Introduction
It seems like I’m getting ticket reselling leads these days through social media. One of my friends told me Pink was coming to Seattle next year and the presale was gonna happen on Tuesday morning. I had a week to think about it. She also did the verified fan route, which HELLO, I’M A HUGE PINK FAN! There was speculation that she was overpricing her tickets (closest floor seats would be about $250 each after fees.) However, nosebleeds weren’t bad for $62 all in. A few of us debated whether to gamble on Pink or not. Eventually, you know, that Viet gambling blood got the best of me…
Tickets on Stubhub BEFORE THE PRE-SALE
About 5 minutes before the presale went live, I went on Stubhub to prepare my tickets to flip. That’s when I came upon hundreds of tickets already listed and some even had been sold. Let’s ignore how these these people have sold tickets already. Nevertheless, it was a good indication these tickets would be HOT due to the sold prices. Seeing upper nosebleeds go for $150-$230 is like hitting an 11 in blackjack with the dealer showing a 16. DOUBLE DOWN!!! The risk/reward was worth it! The strategy here however was to AVOID the most expensive seats and just go for the “best cheapest tickets.” Instead of picking ‘Best Available seats,’ you should pick the lowest price tier.
Mobile purchasing over desktop
Just as 10AM hit, I loaded up my desktop and mobile and then I waited… By 10:07, I was able to buy 4 tickets (the ticket limit) on my mobile. Section 214 nosebleeds for about $105 all in per seat. I thought these were the lowest prices. I IMMEDIATELY listed them on Stubhub and decided to sell for $215 per ticket gross. By 10:23AM, desktop came back with seats, but I had surpassed the limit already. Notice how desktop took 16 more minutes than mobile.
Sold on Stubhub
By 10:45AM, I got the magic email. A buyer bought all 4 tickets together. $774 – $419 = $355 profit (85% ROI) all in 45 minutes.
More Love
Another reader bought a pair of nosebleeds at 10:49AM for $126 all in. Listed them and sold them at 10:57AM for $261 take-home ($135 profit, 107% ROI.) IT WAS SO ODD THAT PEOPLE WERE BUYING FROM STUBHUB WHEN TICKETS WERE STILL AVAILABLE ON TICKETMASTER. Even my friend who told me tried to buy at 10AM and gave up. I think people assumed it was sold out because it took nearly 30 minutes to find tickets on desktop. Heck even by 11:30AM, another reader bought 4 tickets and flipped them in ONE MINUTE on Stubhub for a $240 profit. It was just too ridiculously easy. Of course by noon, prices fell even though people were still making money. It was odd because it seemed that Pink was selling the entire venue on the pre-sale. Even as I type this at 4:45PM, there were still tickets available. By the time the public sale opens on Friday, there won’t be any seats left to sell.
Lessons Learned
Hey I’m a fast learner. Learned from Garth that you gotta list FAST. Early bird gets the worm. Secondly, always do BOTH mobile and desktop to search for tickets. Third, always check Stubhub to gauge demand if you can.
If you’re a Pink fan and want a code to get her new CD, leave a comment below with her top five songs to you and I’ll pick one winner randomly.
Sure. You could have waited a bit longer for other readers to post. But thanks anyway. I would take it as a restitution for the PTSD I got after reading your Crossfit post.
I may have more, so no worries. Just emailed me. Please confirm you got it and it works.
I love Pink. I went to her concert in 2009 and it was amazing.
My favorite songs: Family Portrait, Please Don’t Leave Me, U And Ur Hand, Who Knew and Sober.
Ling, congrats, I drew a random number from 1 to 1, and SURPRISE IT CAME UP WITH 1. Haha. You win the code. Once I get it, I’ll send it to your Disqus email address if that’s what you want.