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Offline bosk1

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Sports tickets question
« on: July 12, 2018, 11:08:09 PM »
I am going to be traveling out of state with a group of Boy Scouts, and they are going to a baseball game.  I am a late addition to the trip, so I am on my own for buying my ticket.  I haven't really bought after-market tickets for a sports event before, but looking on Stubhub, they have quite a few seats in the same section.  My question for those who may have experience:  Should I buy as soon as possible to make sure I get a seat?  Or do people lower their prices closer to game day?  And also, are there better, but still trustworthy places to buy?  Thanks in advance.
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Offline El Barto

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Re: Sports tickets question
« Reply #1 on: July 12, 2018, 11:38:53 PM »
Mostly it depends on if it's a weeknight or a weekend game. The way it usually works is that weeknight tickets are a loss. Weekend games pay for the season tickets. Playoffs turn the profit. Your best bet is to look at stubhub and see what seats are available for similar nights. Depending on how much time you have you should be able to get a pretty good feel for it. If there are still seats available through MLB and the game isn't likely to sell out, most likely you'll get an excellent deal buying aftermarket. If it's a Friday night and a preview of the world series you might be better off jumping on them now, but probably not.

Also, all of the online aftermarket sites have the same tickets. The block of 4 seats in 201 at stubhub is the same block of 4 seats 201 at Vivid Seats. The price will usually be mostly the same but some have better interfaces than others, and the fees vary. I used Tickpick.com last time I bought aftermarket because the fees are shown in the price and are significantly lower than other sites. I'd use whichever site provides the best intel and then buy them at tickpick to save some money.

I've pretty much mastered the art of buying tickets, so if you want to PM me the game you're looking at I can check into it tomorrow and give you some advice.
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Offline Lonk

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Re: Sports tickets question
« Reply #2 on: July 13, 2018, 05:19:23 AM »
Barto gave you a pretty good answer there. But it will also depend where you are located and how many aftermarket tickets are available (the more competition the more likely that prices will go down).

For the most part, I usually wait until closer to the game day. I know it’s a gamble because you never now if price will really go down, but for the most part you get the desperate people trying to get rid of their tickets last minute. I would say ( depending how much time until the game) if you see a good deal, buy it and forget about.

One time I bought Knicks court side tickets for $80(typically $250+) by waiting to buy tickets 2-3 hours before the game. But that was a game I decided to go last minute so don’t wait that Kong to buy tickets.
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Offline cramx3

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Re: Sports tickets question
« Reply #3 on: July 13, 2018, 07:07:44 AM »
Never really bought baseball tickets through after market services, but for concerts, they are not only safe, but if you keep your eyes open and have not only patience, but the willingness to have a seat somewhere that is not your first choice, you can get some really good deals.  However, you seem to have a section you really want so I'd take a look at how many are available in that section and at what price.  I'd watch it for a a few days, see if any action happens and then determine my next move.  If they are selling, you might want to buy one to be safe, but if not, wait and wait.  Prices usually drop across the board for events that aren't sold out if you wait until an hour before the start time.

I personally like stub hub a lot.  Their customer service is good to from what I've heard (I've never had an issue to need it).  I'll have to check out tickpick though if they have cheaper fees.  From my experience it always seemed like stubhub was cheaper and had more tickets available than other sites, especially compared to ticketmaster resale.

Offline El Barto

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Re: Sports tickets question
« Reply #4 on: July 13, 2018, 08:43:46 AM »
Never really bought baseball tickets through after market services, but for concerts, they are not only safe, but if you keep your eyes open and have not only patience, but the willingness to have a seat somewhere that is not your first choice, you can get some really good deals.  However, you seem to have a section you really want so I'd take a look at how many are available in that section and at what price.  I'd watch it for a a few days, see if any action happens and then determine my next move.  If they are selling, you might want to buy one to be safe, but if not, wait and wait.  Prices usually drop across the board for events that aren't sold out if you wait until an hour before the start time.

I personally like stub hub a lot.  Their customer service is good to from what I've heard (I've never had an issue to need it).  I'll have to check out tickpick though if they have cheaper fees.  From my experience it always seemed like stubhub was cheaper and had more tickets available than other sites, especially compared to ticketmaster resale.
I've only used Tickpick once, and it's definitely not as slick and refined as SH. I think you're supposed to get your tickets through their app, so if you're using a PC like me then things can get a bit confused. I like that you know what the ticket will cost, though (less sales tax, of course). I believe SH charges 10% to the purchaser and 15% to the seller. Tickpick is 10% the seller and that's it. You'll generally see that 10% reflected in the price and that's that. I will say that SH has added feature to show prices plus estimated TT&L, so that's helped a lot. My problem was always that they wouldn't tell you what the fees would be until you're ready to fork over your CC info.

I generally go to a ballgame once every 4 or 5 years. Last time I paid $12 for a $60 seat. I've refined my game a great deal since then, so nowadays I'd definitely do far better than that.
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Offline pg1067

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Re: Sports tickets question
« Reply #5 on: July 13, 2018, 11:11:22 AM »
Should I buy as soon as possible to make sure I get a seat?  Or do people lower their prices closer to game day?  And also, are there better, but still trustworthy places to buy?

I have bought dozens of tickets on Stubhub.  I'm not sure I've used any other reseller (although I've used Seatgeek for comparison shopping purposes), so I can't help with that part.  As for the first two questions, it really depends on the specifics of the event (weekday versus weeknight, what team, what promos are happening, etc.).  However, I've never seen an event sell out before the day of the event (and that includes Stanley Cup Final games).  In my experience, prices tend not to change too much, although I haven't bought may tickets late in the game, so the "wait until the last minute in the hope that prices drop" strategy might work.  It's really a function of your willingness and ability to pay $X and your personal risk tolerance.  Since you have a particular section you want to be in, buying earlier might make sense unless the current prices really aren't to your liking.  Also, since you're going with a group of scouts, I'm guessing you're not looking at high dollar seats, so the likelihood of significant price fluctuation is probably fairly low.  Also, for certain teams, certain promos (e.g., bobblehead giveways) may have a significant impact on price, although this probably isn't a concern for you since you're not selecting between multiple nights.

One other point:  I believe Stubhub has a tool where you can get alerts about price fluctuations that meet certain criteria.

One other other point:  if you're using Stubhub, set the filter to show prices WITH fees, so you don't have an ugly surprise when you go to checkout
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Offline El Barto

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Re: Sports tickets question
« Reply #6 on: July 13, 2018, 11:16:15 AM »
Should I buy as soon as possible to make sure I get a seat?  Or do people lower their prices closer to game day?  And also, are there better, but still trustworthy places to buy?

I have bought dozens of tickets on Stubhub.  I'm not sure I've used any other reseller (although I've used Seatgeek for comparison shopping purposes), so I can't help with that part.  As for the first two questions, it really depends on the specifics of the event (weekday versus weeknight, what team, what promos are happening, etc.).  However, I've never seen an event sell out before the day of the event (and that includes Stanley Cup Final games).  In my experience, prices tend not to change too much, although I haven't bought may tickets late in the game, so the "wait until the last minute in the hope that prices drop" strategy might work.  It's really a function of your willingness and ability to pay $X and your personal risk tolerance.  Since you have a particular section you want to be in, buying earlier might make sense unless the current prices really aren't to your liking.  Also, since you're going with a group of scouts, I'm guessing you're not looking at high dollar seats, so the likelihood of significant price fluctuation is probably fairly low.  Also, for certain teams, certain promos (e.g., bobblehead giveways) may have a significant impact on price, although this probably isn't a concern for you since you're not selecting between multiple nights.

One other point:  I believe Stubhub has a tool where you can get alerts about price fluctuations that meet certain criteria.

One other other point:  if you're using Stubhub, set the filter to show prices WITH fees, so you don't have an ugly surprise when you go to checkout
For events like Bosk's baseball game it works pretty consistently. If it doesn't sell out scalpers have to go low enough to undercut official channels. Moreover, since they're selling off season tickets they're already starting at a lower price point. When everything goes right I'd expect to pay 20% of face value.
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Offline bosk1

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Re: Sports tickets question
« Reply #7 on: July 13, 2018, 11:29:14 AM »
All great suggestions.  The section that I was looking at isn't really that desirable and has a ton of open seats.  Looks like right now, I can get something with fees for under $40.  At that price point, you are right about there probably not being a HUGE fluctuation in price.  But on a trip like this, nickels and dimes count, so anything here and there helps.  I'm hoping I can snag something at around $25 if I hold out (and maybe even lower if I get lucky).  But I will monitor and make sure the seats aren't getting gobbled up either so I don't get left out in the cold.
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Offline Stadler

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Re: Sports tickets question
« Reply #8 on: July 13, 2018, 12:01:34 PM »
I have bought dozens of tickets on Stubhub.  I'm not sure I've used any other reseller (although I've used Seatgeek for comparison shopping purposes), so I can't help with that part.  As for the first two questions, it really depends on the specifics of the event (weekday versus weeknight, what team, what promos are happening, etc.).  However, I've never seen an event sell out before the day of the event (and that includes Stanley Cup Final games).  In my experience, prices tend not to change too much, although I haven't bought may tickets late in the game, so the "wait until the last minute in the hope that prices drop" strategy might work.  It's really a function of your willingness and ability to pay $X and your personal risk tolerance.  Since you have a particular section you want to be in, buying earlier might make sense unless the current prices really aren't to your liking.  Also, since you're going with a group of scouts, I'm guessing you're not looking at high dollar seats, so the likelihood of significant price fluctuation is probably fairly low.  Also, for certain teams, certain promos (e.g., bobblehead giveways) may have a significant impact on price, although this probably isn't a concern for you since you're not selecting between multiple nights.

You mean sell out  STUBHUB before the day of the event? I'm with you on that.  My experience is the same; even shows that sell out in seconds  have tix on the resellers up until show time.  I was at Harry Styles not three weeks ago, and my daughter and her two friends were looking for three seats together, so I went on Stubhub IN THE ARENA and looked to see what was available and told them to sit there until they got tossed (figuring, if the seats weren't sold no one would come to claim them with a ticket.  Genius!)

Sidenote:  I'm convinced that there is something that operates differently with the casinos here in CT as compared with the independent venues; even mid-level shows seem to "sell out" in record time and then you see the secondary sources like Stubhub light up.  I know the tribe members get ticket allocations, so that has something to do with it.  But even acts - like Prince, Springsteen - that have taken to renting out the hall and going through their own ticket distributions exhibit this behavior.

For events like Bosk's baseball game it works pretty consistently. If it doesn't sell out scalpers have to go low enough to undercut official channels. Moreover, since they're selling off season tickets they're already starting at a lower price point. When everything goes right I'd expect to pay 20% of face value.

And that's the difference between a concert and a sporting event.   Many season ticket holders will just want to get more than zero for their seats on a mid-week game.  It's not about "recouping what I paid at the box office", it's about the emotional satisfaction of not eating the seats. 

Offline El Barto

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Re: Sports tickets question
« Reply #9 on: July 13, 2018, 12:25:58 PM »
I have bought dozens of tickets on Stubhub.  I'm not sure I've used any other reseller (although I've used Seatgeek for comparison shopping purposes), so I can't help with that part.  As for the first two questions, it really depends on the specifics of the event (weekday versus weeknight, what team, what promos are happening, etc.).  However, I've never seen an event sell out before the day of the event (and that includes Stanley Cup Final games).  In my experience, prices tend not to change too much, although I haven't bought may tickets late in the game, so the "wait until the last minute in the hope that prices drop" strategy might work.  It's really a function of your willingness and ability to pay $X and your personal risk tolerance.  Since you have a particular section you want to be in, buying earlier might make sense unless the current prices really aren't to your liking.  Also, since you're going with a group of scouts, I'm guessing you're not looking at high dollar seats, so the likelihood of significant price fluctuation is probably fairly low.  Also, for certain teams, certain promos (e.g., bobblehead giveways) may have a significant impact on price, although this probably isn't a concern for you since you're not selecting between multiple nights.

You mean sell out  STUBHUB before the day of the event? I'm with you on that.  My experience is the same; even shows that sell out in seconds  have tix on the resellers up until show time.  I was at Harry Styles not three weeks ago, and my daughter and her two friends were looking for three seats together, so I went on Stubhub IN THE ARENA and looked to see what was available and told them to sit there until they got tossed (figuring, if the seats weren't sold no one would come to claim them with a ticket.  Genius!)
Uh, yeah, we don't like to talk about this in public.  :biggrin:
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Offline bosk1

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Re: Sports tickets question
« Reply #10 on: July 13, 2018, 12:32:34 PM »
I have had mixed results with that approach.  The very last time I got balcony tickets at a show, we were all the way to the side, and the hanging monitors blacked a good chunk of the stage.  About midway between the intermission between the opener and headliner, I moved to some prime second-row balcony seats right in the center, thinking that if they weren't claimed by then, the people probably weren't coming.  I got bounced a few minutes later when they showed up right before curtain.  Oh well.  I have had it work in my favor plenty of times as well.  Sometimes, security will even help you out if you are cool about it.  I remember getting 5th row close to center at a Journey show because the seats were just sitting vacant after the show started.  I mean, it helped that I knew a lady working security at the event, but still.
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Offline cramx3

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Re: Sports tickets question
« Reply #11 on: July 13, 2018, 12:38:33 PM »
Yea, I've done this method as well at my local amphitheater.  Usually you can see the groupings of unsold tickets on livenation and you'll have an idea of where empty seats are and just find your way over there during the show after buying a cheaper ticket.  Works well when I'm solo, but harder to do with people.

I actually had someone do it to me recently at the Poison show.  I was given 4 VIP tickets from a friend, but didn't sell them nor could I give them away to frineds so I had the row of 4 to myself and when I came back from a bathroom break there were two dudes in the empty seats I had.  I told them I knew what they were up to and they moved to the empty seats in the row in front of me  :lol but we kept talking and when those people eventually came, I gave them my tickets and the three of us had a blast during Posion's set.  Funny how it works out.  The guy wouldn't stop joking about how I told them to essentially beat it  :lol

Offline El Barto

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Re: Sports tickets question
« Reply #12 on: July 13, 2018, 12:52:37 PM »
And then sometimes you get assholes like those goons at the RCMH TA show. There were two entire rows sitting unused, and one of them through a fit when I merely moved across the aisle to be slightly more centered. And this was during the intermission when there was no chance of any of those 48 people showing up.
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Offline cramx3

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Re: Sports tickets question
« Reply #13 on: July 13, 2018, 01:03:13 PM »
And then sometimes you get assholes like those goons at the RCMH TA show. There were two entire rows sitting unused, and one of them through a fit when I merely moved across the aisle to be slightly more centered. And this was during the intermission when there was no chance of any of those 48 people showing up.

It was fans not the ushers?

Offline El Barto

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Re: Sports tickets question
« Reply #14 on: July 13, 2018, 01:10:30 PM »
And then sometimes you get assholes like those goons at the RCMH TA show. There were two entire rows sitting unused, and one of them through a fit when I merely moved across the aisle to be slightly more centered. And this was during the intermission when there was no chance of any of those 48 people showing up.

It was fans not the ushers?
No. Definitely the ushers. They were dicks the entire night. Honestly, DT seems to always bring out the worst in ushers.
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Offline cramx3

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Re: Sports tickets question
« Reply #15 on: July 13, 2018, 01:28:43 PM »
And then sometimes you get assholes like those goons at the RCMH TA show. There were two entire rows sitting unused, and one of them through a fit when I merely moved across the aisle to be slightly more centered. And this was during the intermission when there was no chance of any of those 48 people showing up.

It was fans not the ushers?
No. Definitely the ushers. They were dicks the entire night. Honestly, DT seems to always bring out the worst in ushers.

Ah ok, yea that was easily the worst concert from a fan experience I have ever been to.  The ushers just sucked the life out of the fans.

Offline El Barto

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Re: Sports tickets question
« Reply #16 on: July 13, 2018, 01:37:37 PM »
And then sometimes you get assholes like those goons at the RCMH TA show. There were two entire rows sitting unused, and one of them through a fit when I merely moved across the aisle to be slightly more centered. And this was during the intermission when there was no chance of any of those 48 people showing up.

It was fans not the ushers?
No. Definitely the ushers. They were dicks the entire night. Honestly, DT seems to always bring out the worst in ushers.

Ah ok, yea that was easily the worst concert from a fan experience I have ever been to.  The ushers just sucked the life out of the fans.
And it's not venue related. A friend of mine saw Opeth there a week later and said the ushers let people have at it. Short of anarchy, but definitely very tolerant of typical metal-head behavior. Said it was night and day different from DT.
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Offline cramx3

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Re: Sports tickets question
« Reply #17 on: July 13, 2018, 01:42:04 PM »
And then sometimes you get assholes like those goons at the RCMH TA show. There were two entire rows sitting unused, and one of them through a fit when I merely moved across the aisle to be slightly more centered. And this was during the intermission when there was no chance of any of those 48 people showing up.

It was fans not the ushers?
No. Definitely the ushers. They were dicks the entire night. Honestly, DT seems to always bring out the worst in ushers.

Ah ok, yea that was easily the worst concert from a fan experience I have ever been to.  The ushers just sucked the life out of the fans.
And it's not venue related. A friend of mine saw Opeth there a week later and said the ushers let people have at it. Short of anarchy, but definitely very tolerant of typical metal-head behavior. Said it was night and day different from DT.

Oh yea, I thought that was known it was DT's instructions for strict no standing/no phone/"no looking like you are having fun" policy.   It continued to the next leg but I just sat in the front row for that show to avoid all that disaster while hearing everyone behind me complaining.

I'd say that is kind of an exception though to the overall "im going to try and sit somewhere else" game.

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Re: Sports tickets question
« Reply #18 on: July 13, 2018, 01:51:09 PM »
I'll echo what a few others here have said (I've used StubHub a few times):

- Stubhub (and any other similar site) should be completely trustworthy.

- Unless it's a weekend rivalry game, I wouldn't worry about the game selling out. That said, if you want to sit as close to your son's troop as possible I'd keep an eye on them just to make sure you don't lose that particular option

- I would expect prices to stay relatively stable until right before the game, at which point you should see some prices lowered for the sake of moving the tickets.

- I will say that my limited experience with StubHub's customer service was excellent. I had snagged a last minute ticket to see Paul McCartney the afternoon of the show, 18th row, and then I got a call from StubHub apologizing because the ticket owner had double-sold the ticket (like someone said, all these sites have a lot of the same seats on them). Without me even having to say a word they immediately offered to give me an 11th row ticket for no extra charge :hat
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Re: Sports tickets question
« Reply #19 on: July 13, 2018, 02:01:34 PM »
And then sometimes you get assholes like those goons at the RCMH TA show. There were two entire rows sitting unused, and one of them through a fit when I merely moved across the aisle to be slightly more centered. And this was during the intermission when there was no chance of any of those 48 people showing up.

It was fans not the ushers?
No. Definitely the ushers. They were dicks the entire night. Honestly, DT seems to always bring out the worst in ushers.

Ah ok, yea that was easily the worst concert from a fan experience I have ever been to.  The ushers just sucked the life out of the fans.
And it's not venue related. A friend of mine saw Opeth there a week later and said the ushers let people have at it. Short of anarchy, but definitely very tolerant of typical metal-head behavior. Said it was night and day different from DT.

There was some of that attitude at the DT show in CT on the Astonishing tour.   

Offline El Barto

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Re: Sports tickets question
« Reply #20 on: July 13, 2018, 03:03:59 PM »
And then sometimes you get assholes like those goons at the RCMH TA show. There were two entire rows sitting unused, and one of them through a fit when I merely moved across the aisle to be slightly more centered. And this was during the intermission when there was no chance of any of those 48 people showing up.

It was fans not the ushers?
No. Definitely the ushers. They were dicks the entire night. Honestly, DT seems to always bring out the worst in ushers.

Ah ok, yea that was easily the worst concert from a fan experience I have ever been to.  The ushers just sucked the life out of the fans.
And it's not venue related. A friend of mine saw Opeth there a week later and said the ushers let people have at it. Short of anarchy, but definitely very tolerant of typical metal-head behavior. Said it was night and day different from DT.

There was some of that attitude at the DT show in CT on the Astonishing tour.
I don't recall any of that. In fact, folks in my section thought they were actually too lenient at that show. Although in all fairness some wiseguy did get me a little stoned before the show, so I wasn't exactly looking for trouble. I was actually bordering on combative at the RCMH gig.  :lol
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