Dirty dealings and dirt cheap tickets on Craigslist

To all college students who are tired of spending a week’s budget on concert tickets, I present to you a guide to Craigslist tickets. Now, everyone gets a little nervous when it comes to Craigslist due to, I don’t know, hearsay—and possibly a highly publicized series of murders involving the site. But Craigslist remains one of the greatest resources for us poor college folk looking to see our favorite bands for below face value. Sure, $30 to see Paramore doesn’t sound like much, but why pay $30 when you could pay $15?

People post to Craigslist to get rid of their tickets for many reasons, but most of them are not looking to make any money out of the deal. The people you want to buy from are the ones that are desperate—or stupid. “I accidentally bought the tickets for the wrong city/day/band.” That’s a good one.

Another popular, kind of sad, but highly beneficial situation: “My girlfriend dumped me, and we were supposed to see this concert together.” Typically, the more desperate the person, the cheaper you can snag the tickets.

The cheapest, but also the riskiest, option is to wait until the day of the concert. Dozens of people have to miss concerts because something came up, and at that point they just want to make any of their money back and are working in a rather limited time frame.

Now is a good time to talk about what to avoid when buying Craigslist tickets. The aforementioned man—that newly single one—may pull the old “looking for someone to go to a concert with me” trick. Do not fall for this. This is how you end up waking the next day in a Brooklyn apartment to someone’s iPod alarm clock playing noise bands at 3 in the afternoon.

If, while you are purchasing your ticket, someone suggests you go to the concert with him, politely decline. Or to save face, lie. You’re going with your boyfriend who already has a ticket, or a group of friends, or you’re buying the ticket for your friend’s birthday—it’s their favorite band, but you don’t care for them. Keep talking until you’re out the door, ticket in hand, with no further commitment to that person.

Which brings up another Craigslist nuance: the transaction. You should always look to make it as quick and efficient as possible. If they’re asking $30 for the ticket, bring exact change. Deals are broken when no one has a 10.

If you can, try to arrange to make the exchange at the venue before the show, or if that’s impossible, in a public place. Find the closest Starbucks and bring a friend. Sure, not everyone on the Internet is a creepy stalker, but have you explored other areas of Craigslist? Ever read “Missed Connections?” My point exactly.

Now, some telltale signs (actually from the site) that you should beware of:

“I am going to the show but I have four more tickets available.” Gosh, I hate when I accidentally buy 4 extra tickets!

“I have one print-at-home ticket that I would love to sell for $50. I can e-mail the ticket to you.” Sounds good, I’ll e-mail you the $50 as well.

“Can’t make it to the show anymore. Have two tickets for sale at face value. Can meet you at the show.” Somehow, I think you’ll have some trouble with this transaction.

If Craigslist still freaks you out but you want to save some money on live music, here are the next two weeks in free, all ages, music: On Wednesday, Oct. 30, experience some of the best talent Broadway has to offer at a free concert in Times Square, part of Live on Broadway. Mariah Carey is performing in Rockefeller Center to promote her new album on Friday, Oct. 2. Brooklyn Philharmonic has a free show on Thursday, Oct. 8 at 6 p.m., and Bargemusic, a chamber orchestra that is performing from a floating barge under the Brooklyn Bridge, has its final free concert of the season on Sunday, Oct. 10 at 1 p.m.