I’m always late to hear about interesting concerts and events. I even managed to miss Nirvana’s last concert (well, the one before the last one) in Slovenia, just because I was too lazy to buy tickets on time. So, basically, I missed out on an amazing concert, and the best pickup line of the nineties: “Hi there. You know, I saw Curt Cobain in his last concert. He looked so profoundly sad. Want to go out for a drink someday?”
Well, thanks to this new thing called Internet, the Nirvana fiasco won’t happen again. Last week, I managed to get hold of excellent tickets for the September U2 concert through Craigslist. Finding the right pair of tickets was a challenge though, as I am very picky about seat location. I had to browse through dozens of postings and switch back-and-forth to the Soldier Field stadium seat map, in order to make sure I have the optimal seat for looking Bono in the eyes.
Earlier today I discovered FanSnap, which is ideal for optimizing your price/location ROI. While StubHub is doing an ok job of listing tickets (I managed to get decently-priced same-day Leonard Cohen tickets in May), but Fansnap’s ticket map and broad ticket availability put them ahead of other players.
As a side effect, I also learned that my original $540 ticket investment is now up by approx. 15%. That’s far more than what my portfolio did over the last 12 months. 15% in a week! Scalping suddenly looks like an interesting business, but that will already be a topic for a totally different blog post…
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I was at a U2 concert in 1998. Ticket cost around $50 (or 200 NIS) back then. I only wish I held on to that ticket – would have made a great long term investment
On the other hand, that was probably the best concert I ever attended, so I'm kinda glad I exercised!