Austin City Limits: Weekend Two Sees Scalpers Slashed

Well, folks, the Austin City Limits Music Festival just wrapped up its first weekend, and boy, did we see some sky-high prices from our friendly neighborhood scalpers. Some were asking for up to $400 for a single-day and a whopping $1,250 for a three-day wristband! Talk about highway robbery!

But hold onto your ten-gallon hats, because weekend two is a different rodeo. Those same scalpers are singing a different tune now.

"Go to the bar this week. Save a ton of money next week," said one reseller. Looks like he was spot on.

Prices along Barton Springs Rd. have taken a nosedive. That same vendor is now hawking one-day wristbands for $180 and three-day wristbands for $280. Guess the market for overpriced wristbands isn’t as hot as they thought.

Your ACL Fest weekend two FAQ is here: What to bring, when to arrive, how to buy tickets.

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

Another scalper tried to sell a one-day band for $300 but was quick to haggle. Last week, a scalper wouldn’t budge from $400 per person for a group of three, just hours before Blink-182 and Chris Stapleton hit the stage.

But supply and demand might be changing. Some scalpers had no inventory to move at 1:30pm. Others dodged comment when they found out a reporter was asking.

And online, the resale market has cooled off too.

Are ACL Tickets Still Available?

Wristbands on ACL’s verified site started at $223 for a single-day pass and $320 for a three-day pass on Friday morning.

"The only way to ensure that your ACL Fest wristband is valid is if it is purchased through Front Gate Tickets or through Ticketmaster Verified Resale," say ACL organizers. "We discourage anyone from buying a wristband off the street or from an unverified source. We want our fans to enjoy their ACL Fest experience from beginning to end and the best way to do that is to follow these simple guidelines."

Whatever your last-minute plan, be careful.

How well do you know the ACL lineup? Take our artist trivia quiz to find out

Don’t Sell Your ACL Wristband When You Leave the Park, and Watch Out for Scams

"Don't you dare sell that wristband to anybody out there asking or offering you money," local journalist Ford Sanders told his 92,000 followers this week on TikTok. "After you’ve been drinking a little bit, you don’t remember."

Sanders, in a viral video, said that last year, two young men offered him $150 for two hours of ACL entertainment as he was exiting Zilker Park. He thought he’d found a loophole until he remembered his credit card was linked to his wristband.

"They could have gone in and bought up as many drinks as they wanted. As much food, as much merch," he said.

Most ACL transactions require a PIN for linked cards, but Sanders said he witnessed several transactions on-site that didn’t.

Dua Lipa for Leos? Tyler for Pisces? We break down the ACL lineup based on your Zodiac

Some of this is common sense. Every wristband is traced to the person who bought it and must be scanned in and out of the festival. It’s entirely possible that a resale band wasn’t properly scanned out and will need a manual reset—which means a long walk and ID check.

Music fans are warning each other about scams on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist too. Three-day passes for weekend two are listed for between $300 and $400 on Marketplace, with single-day passes at $200. But one listing for “General Admission Plus,” which offers added amenities like food and lounge access, comes with warnings by folks who say that after purchase, the wristband itself fails to activate.

Those are going for $775 on verified resale, so be distrustful. If the deal seems too good to be true, it likely is.