I get the question “when is the best time to sell my tickets?” a lot, and while it’s not an exact science, I thought I’d take a stab at answering it. Ticket brokerage is really all just simple supply and demand. To maximize your price, you want to sell when supply is low but demand is high. It’s hard to control the supply portion of the equation, so let’s focus on the demand aspect.
So the question is really, when is demand for my tickets the highest (so that I can sell them for the most money)? For big shows that sell out quickly, the demand is generally highest immediately after it sells out. Rabid fans who came up empty during the primary sale at Ticketmaster are most likely to get caught-up in the moment and start searching for tickets on Stubhub, eBay, or other secondary ticket outlets. These die-hard fans are more likely to be willing to pay top dollar for your tickets. Since these fans are likely to go directly from Ticketmaster to Stubhub or other ticketing sites, it’s incredibly important that you list your tickets for sale IMMEDIATELY after you purchase them. Time to market is crucial here and the faster you get them in front of people who want to buy them, the better. After all the die-hard fans buy their tickets, demand generally flattens or declines up until the event date which is why I think it’s better to sell them sooner rather than later (not to mention that you get your money back faster which you can reinvest into other tickets).
There are occasional cases where prices go up as an event approaches, but they are not all that common. One example would be that a concert for a hot new band sells out, but the band keeps getting more popular as the show approaches which leads to higher demand, this higher ticket prices. Another example where prices may rise is when there isn’t much supply to begin with, and most brokers sell their tickets quickly leaving very limited supply in the market. With low supply, but equal or greater demand, ticket prices will rise. It’s very difficult or impossible to predict these two scenarios which is why I think it’s best to sell the tickets quickly after the event sells out, and then move on to the next opportunity.
I hope that answers your question of “when is the best time to sell my tickets?” Again, it’s not a perfect science but after years of experience I’ve found this to be the best general strategy.
28 responses so far ↓
1 Jeff // May 16, 2008 at 1:35 pm
enjoy the blog…wish you’d post more often. But thanks for the insights.
2 admin // May 16, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Hey Jeff,
Thanks for coming by my blog, I’m glad you enjoy it. I’ve been swamped with other work lately and haven’t been able to post as frequently as I’d like, but I’ll try to get going again here shortly.
3 kevin // May 19, 2008 at 12:03 pm
maybe mention that it’s a good idea to check upcoming onsales to make sure a second (or third) show hasn’t been added for the event you have tickets for…in that case, turn ‘em asap, before everyone figures out a new show has been added…
4 Stimbot // Jun 23, 2008 at 4:04 pm
let’s say you are selling ticketfast tickets on ebay. You have 4 tickets but want to sell them in sets of two. Is there anyway to “split up” the adobe file and send the bidder only two of the tickets or am I stuck printing them all out to sell them in pairs?
anyone ?
5 admin // Jun 23, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Hey Stimbot,
If you plan on emailing the tickets to your buyers in sets of two, you’ll need to buy a program that splits the adobe pdf files. You can’t do it within Adobe Reader. I recommend Nitro PDF - I have heard good things about the program: http://www.nitropdf.com.
6 Trever Wilkinson // Jul 20, 2008 at 8:42 am
What kind of margins can you get from selling tickets direct?? Is it with the effort over using an affiliate engine like using Stubhub or TicketsNow???
Thanks for the info!
T
http://www.torontoticketbrokers.com
7 TicketStumbler // Jul 27, 2008 at 10:17 am
Cutepdf (cutepdf.com) is free and does many of the same things as Nitro PDF. I’d try that out first before spending money on something you may or may not need.
8 Stimbot // Aug 18, 2008 at 5:08 pm
hey thanks for the help. Ended up not needing to split up the file. The Farm Aid show alone paid my rent this month. Ironically I’ll actually be able to afford to purchase my groceries at Wholefoods this week.
9 LeraJenkins // Jun 24, 2009 at 1:56 pm
What necessary words… super, an excellent idea
10 PeterMontee // Jul 3, 2009 at 12:44 am
What nice answer
11 Joel // Jul 13, 2009 at 11:53 am
Great info! The ideas you talked about were exactly what I was thinking but still wasn’t sure should I sell early or later. Thanks
12 PrioroKar // Oct 8, 2009 at 9:27 pm
спасибо за статейку
13 alkagotroky // Feb 9, 2010 at 10:10 am
Dum docemus, discimus
14 suryimb // Feb 10, 2010 at 1:22 am
Достатно интересно конечно. Хотя я немогу подписаться под каждым словом, но в общем соглашусь.
15 Assenipleks // Feb 12, 2010 at 4:57 am
А что думают другие читатели по этому поводу? Просто я никак не могу определиться
16 Mowcheelo // Feb 16, 2010 at 6:21 pm
В вашей работе много полезной информации, которая, уверен, мне очень пригодится в будущем.
17 Ovaguer // Feb 17, 2010 at 6:20 am
Очень классный сайт у вас, побольше бы таких.
18 unforIe // Feb 17, 2010 at 5:58 pm
Занятно пишете, жизненно. Все-таки, для того, чтобы делать по-настоящему интересный блог, нужно не только сообщать о чем-то, но и делать это в интересной форме:)
19 Datavesty // Feb 17, 2010 at 6:47 pm
Только золотые руки автора могли набить такой прикольный пост
20 Asypept // Feb 18, 2010 at 10:31 am
Отличная статья, спасибо!
21 PrartyBelry // Feb 21, 2010 at 11:32 pm
Отличный пост, давай еще
22 rourlebra // Feb 22, 2010 at 9:15 am
Вот это здорово. Вот это по нашему по бразильски. Молодцом
23 Attalry // Feb 25, 2010 at 11:29 pm
А я, наверное, именно таких слов ждал! Здорово вы мне помогли. Честное слово, новыми красками все заиграло. Я понял теперь, как на самом деле все круто. Автор, низко кланяюсь ))) В каком, кстати, городе живете?
24 naptevy // Feb 26, 2010 at 7:22 pm
Выбирай себе друзей тщательнее, а враги выберут тебя сами.
25 Agreelf // Feb 27, 2010 at 3:35 am
Распечатываю: на стенку в самое видное место!!!
26 treannamp // Feb 27, 2010 at 11:31 am
*Хитро щурюсь, сопоставляя факты…*
27 ZenAtteds // Feb 27, 2010 at 9:48 pm
Я заметил, некоторые блоггеры любят провоцировать читателей, некоторые даже сами провокационные комменты оставляют сами у себя на блоге
28 claidly // Feb 28, 2010 at 9:35 pm
Ваши посты мне нравятся все больше и больше. Отлично так держать
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