But camping overnight outside a Ticketmaster outlet outside Vector Arena paid off for two lucky fans, who arrived at 3pm Wednesday to wait in line.
"We got tickets to both 6.30pm and 10pm shows," said Jennifer Butcher, who spent the night outside the venue with her friend, Georgia Duder-Wood.
"Being first in queue physically definitely was the way to go."
Prince, 57, will play two shows at Auckland's ASB Theatre in the Aotea Centre on February 24, the first at 6.30pm, the second at 10pm.
While tickets in all price ranges were available when they went on sale through at midday, by 12.10pm the website was reporting all tickets had been sold.
Unlucky fans were greeted with the message, "Sorry, no tickets match your search" for all tickets in all price ranges.
Prices, revealed earlier this week, came in three tiers: $389.90, $219.90 and $99.90.
To avoid scalpers, promoters said tickets for the show would be limited to two per person and no tickets would be distributed.
Ticket buyers would have to produce photo ID when they pick up their tickets from the venue from noon on the day of the show.
Fans took to Twitter to tell their ticket-buying stories.
The winners
The losers
Prince will also perform four shows at Melbourne State Theatre on February 16 and 17, two shows at the Sydney Opera House on February 20 and two shows at Sydney State Theatre on February 21.
Prince, known for hits such as Kiss, When Doves Cry and Let's Go Crazy is performing his Piano and a Microphone tour, a solo show he had planned to take around Europe late last year but cancelled after the Paris terror attacks
As the tour name suggests, Prince will perform alone on stage at the piano.
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- nzherald.co.nz
