The most popular school auction item of 2015: Taylor Swift concert tickets

I’ve reviewed the results of the year.  Want to guess the most common school auction item from this past spring season?

Tickets to Taylor Swift’s 1989 concert tour.

Here’s what we can learn from this.

When popular performers stage shows in your city, buying two or four seats to the show can become a popular live auction item.

Here in the Washington, D.C. area, the rage was for Taylor. When she announced two July 2015 concerts for the D.C. area, the shows quickly sold out.   

The advantage of selling concert tickets to a show like Taylor Swift is her broad appeal.

Unlike her contemporary Katy Perry, who stages too sexual of a show for the comfort of some parents, TS is a safe bet. Her tickets became live auction items in both independent and religious school auctions.

On the heels of Taylor is Adele. 

Last week concert tickets to Adele went on sale for the D.C. area. Once again, I had auction planners (Moms) from two different schools on their computers. 

One school had seven women trying to buy tickets as soon as they were available for purchase. They failed to secure any and resorted to buying from a third-party site (like StubHub). To paraphrase, here’s what one Mom told me:

“It was so stressful. We were working on this all morning. We were all on different computers and sites trying to buy the tickets. One of us would find seats and try to buy them, but the computer would flash, “Unavailable.” We could see the prices climbing. At some point you wonder if you’ll make any money on the purchase.”

No kidding! 

Past performance from a different concert isn’t indicative of future results, but I still thought you’d be curious to see how last year’s investment in Taylor Swift tickets paid off for my clients. 

School auction results for Taylor Swift’s 1989 concert (multiple states represented in the list below)

• 4 tickets to Taylor Swift concert:  Value $670.  Sold for $1,000.
• 4 tickets to Taylor Swift concert with a limo service and $200 dinner gift card.  Value $2,350.  Sold for $4,750.   
• 4 tickets to Taylor Swift and 6 hours of a limo service.  Value $1,200.  Sold for $3,750.   
• 4 tickets to Taylor Swift.  Value $725.  Sold for $2,750.   
• 4 tickets to Taylor Swift.  Value $1,410.  Sold for $2,000.   
• 2 tickets to Taylor Swift.  Value $410.   Sold for $4,400.
• 2 tickets to Taylor Swift concert and a dinner gift card.  Value $1,740.  Sold for $2,600.   

Nonprofit auction results for Taylor Swift’s 1989 concert

• 2 tickets to Taylor Swift.  Value $900. Sold for $1,500.
• 4 tickets to Taylor Swift (Philadelphia show) from the Mayor’s Box. Value $600. Sold for $1625.

And for kicks, below is a video of me selling one set of tickets at one of those school auctions this last spring:

Will the investment in Adele tickets pay off? 

I don’t know. 

Check back with me in 12 months.