I'm considering getting a couple season tickets to the Rangers and selling the seats on StubHub. Anyone ever done this? Did you have any success?

I know StubHub takes a 15% cut which sucks, but it is what it is.

It's very difficult to pull this off for baseball with the sheer number of games. Be sure to factor in not only the 15% that StubHub takes from you, but also the 10% that they add to the buyer's fees.

In order for you to break even, the buyer's total payment has to average 30% above face value for every ticket you sell (after their fees). This means that (to break even) your average ticket has to be listed and sell at ~18% above face.

There are absolutely some games where you can pull this off, but over a long 82 game schedule it becomes difficult. The size of the Ballpark definitely works against you on something like this too.

Good luck if you decide to pursue it.

[This message has been edited by asf-07 (edited 5/16/2012 10:41a).]

I always recommend this thread when the topic of buying/selling tickets comes up. I found it to be pretty enlightening on the ticket broker business.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/34/other-other-topics/ask-professional-ticket-broker-thead-851672/

Thanks for both your input. That's a long thread but I'll probably read it tonight because I have no interest in losing money on this deal due to my ignorance.

Thanks. If I do it I'll let you know how it goes.

If you bought season tickets this year to the Rangers and resold on Stubhub, you probably already made your money back. The Rangers also give extra perks to the season ticket holders. I forget the exact numbers, but I think you get a shot at extra free tickets every month. The postseason option (and the option to buy more tickets before anyone else) is where you make a big chunk of your money.

If you bought season tickets this year to the Rangers and resold on Stubhub, you probably already made your money back
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doubtful

You'd be getting in about 2 years late. All the good locations and cheap locations are gone. Back-to-back world series appearances means every broker has tickets.

Even getting in late you would have made solid money so far this year -- but only because they've gotten off to the start they have. At this point, without good locations, you're simply gambling that the team is going to do well. Reverse the Angels and Rangers fortunes so far this year (which wouldn't have been that shocking) and you'd be losing money every game.

You want the up-and-coming team -- not the team at it's market peak.

As for post-season options -- sure you'll make money if they make the World Series (though you'll make less than what was made the last 2 years). But you'll lose money on the ALDS. So again, it's a gamble.

[This message has been edited by texaslodge (edited 5/17/2012 11:19a).]

texaslodge +1

quote:

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If you bought season tickets this year to the Rangers and resold on Stubhub, you probably already made your money back

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extremely doubtful. opening day has been the only game that you could have priced significantly over face value (by that I mean 5x+ face), and you've had a few games (Yu's 1st start, CJ vs Yu) that might have netted you in the 2x+ range, but aside from that it's been typical strong (but not excessive) demand.

Another thing to do is look around the ticket sites (StubHub, etc) and see just how many tickets are out there right now. Toronto is in town 5/25-27, and for each game there's over 5% of the total ticket inventory on StubHub right now.

After some additional consideration, I would strongly advise against going with season tix for this purpose right now. The only way I think you can/should do it is if you're interested in going to some games (maybe 1/3 or so) and you want to sell some of your other tickets to lower your per game cost. Keep in mind tho, in order for this to have maximum $ benefit you have to sell some of the hottest tickets in the lot.

If I were you, I'd consider trying to buy good seats for games that you think will sell out. Concentrate on 10-15 games throughout the rest of the season that you think will be hot tickets and load up on those games. Get in as early as you can to try and secure decent seats, b/c obviously the better they are the more you can mark them up.

Edit:

Additionally, I think the rangers sell some kind of ticket packages (20 games maybe? I don't know the specifics...), and that actually might be worth the risk. The real money in this venutre is in playoff seats, so you might want to go with something like this to ensure you get 1st option to buy playoff tix.

[This message has been edited by asf-07 (edited 5/17/2012 11:30a).]

What multiplier over face you're getting all depends on what price zone you are trying to sell. If you have $4 tickets, you're making 5x+ on almost every game. But the $4 tickets sold out long ago.

But the biggest thing as said before is locations. You're 2 years late to the party -- so yeah, you might get some Lower Box seats, but you've got Lower Box seats in Section 15, Row 25 while some other guy is paying the same amount for his seats in Section 17, Row 6. You can't compete with that, so you're just gambling it's a "super hot" ticket. The guy with the seats in Section 17 can sell his no matter what.

At this point yes you're buying for playoff rights, but you're investing a lot of money up-front (and having to deal with the daily grind of selling your seats) for what is still a big gamble. You will lose money on the ALDS. You will possibly lose money on the ALCS depending on opponents/game-time. So the playoff money you're counting on only comes if the Rangers make the World Series again (and for a 3rd year in a row those prices will be lower than ever as well).

And that's not even discussing the gamble that is the weather. You couldn't give away tickets during June/July last year when it was 100+ degrees at first pitch.

In summation, if things go great (ie. the weather stays good and the Rangers make the World Series again), you'll make money. If one of those two things doesn't happen, you'll be lucky to break-even. The money is still there, but it's there for those that got in before the first World Series run.

^

you're only making 5x on a $4 ticket when the game sells out, and there are a ton of Mon-Thu games (where Yu doesn't pitch) that won't sell out. If there are tickets still available from the Rangers for a game, you're not going to sell a $4 ticket on StubHub for $23.50 + buyer fees, which is what it would take to make 5x.

If you got in when $4 seats were still available, you've already paid for your season tickets.

Rangers have had 19 games at home... 14 of them have sold out.

I bought a smaller season ticket package and have already made my money back by selling a few games that I couldn't make. There's a lot of room to make good money when you buy the $5 tickets. It comes down to location, though. Not necessarily what section, but where in the section you are. Everyone wants an aisle seat or a seat in the front row of the section.

I think the tough thing to judge right now is how the late July and August games will do. I had late summer Red Sox tickets last year that I couldn't get rid of, so that's another risk you run.