Concert Tickets: Why Prices Are So High… & Where The Deals Are

The average ticket price for a One Direction concert this summer is $674.23, according to a report posted on CNN yesterday.

$674.23…. really?!

As the news of the $674.23 ‘average’ ticket price echos across internet today, we have to wonder… just where did CNN get that number?

In an appalling lack of journalistic standards, they don’t say.

Is that the average price of the highest priced, meet the group back stage, type of ticket? Or perhaps the average price that scalpers are trying to get? Or did the calculate “dream prices,” where some eBayer offers something for sale at some ridiculously high amount, into that average?

No telling, based on the information provided.

What does seem to be apparent though is that ticket sellers in the primary market are struggling with how to prevent scalping in the secondary market. Raising the retail price of concert tickets is one of the tactics they are trying out.

For instance, a speculator will buy a ticket that is priced at $100 and since the band/artist is very popular, he will sell those tickets at three times the amount on the black market. Due to popularity, it is expected that tickets will go at the higher price.

Attempting to freeze out scalpers, promoters sometimes limit the number of publicly available tickets.

Jesse Lawrence, CEO of the TiqIQ ticket search engine, told CNN:

One of the worst examples of that was a Justin Bieber concert in California. Only 8% of the tickets went on sale to the general public. The rest were getting sold through his fan club, through cardholder and artist hold-backs. Literally, that on sale to the public is a really small percentage of tickets.

According to a report from Today.com, U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ) has drafted legislation regarding government oversight of the concert ticket selling business. “What I want is that people will know ahead of time how many tickets are going to go on sale for the general public,” Pascrell told Today.

Today also provided suggestions on how shoppers can get cheaper concert tickets.

Tips include joining fan clubs of bands/artists that you want to see in concert, as sometimes they provide access to tickets; and being flexible enough (and taking the risk) to wait until the last minute, as sometimes prices drop as brokers attempt to unload tickets before they become worthless.

Have you been to a concert by a top tier performer this summer?

If so, please share the details on your tickets!

Did you get a good deal? If so, how?