use them to promote the concert.
Give them to business associates and friends.

A good example of this is the recent Springsteen debacle. Springsteen alleged that Ticketmaster attempted to defraud his fans of the best seats in the house. In reality, Springsteen held the 2000 BEST SEATS in the arena for people he knew or politicians and other public figures who needed to be “seen” at a
his concert . The only way to get the best seats was from a broker whom had been sold tickets by those insiders. The people making the most money were the INSIDERS WHO WERE ALLOWED TO PURCHASE TICKETS.

In most cases, ticket brokers make only 10 to 20 % of face value but the insider may make 500%!

WHEN IS A GOOD TIME TO USE A TICKET BROKER?

TICKET PRICES ARE GOING DOWN. For example, tickets for a certain engagement are not selling and prices are coming down. Keep an eye on the show on ticket websites for the month leading up to the event. Get an idea for how many tickets are listed and note that 2 or 3 times a week. If supply is staying the same or just barely moving down, wait to purchase. If there 5-10 sets of tickets gone each time you check back, it’s time to purchase before prices start going up. What do you do? Go to ticketliquidator.com check out the price and pick out the seats you want. You go to ticketliquidator.com because they are the cheapest website for tickets. This will allow you to find out the top price you should pay from a broker. Once you find out the price from Ticket Liquidator, call your local brokers to find out who owns them and buy from the person that owns them. This way you avoid the service fee that Ticket Liquidator charges on top of the price shown on their website. Buying locally from the ticket owner generally allows you to avoid the shipping charges, as you can go and pick up the tickets.

WHY USE A TICKET BROKER ?

Time is money. Your time is worth something Think of the time one spends in the attempt to buy tickets through the
various presales and verifying time and dates for ticket releases.
Personal Service. If you “like the best of the best,” developing a personal relationship
with a broker is going to get you the best advice:
- Where are the best seats in that venue?
- When is the best time to buy?
- Ticket trends. The broker knows the trends and will help you determine when it is the right time to buy. Many times I have helped clients who were willing to spend $500 a ticket to be front row center, but knowing tickets were not really moving and there were multiple sets of tickets, allowed me to tell that person to wait to buy. This allowed them to buy the same seats for $250 each.
If you go to 3-4 shows a year, it’s advantageous to develop a relationship with a ticket broker. Think of them as you do your stockbroker.

2 Responses to “How, When and Why of Buying Tickets from Ticket Brokers”

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July 27, 2009 at 9:05 am

[...] This Concludes the Concert Ticket buying guide. If you missed out on tickets all is not lost. Often times tickets are available at or below face value close to the shows. Read my guide on how to buy concert tickets from brokers. [...]

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December 7, 2009 at 7:11 pm

[...] the seat numbers before you purchase. Call your broker to find out the seat numbers (click here to see why it can be good to use a broker). If you look at the seating chart the aisles go up the middle of the section at the Rose Bowl. For [...]