Thoughts on Selling a Broadway Show Ticket

[dmwnc1959]

Posted: 2/15/20 at 5:36pm

I’ve never done this before so please bear with me. 

Imagine you have a single seat ticket to a SOLD OUT Broadway Show that you’re no longer able to use due to a change in plans. Do you sell it at face value, or, because you’ve checked Stub Hub and worst location seats are selling for $250-300 and more, sell it for a profit? Would you offer it up on BWW first, or running the risk it may not sell (I’m sure it would be snatched up fairly quickly), just go ahead and post it on Stub Hub? FYI it was a $100 ticket including fees and I have the paper ticket in-hand.

I’ve PM’d one fellow BWW member and have received advice, but I’d appreciate a few more thoughts on this since the show isn’t until early June. 

[Piparoo]

Posted: 2/15/20 at 5:46pm

Selling here, I think face value is the best choice.  Stub Hub, it's okay to sell above face value - you are assuming the risk of it not selling after all, so why not have the price reflect some of that risk.  I have tickets for West Side Story and have them listed on Stub Hub for over face value.  Quite a bit over face value actually as I got lucky with a Telecharge offer.  If it gets good reviews, I imagine the tickets will sell and I won't be going to see it.  If not, then I'm going.  Now that I've written that down, it looks a little strange...

[Broadway Joe]

Posted: 2/15/20 at 11:19pm

Selling for profit is legal and there's no reason not to do it if you can. You're not forcing someone else to pay the market value to see a show. That's on them.

I wouldn't sell for over face value on here though, it's much easier to go through stubhub than deal with someone you don't know personally on here. There's also no chance of having an issues. 

Updated On: 2/15/20 at 11:19 PM

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 2/16/20 at 3:23am

I have used Stubhub as a seller to see great shows that are normally hard to get both in respects to supply and affordability. Mostly because tickets start to loose value the closer it is to showtime, and many is the time I've noticed that people would drastically lower their asking price on there when it gets closer to showtime, just so that they can make something back on their tickets. 

It should be noted, that if you're using stubhub to sell a ticket, they make money by automatically taking a cut of whatever it is you sold them for. Granted, that that amount is in relation to how much you sold it for But, I would not be shocked to find out that someone sold tickets at a higher price than they normally would as their way to combat this. 

[dmwnc1959]

Posted: 2/16/20 at 6:03am

Thanks for all of the great advice! I also wanted to reemphasize that I didn’t purchase the ticket for the sole intention of scalping or reselling it, just that taking care of my 89yo dad has taken a sudden toll on my finances and any big expensive trips for the next few years are not an option. Having received some additional input via PMs its been suggested that l could very easily sell my ticket based on the show, seat location, last and already Sold Out performance, currently popularity, etc. I’ve never used Stub Hub so this should be an interesting experience, I’ll just have to decide on the ticket selling price.

[Wick3]

Posted: 2/16/20 at 7:16am

If it’s a sold out show, you can always ask the box office to change the date so you can still see it.

As for selling on BWW, you’re welcome to do so but for face value. Note that since it’s a paper ticket, you’ll either have to mail it to the buyer or give it to buyer in person.

As for Stubhub, as a buyer I’ll admit I prefer e-tickets/download over paper tickets. So much easier to retrieve especially when buying last minute (less than an hour before showtime.)

In terms of reselling, always remember your ticket is only worth whichever price someone is willing to buy it for.

Good luck!