What's the feeling on the service for buying tickets? I want to get tickets for a game coming up and was wondering if it's better than calling the box office.
"Well, you can't involve friendship with business. It has to be one or the other. It's either business or friendship, or hit the bricks!" --Life Lessons from Bobby the Brain Heenan WCW Uncensored 2000 preview
I've never used a ticket broker before, but after being BOMBARDED NON-STOP by their ads on sports radio, I get the impression that their appeal is to buy last minute or otherwise hard-to-get tickets, not necessarily cheaper-than-the-box-office-or-TicketMaster tickets.
I used StubHub to buy Sonics (RIP) tickets on the spur-of-the-moment a while ago (obviously), and it was quite easy. Since the game was that same evening I had to pick up the tickets in-person and the location was fairly close to the venue. I think I paid only a little bit over face value when all was said-and-done.
Mrs. JJD bought tickets for Hannah Montana on StubHub her experience was all perfectly good - the tickets came in the mail a couple days later.
Holy fuck shit motherfucker shit. Read comics. Fuck shit shit fuck shit I sold out when I did my job. Fuck fuck fuck shit fuck. Sorry had to do it....
*snip*
Revenge of the Sith = one thumb up from me. Fuck shit. I want to tittie fuck your ass. -- The Guinness. to Cerebus
I've been working for a ticket broker website for the last 6 months. From what i've learned and what I can tell you about the market right now is that brokers are really good for last minute tickets. Because of the economy and higher face value on tickets nowadays, shows are bombing. We had leftover tickets to Conan O'Brien, Paul McCartney, and James Taylor/Carole King among others. They'll practically be given away on the day of shows. (We actually do give away many tickets to local shows on our Twitter) If it's the week of the event your chances are high of getting tix below face. On top of that, they're all pretty high on customer service. They will go out of their way to make sure you're happy with your seat. Also, sometimes brokers will even throw in little things like free parking passes and whatnot.
In case anyone's interested, I work at Zigabid.com (Zigabid) Small broker in California, but unlike other broker sites (like StubHub), we also allow online negotiation between the buyer and seller. We're the little company trying to make it big like a StubHub (they actually buy a lot of tix from us)
Hope that didn't come off spammy (well, except the last part. lol) figured i'd just throw in my first hand knowledge.
There is an echo in here: I've used it several times, including buying & selling, & found it easy & reliable. As for prices, they can be all over the place. Caveat emptor. You'll see everything on there from people just recouping their costs on tickets they can't use, all the way up to exorbitant scalper mark-ups. The more knowledge you have about the venue's layout & what the face-value prices of the tickets are, the better you'll feel about your purchase.
Kim's used our local broker Ticket King (ticketkingonline.com) to get us floor seats of a Kings/Timberwolves games at half price the day of, so I think the secret is to want to go to something that nobody else wants to go to, and put in your chips at the very last minute. :)
I used it for the first time back in December. Bought three tickets for a Nuggets/Rockets game for about 18 bucks a pop. When I got the tickets, the face value on them was $56.
Only real obstacle I had was that I had to drop by a "StubHub Fulfillment Center" before the game to pick up my tickets. But overall I was satisified with StubHub. Beat eBay or Craigslist for tickets.
I see that they've recently added "Instant Delivery" where you can get e-tickets sent to your email (presumably a PDF). That's a cool feature. Especially if you're traveling to an event or don't have extra time.
Originally posted by dWsI see that they've recently added "Instant Delivery" where you can get e-tickets sent to your email (presumably a PDF). That's a cool feature. Especially if you're traveling to an event or don't have extra time.
That's exactly how it works. I used that option when I purchased tickets for game 2 of the ALCS last year. Got the tickets in my inbox the same day. And also less than face value which was surprising considering the game and location of the seats. Nothing but a positive experience.
"What you don't understand, you can make mean anything." -Palahniuk
I've had no problem with Stubhub both times I've used it, however my brother was sent photocopies of tickets to last year's VT Maryland game. Stubhub did get him a full refund, but we had to get our tickets elsewhere.
Thanks everybody. I bought 3 tickets for Thursday's White Sox vs Devil Rays game. I got three in Section 102 right behind the plate about 10 rows up. They were $115.00 tickets and I got them for just $49.00 each. The instant download was great. They just e-mailed the link 5 minutes after the purchase and I printed the tickets out myself. Very easy.
"Well, you can't involve friendship with business. It has to be one or the other. It's either business or friendship, or hit the bricks!" --Life Lessons from Bobby the Brain Heenan WCW Uncensored 2000 preview
Originally posted by BroncolancheJust be prepared to pay well over face value.
Yes, I'll definitely second that. I know the object for them is to make a profit, but they always seem to be ridiculously overpriced to me.
Everytime I've wanted to get tickets to a concert, WWE, or sporting event, I've always gotten a better price off of Ebay and Craigslist than Stub Hub.
Remember, Stubhub doesn't set any prices. They charge transaction fees to make their money. The prices are set totally by the people holding the tickets. And if you want an in-demand event (like those of us looking for Stanley Cup tickets right now) you're going to find a very tight market.
I think Stubhub prices tend to be a bit higher because the sellers are trying to make up for the selling fee. Whereas CL is entirely free of charge. Of course that ends up with having to hand a guy $2000 in cash for a couple World Series tickets and hope for the best.
Was there last month, don't go to the fitzpatricks hotel, when i was there, there was bomb scare and i had to nervously watch a guy in a bomb suit sift through a womans bag from my hotel window. What a day that was.