Those tickets are...outta here!

June 28, 2007 7:20 PM

We have tickets to a sporting event. It's a big-deal, nationally televised sort of thing. We'd like to re-sell these tickets for more than we paid, and need some advice.

This isn't scalping since the issuers of the event encourage (and enable) ticketholders to do this, and additionally we're not selling them on the grounds where the event will take place, so I'm not so worried about the (il)legalities.

I've never done this before, though, so I have some questions. I've looked over various reseller sites - both Craigslist-type sites and official resellers - to see how much people are asking, but I don't know if the prices people are charging are too high or too low. I also don't know if it would be worth it to hold onto the tickets until the date of the event is closer - that might drive prices up, but I'd also risk not being able to get rid of them (I suppose).

In short, I'd like some help in figuring out how best to price the tickets, and in figuring out when to put them on sale. The tickets are actually for a series of events (ok, fine, it's the All-Star Game); many people are selling their tickets as a block - one price for the whole series of events (fanfest, homerun derby, all-star game, etc.) - and others are selling them off piecemeal. Any advice on the pros and cons of either strategy is appreciated.

posted by rtha to sports, hobbies, & recreation (6 comments total)

Have you checked eBay? Looks like regular tickets are selling for $300-600 per pair, while "AAA Club" seats are $1,000 plus. That's at least a decent ballpark figure. Er... estimate. And it appears many of those auctions are for the entire weekend package.

I'm not sure how one would assess whether the eBay auction prices were "too high" or "too low", given that they represent what diverse people are willing to pay for diverse seats. Maybe try to find some auctions that are in approximately the same section as yours?
posted by rkent at 7:37 PM on June 28, 2007

Go to eBay and look at "completed items" on the left hand menu bar. You should list them now. Isn't the game in a week?
posted by Frank Grimes at 7:41 PM on June 28, 2007

I'd go with stubhub (check the all star game link here). They have this cute rollover graphic that breaks down the range of prices per section. I've found them to have good service and I look to them for tickets any time I can't get them through ticketmaster (I'm in NY so ymmv). Put your price somewhere in the middle I suppose for best bets on getting rid of your tickets on time and for a good profit.
posted by jourman2 at 8:09 PM on June 28, 2007

Hi-

Depending on the seat location, I'm interested (well, not for me, for someone at work). I sent an email to the address in your profile. Pls don't sell online before I have a chance to connect with you :)
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 6:22 AM on June 29, 2007

That stubhub function is great - thanks!

We'd sort of ballparked (ha!) what we want to sell them for, but in this case hitting the price out of the park is not what we want to do, so getting a general idea of what people are actually willing to pay is very helpful. Thanks to you all so far.

dnab - I've emailed you back.
posted by rtha at 8:28 AM on June 29, 2007

Based on my experience re-selling tickets in general and buying tickets for last year's all-star game:

This depends entirely on your seat location. Worse seat locations can be marked up more than good seat locations. This is because good seat locations have a high price to start with, so you quickly approach the max that most of the market will bear.

To just get it over with, selling the strip is the way to go.

The future's game tickets you will be lucky to sell at all. Most go for under face or right at face. I would suggest going to this game yourself. It is fun, there is still all the hoopla and decorations, and if you like baseball it is a chance to se people you never would see otherwise, as opposed to the all-star game which is people you already know.

The homerun derby tickets should go for 1.5 times face. And possibly more. The game tickets should go for $100 over face or 2 times face, whatever is less. You may sell them for more, you probably won't have to unload them for less. People are not usually willing to pay more than $300 per ticket.

Stubhub is the no-muss no-fuss option. Selling craigslist day-of can work really well, but you need to make a deal by around 2:30 or 3:00, be prepared to take phone calls all day, and then meet the person somewhere near the stadium to hand off. Ebay can be really hit or miss, I've had lots of flaky people on eBay, and dealing with people who wanted to just negotiate with me outside the eBay system and it was a pain.
posted by Mozzie at 6:39 PM on July 2, 2007