how to transfer stubhub tickets?

 

The greatest methods for obtaining tickets

This is a general ticket-buying guide that I've shared with a few pals. It goes a little beyond the topic of your query, so scroll down to discover your context, and is rather regional to the Portland, Oregon area. However, the general ideas should apply in most cases (at least in North America).

I'll divide this into three sections: onsale date, show week, and show day. My first rule is that if you decide to go, you must KNOW you will get into the show. If you believe you will fail or not be admitted, you have already lost and are unlikely to be admitted. It's the power of thought.

I know I'm going to get in, so I take the necessary steps to make it happen. I can't emphasize it enough: you must KNOW you're getting in. The second most crucial rule is that "the only persons who are guaranteed NOT to get into an event are those who do not get their a$$ down to the arena on the day of the show" (whether you have a ticket or not). It may appear straightforward, but if you are not present, you will not be admitted. Now for the various approaches.

Date of sale. For the record, I rarely, if ever, purchase tickets on the day they go on sale. I despise paying ticketbastard the additional costs they charge. There is no incentive to get tickets for an arena or stadium performance on the day they go on sale. For starters, they rarely issue decent tickets on the onsale day.

Second, with so many tickets sold for the large venue, it is more simpler to find a decent ticket or two AT OR BELOW face value after the onsale date (I will cover this later). It's a judgement call if I'll try to buy a ticket at the onsale date for mid-sized venue shows (1,000 to 2,000 people). I rarely do, but I understand if people want to.

For club shows, I'll buy a ticket on the day it goes on sale because they're held at much smaller locations with ticket costs under $20 and fees that aren't too severe. Typically, there is no danger of the show selling out on the day it goes on sale.

If you DO want to get a ticket on the onsale date, I have found that utilizing the ticketmaster APP on my phone works much better than trying to use the website [NOTE: ticketmaster is often limited to larger venues in Portland - more than 2,500]. Smaller and midsize businesses typically use etix, ticketfly, or cascade tickets].

If I'm attempting to buy, I'll try on both (have the app open while sitting at the computer). It doesn't hurt to have friends and family rooting for you if you really want to see a certain play. Sign in to your account BEFORE the onsale begins. If you don't already have an account, make one PRIOR to the onsale date. These basic procedures can help to reduce the occasional 'glitch' that arises when you try to create an account or sign in after pulling some tickets.

This 'bug' frequently results in your tickets being returned to ticketbastard and you being irritated. Practice 'purchasing' tickets for performances you don't intend to attend so you know what to expect when the pressure is on to get tickets to your show. Follow all of the instructions, but don't buy them on your practice runs. The more you do this, the more at ease you'll be under pressure.

This is the week of the show. Don't worry if you tried to get tickets on the onsale date and were denied. There are a few options for getting a ticket before the concert. These include Craigslist, the secondary ticket market (StubHub, etc.), and monitoring ticketmaster on a regular basis (preferably numerous times a day) in the hopes of catching some tickets that become available as the event date approaches. I'll go over these three options separately.

Craigslist. Almost everyone has a horror story or has heard one about purchasing a ticket on Craigslist and being duped. Most people are frightened to attempt it and will urge you NOT TO BUY TICKETS ON CRAIGSLIST. This is simply not true, and Craigslist is a reasonably straightforward and safe way to purchase a ticket if you are cautious, do your investigation, and take some safeguards. You don't have to wait until the week of the show if you use Craigslist.

The sooner you start investigating, the more information you'll have, and you'll be able to see 'perceived market value' patterns and determine if prices are rising or falling. Craigslist's ground rules:

1) If it appears to be too good to be true, it probably is.

2) Only use PayPal to make payments. If the seller does not take PayPal, proceed with caution.

3) Make your PayPal payment BEFORE you arrive at the venue. Never, ever exchange cash from a Craigslist transaction on the day of the show, no matter what BS narrative the seller comes up with at the last minute.

4) If you have a strange feeling about a transaction, don't do it; instead, keep looking.

I'll go through each of these principles in more detail later.

1) If tickets are selling for absurdly high prices and you suddenly find an ad advertising a pair of front-row seats for less than face value, c'mon, use your common sense and go on. You deserve to be duped if you seek a bargain that appears to be too good to be true.

2) Only pay with PayPal because there is a buyer protection guarantee if you do so.

It does not ensure that you will not receive phony tickets, but it does promise that your money will be repaid if the tickets ARE bogus. I was duped for SXSW tickets a few years ago, but because I used PayPal, I received a full refund. I was able to obtain tickets through the day of show technique, which I will discuss later. Anyone attempting a craigslist fraud knows that if you use PayPal, they will be unable to swindle you.

Those people will either ignore your request or try to convince you out of using PayPal. Do not attempt it. If they don't accept PayPal, keep looking for alternative tickets.

3) Some scammers will try to tie you up by making up some bogus reason why they can't accept PayPal at the last minute and will try to convince you to meet them on the day of the event or previously with cash. Do not attempt it. Ever. If you do, you will receive what you deserve. PayPal is the only secure way to buy from Craigslist. Period.

4) If you get a terrible vibe, leave. Trust your instincts. If the seller is being uncooperative, altering the terms, attempting to renegotiate, blah blah blah, go away. There are alternative tickets available.

Secondary market. This is sometimes your only option. Because of their guarantee, I prefer Stubhub. If you are taken advantage of by a seller, StubHub will make it right. They will normally find you a comparable (or better) legitimate ticket and refund your money. This leads in free performance tickets. It doesn't always work out this way, but if you utilize Stubhub, you WILL get into the performance or receive a full refund.

The price of this assurance is the markup/fees they charge, as well as the shipping fees for hard tickets. You must decide whether it is worthwhile to you.

If the performance you want to see is sold out, check sites like Stubhub frequently. Sometimes offers appear where the vendor is simply trying to get rid of the tickets for close to what they paid for them. When there is a glut of tickets competing for your dollar, dealers will lower their prices over time. It's all about supply and demand.

I have faith in your ability to traverse that minefield. A patient person can most certainly find an arena or stadium ticket at or below face value on Stubhub.

Mid-sized arenas are also occasionally used. When there is a highly hot performance, the shortage of tickets necessitates paying MORE THAN FACEVALUE (plus fees) through a secondary market type website. You must decide whether it is worthwhile to you. If the show you wish to see is not sold out, the prices often reflect the seat quality.

Close seats may be at or slightly above face value, while middle and back seats should be at or below face value. You get to choose the price of the seat you want to buy. If you use stubhub, make sure to toggle to'show prices including fees' while searching so you can see the exact cost to you rather than simply the list price the vendor has sold them for.

Check Ticketmaster frequently. The promoter releases tickets to ticketmaster as the performance approaches for a variety of reasons. These are referred to as 'drops' by me. You might get lucky and find any of these newly released tickets. Shows are scheduled without knowing how the artist's stage will be configured. More seats (near to the stage) may become available once the stage setup is completed.

Typically, artists reserve a large number of tickets for friends, family, and record business personnel. As the event approaches and their guest list is finalized, if they have more tickets than people who want them, they release them to Ticketmaster for sale.

Sometimes companies hold back tickets particularly for release during the week of the concert in order to flood the market with moderately priced tickets to counteract some of the egregious scalping. Drops have provided me with some of the greatest SEATS I've ever obtained. Check frequently and early in the day.

The Day of the Show Don't give up if you've tried every approach up to this point and it's the day before the concert. You WILL be admitted. For the patient buyer, things tend to ease up significantly at this stage. There are two types of transactions: before you leave the house and after you arrive at the venue (remember, if you do not arrive, you will not be admitted). Guaranteed).

On the day of the show, there are five types of sellers to consider: professional online scalpers (craigslist or stubhub), regular folk who are stuck with tickets and are trying to dump them online via craigslist (or stubhub occasionally), the box office at the venue, and regular folk who have an extra ticket or two who are going to the show but are too nervous or shy to try and sell them.

Sellers begin to fear, believing that they will be trapped with the tickets they are attempting to sell. I'll go over each vendor type in turn below.

Professional online scalpers (craigslist or stubhub) have already made money on other tickets for this concert that they have flipped. They are now in the 'I want to get more than zero for these tickets' phase. As the showtime approaches, their prices will fall. The other type of internet seller is average people who are stuck with tickets and try to sell them online. They just want something back for their tickets, even if they price them at or above face value.

Offer something substantially below what they're asking, but not so low as to irritate them. It's a delicate line that you will occasionally cross. As the show approaches, you'll be astonished at how many people will turn around and be willing to sell closer to your offer than their ask. When attempting to purchase from any of the professional or regular people on Craigslist, remember to follow my craigslist suggestions. Following that are the transactions that take place once you arrive at the venue.

When you arrive, the first thing you should do is check to see if tickets are available at the box office. You'd be shocked how many tickets become available throughout the day. If possible, return frequently. Alternatively, you could arrive at the venue first thing in the morning and wait in line at the box office until it opens, ensuring that you are the first in line if any tickets become available.

This strategy was recently utilized to get into Radiohead's first gig in Portland in over 20 years. Even though the performance had sold out in 5 minutes months before, I went to the venue with no tickets. Scalpers demanded $350 or more for crappy nosebleed seats. But I became friends with one of the box office employees, who was fine with me returning every now and then to check for tickets. As I approach the box office for the tenth time (and after the opener has begun), he notices me and motions me to his window.

He had two tickets released that he had set aside for me. Second row off the floor, 50 feet from the stage. Perhaps the best reserved seats in the house. I paid face value and there were no fees. Interestingly, there were scalpers at the box office at the time, and when they saw me pull out my cash, their prices dropped by 75%. Immediately. Because they were expecting nothing in exchange for their tickets.

If the box office is out of tickets, in addition to checking back as I mentioned above, the regulars down at the theater may have an extra ticket or two in their pocket if they are going to the event themselves. This will be a monetary transaction, so proceed with caution. Because they aren't used to selling tickets, most of them wind up selling them to professional scalpers loitering around the theater because it's quick and easy.

They are frequently sold for a fraction of their original cost. You'd like to get your hands on these day-of-show tickets. I'm carrying a placard that simply states "Fan Needs (insert how many you need) to get in." The majority of regular people who need to sell despise scalpers. They'd rather sell to you, their fan. Tell them you're a fan in need, and they'll prefer to sell to you over a scalper.

Don't just hold up a sign silently. Continue to inquire if anyone has any additional tickets. Make it known to everyone that you require tickets.

If you locate someone willing to sell in this manner, try to be as wise as possible. Show them the money and suggest that you accompany them into the arena (to check the tickets are valid) and pay over the cash once inside.

NOTE REGARDING SCAMS: Fake tickets have been more of a problem in Seattle, which is why the following warnings were issued. They have not historically been a problem in the Portland area, so you may not be taking a significant risk by not using Pay Pal or having a merchant lead you into the event before being paid in this location. You make the decision based on your individual scenario.

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