Things You'll Need:
- Cash money
- Credit card
- Computer
- Internet access
- Common sense
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Step 1
THE GLASSHOUSE. I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. You won't find this on the Coachella website... they do not advertise this fact, but there IS another way to "officially" buy tickets without bending over for Ticketmaster... and that's by going to The Glasshouse in Pomona, CA (about 25 miles east of LA).
The Glasshouse is a live music venue that Goldenvoice has worked a deal with for several years now, graciously giving Coachella fans in the LA area an alternative way to get tickets. But there are rules: They only sell 3-day passes and 4-day camping passes. They do NOT sell individual day tickets. The Glasshouse box office hours are typically 1:00 PM to 8:00 PM daily. They only accept CASH... NO credit cards or checks! There is a limit on the number of tickets you can buy, and there are only a limited number of tickets allocated to the Glasshouse. You must buy the tickets in person, NO phone or online orders. And note that the Glasshouse box office is not located at the actual venue, but a few doors down at the Glasshouse Record Store, located at 248 W 2nd St, Pomona CA 91766. Their website is http://www.theglasshouse.us/
If you don't live near LA, but still want to buy tickets from the Glasshouse, you might be able to find a helpful LA resident willing to buy your ticket for you if you send them the money first. Search for these kind folk at http://www.coachella.com/forum/showthread.php?t=782 -
Step 2
STUBHUB. StubHub.com is like eBay, but just for tickets. It's a good place to look for tickets for just about anything, especially music festivals like Coachella. StubHub has great customer service and guarantees your purchase, so if the person you're buying from fails to come through for some reason, they'll find you a ticket from somewhere else and you won't pay any extra. But that great service comes with a price - a 10% service fee. StubHub is a great place to check right before an event, because sometimes people who can't go at the last minute will sell off their tickets there. Personally, I never buy tickets for any event without monitoring prices on StubHub first.
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Step 3
TICKET BROKERS/SCALPERS, ETC. There are a plethora of 3rd-party ticket sellers out there, some of them very reputable, others are shadier than Eminem. You gotta be careful when buying from ticket brokers. Every year there are a few horror stories of people who got suckered into buying counterfeit tickets, or people who thought they were buying festival tickets, but were actually buying on-site camping tickets. A simple Google search for "Coachella tickets" will help you find several of the bigger, more reputable brokers and resellers.
Other obvious places to look are eBay.com, Craigslist.org, etc. And of course there are the parking lot scalpers. Most of the parking lot scalpers are pros trying to milk as much money as they can from desperate buyers, only a few are fellow fans who are just trying to unload their extra tickets. Use extra caution and common sense when dealing with scalpers. If you're buying from scalpers on eBay, make sure they have a solid feedback history. -
Step 4
COACHELLA BOX OFFICE. Yes, there IS a box office there at the festival, where many people go to pick up tickets at will call, etc. And in past years, there have been tickets available at the box office the day of the event, even when it had been "sold out." There's no guarantee that it will happen again this year. But if you really want to go to the festival, and still don't have tickets the day of the show, I'd get there early when the box office opens (9 AM) to see if they've released any more tickets.
