Introduction
Ellen Degeneres hadn’t gone on a comedic tour in 15 years, but she was doing a 3 city tour in 2018. These were the dates and she was doing the TM verified fan route. I knew this would be a 5/5 on the risk/reward scale. I had some people sign up for the verified fan and only about 5% were chosen. I decided to buy the Seattle show just because I’m more familiar with the market.
August 10 – San Diego, CA @ Balboa Theatre
August 11 – San Diego, CA @ Balboa Theatre
August 12 – San Diego, CA @ Balboa Theatre
August 15 – San Francisco, CA @ Davies Symphony Hall
August 16 – San Francisco, CA @ Davies Symphony Hall
August 17 – San Francisco, CA @ Davies Symphony Hall
August 22 – Seattle, WA @ Benaroya Hall
August 23 – Seattle, WA @ Benaroya Hall
Reselling the tickets
Tickets were running about $90 all in. There wasn’t a big price discrepancy between orchestra and nosebleeds, and so it was just best to buy BEST AVAILABLE. I wanted to get the first date since earlier shows almost always do better than 2nd and 3rd shows aka Garth Brooks. I was able to score 4 orchestra tickets for the show on the 22nd for $356 all in. I immediately listed them on SH. However, they didn’t sell until 3 days later when the ‘public sale’ went live and people realized there were no tickets left. I was able to sell all 4 for a take home price of $1170, a profit of $814 and ROI of 229%.
I checked on the tickets about a month or two later and prices were about $100 higher than when I sold it just like those Pink tickets. I was a little bit bummed, but that’s the name of the game in this business. Later on, about a week before the show, I checked again and prices had tanked where you barely broke even, so I was very glad I was ‘out.’
Conclusion
Ticket reselling is an art form. If you sell things too quick, then you probably sold too low. If you wait too long, then you’ll probably lose money. It’s tough to find that sweet spot where you’ve maximized profits. Some shows will appreciate over time (like this show and Pink) and some shows will fall over time (Beyonce.) It just takes experience in being able to better guestimate the trajectory of each show.
Agreed. I’m currently the owner of a set of tickets to the Childish Gambino show here in DC. Was able to get great floor seats at a great price through Amex’s deal with TicketMaster. But I waited until tickets were trading at 2x face value before I listed them. So I missed out on a big fish profit. At this point, I think I’m considering going instead of selling. I could only get what I paid.