Are concert tickets cheaper an hour before concert?

  • Posted on: 04 Jul 2024
    Are concert tickets cheaper an hour before concert?

  • Is There a Chance of Getting a Concert Ticket Even Cheaper in an Hour Before the Show?

    If you have ever experienced the desire to go to a concert at the spur of the moment you might be curious as to whether or not you are able to score cheap tickets when purchasing the ticket one hour before the actual performance. Yes, it does cross one’s mind that they could log into their account at the last minute and wait for the airlines to release their remaining tickets at a great discount, without having to charge all the miscellaneous fees. But, as you can imagine, the experience of actually getting last minute ticket deals is not quite as exciting. The following is the probable experience in case an individual wants to buy inexpensive concert tickets one hour before the show.

    The pre-sale of tickets is followed by the VIP sale where ticket stocks are released to the public and this is usually the last sale to be conducted.

    This is in reference to today’s popular sales of tickets on the Internet; concerts do not come with spare chairs that are sold just before the event. Major performances are typically timed with the majority of the tickets being sold a few months ahead of a particular event, such that some go on a ‘ sell out’ within minutes of being released to the market. By that logic, a ticket dump that might occur just before the doors are opened is out of the question.

    Usually, it is several days or weeks before event dates that most venues let go of any additional production holds or unsold bulk ticket stocks. This basically implies that if you are expecting them to retain some seats for the last few hours before the event takes place, then you are likely heading for disappointment. The only point could be small club gigs on weekdays, but even in those cases, it is not common that there are few extra seats created at the very last moment.

    Closed ticket resale sites may lower ticket prices

    Although the box office will rarely release new seat inventory near the start time, you’re likely to come across eager sellers in other platforms willing to let go of their tickets. Sites such as stubhub, vivid seats and many more are saturated with people who bought tickets for the intention of reselling them in order to turn a profit. When it is almost the time to present the show and they haven’t sold, they begin gradually reducing the prices.

    However, up to the last 30-60 minutes, before a concert starts, you may find some sellers selling their tickets for below the face value with a view of recovering some of their costs. This is usually prevalent where other programs have low ticket selling frequencies, especially in other marketplaces. However, be careful, for frequently such ‘cheap’ offers are only posted at the very bottom of the list and only appear shortly before the start of the sale, with the deals themselves winning over the hearts of champions.

    Earlier, scalpers became passive when they stopped the sales of tickets for some events, and if seen active, they were more focused on maintaining their inventory rather than offering deep discounts and promoting them aggressively at the tail end of the event.

    Another place where you might find them selling the tickets at a relatively cheaper price, especially when there is less time to the event is at the venue, through scalpers. Tickets resellers who snap up tickets to sell at inflated prices will start undercutting desperately as the time for the show approaches. Some of them start with incredibly high prices for their services that look ridiculously high compared to the actual value of the show, while the last five minutes before the show is about to begin are filled with surprisingly low prices.

    Of course, purchasing goods from such individuals is not without its risks. As far as I know, you never know whether the tickets that you bought are original or fake until you are scanned in. And with the increase in paperless ticket sales, immediate opportunities for scalpers decrease. Nevertheless, it appears for some shows scalpers are eager to take back any amount rather than being cut for the full amount. It is just as simple as to avoid dealing with them, or just use some logic when interacting with them.

    There are still certain fees that are not seen so the savings are not as much as one might think.

    While you may consider the resale ticket prices to be extremely low and think that you just got the best deal in town, always remember the fees. Some online ticketing platforms such as StubHub, for instance, initially appear transparent with their service fees. But when the clock counts down, they load some of the processing fees to the check rather than displaying them.

    For instance, there may be a ticket that costs $20 and such a price sounds like a great offer. However when it comes to buying there could be delivery charges in form of electronic delivery fee of $10. ‘Nickel and dime’ service charges are popular and that’s not suitable for fans on the hunt for the best offers on a tight budget. That ticket you booked at a discounted price costs you $30 in real terms.

    What Are the Chances of Waiting?

    Finding the real last minute ticket bargain is now as difficult as finding a needle in a hay stack or winning a lottery. It is rare to be able to catch your preferred tickets at a lower price in the last minute, most of the time you will not see the price dropping drastically in the last 60 minutes. They have realized that fans are strategic when it comes to waiting hence they have worked on the new methods of managing the inventories.

    However, it is always advisable to search for second-hand operating sites near the showtime as it might be lucky to experience a price drop. Instead, just have back up plans than to rely in getting those tapped deals. But what if you come across tickets that seem to be offered at way lower prices than they should be? They just might be if other listing prices don’t match them. The adage you might say is ‘he who sleeps loses,’ do not wait for the deals to come or else you’ll be left with just hearsay!