Gabrielle Lask isn’t normally a big spender, but when she had an opportunity to purchase two tickets to Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour for $4,000, the Swiftie just couldn’t “shake off” the chance to see the singer with her mom.
“It’s so much money,” Lask says. “I honestly don’t think I’ve ever spent that much money on anything in my life, but I was dying to go to that show. My mom surprised me with tickets for my 11th birthday for the Fearless tour, and this would be a full-circle moment for us to go back together.”
How Lask Covered the Cost
Lask, 24, and her mother first tried purchasing tickets through the presale program for Capital One cardholders, which reportedly offered ticket prices as low as $49.
When that didn’t work out, Lask says they tried several avenues to get tickets before connecting with a ticket broker who could get them the unobstructed, 300-level tickets for $2,000 each.
To cover the cost, Lask says she took $3,000 out of her savings account to pay for the tickets. Her mom paid the other $1,000 and paid for Lask’s flight from Florida to St. Louis, where they met and drove to Chicago together for the concert. Her mother also paid for the hotel room after the concert.
Resale Ticket Prices Have Gone Through the Ceiling
Lask wasn’t the only fan spending thousands on tickets to The Eras Tour — resale ticket prices have skyrocketed, even as the singer has continued to add more tour dates. Earlier this month, Swift unveiled a schedule for previously unannounced North American shows running through November in Miami, New Orleans, Indiana and Canada. After that, she’ll take the show abroad.
The average resale ticket sold for the concert at the time of publications is $1,619, according to SeatGeek. By comparison, the average resale concert ticket this year is about $245.
“What makes (Swift’s ticket sales) even more impressive is that she is drawing this level of demand while playing at the largest venues in the country,” says Chris Leyden, director of growth marketing at SeatGeek. “Taylor nearly broke the internet during her Eras Tour tickets sales, and the demand has not subsided.”
Fans Went Way Over Budget
Even fans who managed to get their tickets during the presale at lower prices often spent more than they expected.
[Read: Inside the Psychology of Overspending and How to Stop.]
Swift may have competition when it comes to fans spending on concert tickets, however. A recent InvestorsObserver survey found that fans of Beyonce were laying out an average of $1,800 each to see Queen Bey perform, about $300 more than the average spend by Swifties.
For some, however, forking over four digits for a concert is just too much. More than 70% of consumers recently told LendingTree that they’ve opted out of seeing their favorite performers because prices were too high.
[Read: How to Make a Budget — and Stick to It.]
But for Lask, who has seen Swift in concert four times, the experience was worth the money.
“She is my favorite artist, and she has released so much new music since her last tour, I couldn’t miss it,” Lask says. “It was so amazing, I cried multiple times. It was surreal being there after the battle and uncertainty of getting tickets. I just couldn’t believe I was there.”
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This is How Much It Costs to See Taylor Swift on The Eras Tour originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 08/15/23: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
