Revolt by Chicago Cubs makes it harder to get cheap tickets to MLB games in 2013 on StubHub

[Dan Druff]

Last year, the struggling Cubs had an embarrassing situation on their hands.

With the team WAY out of the playoff race, some tickets were selling on StubHub for....

$1.

Yes, a dollar.

In addition to this being an embarrassment, it also caused the Cubs lots of difficulty with selling seats on their own.

Who will buy tickets at face value if tickets are so marked down on StubHub?

Who will bother purchasing season tickets, if again, people can get the same seats for much cheaper on StubHub?

The Cubs' solution to this was to "un-partner" with StubHub, thus disallowing sales of Cubs tickets on that site.

The Yankees and Angels have already un-partnered with StubHub.

Rather than lose the lucrative Cubs market, StubHub made various concessions, including minimum pricing (no big deal), and an earlier before-game deadline for purchases (a very big deal).

See, any smart StubHub ticket buyer realizes that game day ticket prices drop TREMENDOUSLY just hours before the game. This is because the tickets become worthless once the game starts, and the sellers panic. Unlike traditional ticket vendors, who are willing to eat the value of the tickets rather than establish a "last minute cheap tickets" pattern, the sellers on StubHub are mostly individuals. They don't want their tickets to go unsold under any circumstances.

I have utilized this method to get some great buys on EXCELLENT seats at Dodgers games in the past. These include:

- Field level, 12 rows behind the Dodgers dugout during the 2009 NLCS for $150/each

- Similar seats to above for regular season fireworks night for $50/each

I would always buy them about 3-4 hours before game time, and get a heckuva deal.

That's done.

Now the deadline for purchase of MLB tickets is 6 hours prior to game time, due to the new agreement they made with the Cubs.

You can still do the last minute thing, but buyers will be in a bit less of a panic, as they have some more time for a contingency plan if the tickets don't sell.

Add that to the fact that the Dodgers tickets are going for more money this year (because people are excited about the expensive new team), and I think my days of $50 baller seats are overwith.



http://www.bleachernation.com/2013/0...-before-event/

[Hockey Guy]

Won't this just change the best time to get a deal from 3-4 hours before the game to 6 hrs?

People are still going to want to sell their tickets if they can't use them. You won't see the $1 tickets but you should be able to get some deals.

[abrown83]

As a Cubs season ticket holder these changes don't disappoint me.

As a fan who buys tickets to games I would be pretty pissed if this happened to me if I was buying Bears tickets or something similar.

I try not to sell on StubHub anyways because competition is fierce and commissions are crazy high.

[Dan Druff]

As a Cubs season ticket holder these changes don't disappoint me.

As a fan who buys tickets to games I would be pretty pissed if this happened to me if I was buying Bears tickets or something similar.

I try not to sell on StubHub anyways because competition is fierce and commissions are crazy high.

Yeah, the commissions are crazy.

It's 15% from the seller, and 10% plus fees to the buyer. They make a fortune over there.

Hockey Guy, I agree it's possible that some good deals can still be had near the new 6-hour deadline, but I don't think it will be as good.

The beauty before with the 3 hour deadline was that it was so close to game time that it inspired legitimate psychological panic on the part of the seller. He would see his unsold tickets sitting there and say, "Fuck! These aren't selling, and now it's too late to make a contingency plan! Too late to offer them to friends, too late to rearrange my plans so I can go myself, and too late to sell them elsewhere!"

6 hours instead of 3 makes a huge difference. If the game starts at 7pm and you're sitting with unsold tickets at 1pm, it's not nearly as scary as being stuck with the tickets at 4pm.

[nunbeater]

As a Cubs season ticket holder these changes don't disappoint me.

As a fan who buys tickets to games I would be pretty pissed if this happened to me if I was buying Bears tickets or something similar.

I try not to sell on StubHub anyways because competition is fierce and commissions are crazy high.

Holy shit, never seen a bus season ticket holder admit to it in public.......quick, get a paper bag and change your sn.

[drufdajewgod]

i went to chicago last summer just to go see wrigley. I eneded up buying tickets off a scalper for a day game vs arizona. I payed 30$ each for 2 tickets. They were good seats not too far from home plate but i know i got ripped off. Dont really care it was cool and the hotdogs there were some of the best i ever had at a ballpark and Cubs won.

[PLOL]

I'm curious, when you buy the tickets the same day how do you pick them up? Do you just meet the guy somewhere? Or do you pick them up at will call?

I'd like to go to a Cubs game the next time I'm in Chicago

[chinamaniac]

I'm curious, when you buy the tickets the same day how do you pick them up? Do you just meet the guy somewhere? Or do you pick them up at will call?

You print them on a printer, or I think u may even be able to show up with a pic of them on a smart phone and they may be able to scan them

[gut]

fucking MLB had a deal with stubhub getting 50/50 of their fees for the re-sales. Basically double-dipping on ticket sales. Fuck the Cubs and other teams that now want to opt out. I suppose it's too bad you're delivering a shitty porduct that noone wants to pay for. Capitalism 101.

[Rollo Tomasi]

[Dan Druff]

fucking MLB had a deal with stubhub getting 50/50 of their fees for the re-sales. Basically double-dipping on ticket sales. Fuck the Cubs and other teams that now want to opt out. I suppose it's too bad you're delivering a shitty porduct that noone wants to pay for. Capitalism 101.

This was one of those things where MLB got greedy ("Hey, people are going to scalp our tickets anyway, so we might as well get a piece!") and then it burned them.

StubHub got so big, and since sellers were mostly individuals and not professional scalpers, it became easy to manipulate the system as a buyer and get tickets cheaply.

This, in turn, led a large number of people to realize that buying tickets at face value wasn't a good idea anymore.

One thing I found hilarious is how StubHub also changed how the ticket prices were listed -- but for MLB only. Traditionally, StubHub "hides" their fees (over 10%) from buyers until they show interest in actually purchasing the tickets. So when you buy a ticket for $50, it actually turns out being closer to $60. However, that has been done away with this year, and you see all fees included in the price show.

Why?

Because this was yet another agreement they made with the Cubs.

This way the super-cheap tickets look like a lot less of a bargain when all of the fees are factored in (they can more than double).

I think this will prevent any tickets from being less than $10 out the door, which looks a hell of a lot better than $1.

[Dan Druff]

Oh, and this has nothing to do with StubHub, but LOL @ how stupid some Dodgers fans are.

Tonight is Dodgers "hooded sweatshirt night", which is apparently a very popular promotion.

The after-market ticket prices are unusually high -- comparable to an NLCS playoff game.

This is all to get a cheaply-made Dodgers hoodie.

Why not just go to a regular game for much cheaper, and buy the hoodie separately?

Even top deck seats are going for over $50, which just about never happens in the regular season.

[PLOL]

So I now see Cubs tix available up until the start of the game. So I guess this changed back?

Also, pretty funny that I wrote "I'd like to go to a Cubs game the next time I'm in Chicago". I didn't realize yet that I'd be moving to Chicago 6 months later

[Dan Druff]

So I now see Cubs tix available up until the start of the game. So I guess this changed back?

Also, pretty funny that I wrote "I'd like to go to a Cubs game the next time I'm in Chicago". I didn't realize yet that I'd be moving to Chicago 6 months later

I hope this is true (well, at least for the Dodgers).

Through 2016, tickets were still only available up to 6 hours before game time, aside from the playoffs, which didn't have the 6 hour limit.

I haven't tried to buy Dodgers tickets for 2017 yet.

They have reverted back to the "not showing fees" model, so the prices you see are NOT the prices you ultimately pay. I assume they started losing sales to other after-market ticket brokers who showed the fees later, so they reverted.

[OSA]

So I now see Cubs tix available up until the start of the game. So I guess this changed back?

Also, pretty funny that I wrote "I'd like to go to a Cubs game the next time I'm in Chicago". I didn't realize yet that I'd be moving to Chicago 6 months later

I hope this is true (well, at least for the Dodgers).

Through 2016, tickets were still only available up to 6 hours before game time, aside from the playoffs, which didn't have the 6 hour limit.

I haven't tried to buy Dodgers tickets for 2017 yet.

They have reverted back to the "not showing fees" model, so the prices you see are NOT the prices you ultimately pay. I assume they started losing sales to other after-market ticket brokers who showed the fees later, so they reverted.

Seeing Corey Seager and Joc Pederson in person is worth the price of admission alone.

[PLOL]

So I now see Cubs tix available up until the start of the game. So I guess this changed back?

Also, pretty funny that I wrote "I'd like to go to a Cubs game the next time I'm in Chicago". I didn't realize yet that I'd be moving to Chicago 6 months later

I hope this is true (well, at least for the Dodgers).

Through 2016, tickets were still only available up to 6 hours before game time, aside from the playoffs, which didn't have the 6 hour limit.

I haven't tried to buy Dodgers tickets for 2017 yet.

They have reverted back to the "not showing fees" model, so the prices you see are NOT the prices you ultimately pay. I assume they started losing sales to other after-market ticket brokers who showed the fees later, so they reverted.

If you hit the "filter" button, then you can turn on 'show prices with approximate fees', and then it'll display the final price