Buy Event Tickets at the Last Minute, 2024 Edition
Welcome to Saving Money with Andrew!
A simple trick I enjoy using is waiting until the last minute to buy tickets to a concert, show, or sporting event. This is a slightly risky strategy if you absolutely must see an event, but if you’re flexible and can live with a very small chance of not being able to attend, you can get some unbelievable deals.
This strategy takes advantage of the inherent nature of scarce but expiring goods (like tickets). Tickets are valuable until the event begins, when the ticket becomes worthless. So, generally between 30 minutes and 6 hours before an event, most sellers with unsold event tickets generally switch from trying to get the highest price to trying to sell the ticket at almost any price.
If you watch a ticket sales page for a popular event in the last hour before the event, things almost always play out in one of two ways:
More Buyers than Sellers - inventory dries up and tickets are gone or mostly gone before the event begins
More Sellers than Buyers - inventory languishes, and in the last 30-60 minutes, sellers desperately cut prices to sell their tickets before they become worthless
The latter case is far more common than the former.
My current favorite ticket platform is SeatGeek (this is not an ad!) for two reasons:
SeatGeek assigns a “Deal Score” to all tickets being offered, giving you a rough sense of how good a deal you’re getting when you’re trying to make a quick decision. I generally enter the range of prices I’m looking to pay, and then sort by Deal Score. I usually ignore any deals with a score below 8.0
SeatGeek’s return policy allows you to “return” any tickets you won’t be able to use as long as it’s at least 72 hours prior to the event. Under the policy, you receive a credit usable toward a future event on SeatGeek in the next year.
We’ve used a last-minute strategy many times, and here’s one example:
My wife and I wanted to see a 2pm Saturday matinee of Moulin Rouge!, at the time one of the hottest shows on Broadway. The day before the show, the cheapest orchestra seats were $200 each on StubHub (another platform we occasionally use).
At about 1pm, an hour before the show, ticket prices began falling
By 1:19pm, a pair of front orchestra seats were listed for $115 each (11% below face), which we quickly bought.
We could have gotten a significantly better deal had we waited longer. On the way to the theater with about 20 minutes before showtime, we saw orchestra tickets for less than $80, which we could have just bought on our phones.
We’ve used this approach for several events, including multiple NBA games. As long as you’re ok with a very small chance of not getting a ticket, this strategy is a winner.
And now, Andrew’s pick(s) of the week:
Please cancel your unused subscriptions! From The Real Reason You’re Paying for So Many Subscriptions:
The consulting firm West Monroe surveyed thousands of Americans in 2021, asking them to guess how much they spent each month on subscriptions. Their average response was $62. When they were given more time to guess again, they increased their estimate to $96. They were still way off. The correct answer was $273.
Also:
It’s Amazing How Many Americans Think They Live in the Midwest When They Don’t
Your New $3,000 Couch Might Be Garbage in Three Years. This Is Why.
I hope this has been helpful. If you liked it, please share it on social media! Also, please send me your feedback, requests, and success stories.