Author Topic: Nats tickets - buy, sell, give away, plead, grovel, beg, "find", whatever....  (Read 18814 times)

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Offline natstime

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I am going to opening day.  How risky do you think it would be to get the 5$ tickets at the door?  and how early would I have to get there to do that?

Offline CALSGR8

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It's a 1pm game.  I don't know but usually they are sold out.  I'd get them when they first go on sale to the public.  For Opening Day?  They may not even have $5 seats available.

Offline PANatsFan

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It's a 1pm game.  I don't know but usually they are sold out.  I'd get them when they first go on sale to the public.  For Opening Day?  They may not even have $5 seats available.


Yeah, if you want a deal, get the holiday pack while it's still around.

Offline PowerBoater69

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I am going to opening day.  How risky do you think it would be to get the 5$ tickets at the door?  and how early would I have to get there to do that?

The best answer is to watch the various message boards and resale websites on a regular basis in order to gauge demand.  The Braves will bring in a small percentage of the visiting fans, so I'd be surprised if the game sells out, however a lot of tickets have already been sold via the Holiday Pack promotion.  One thing to note is that if all of the seats sell out the team will start selling $10 standing room tickets, so you'll still get in the door.  I'd plan on getting to the park about 30 minutes before the box office opens to have a good chance at the $5 tickets.

In my opinion, the Holiday Pack isn't that great of a deal, you are paying full single game prices for games that will be available when single game tickets go on sale, with a cheap trinket as a prize.

My recommendation would be to show up at the box office up to an hour early on the day that single game seats go on sale and max out your bank account on $10 tickets.  You will have no problem making a 50-80% return on the resale using StubHub, very easy to do and there aren't many legal ways to make that kind of profit margins in a short period of time with virtually no risk.

Offline heeman82

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Can anybody tell me what the deal is with the Opening Day tix for sale on StubHub?  Is this a scam?

Offline PowerBoater69

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Can anybody tell me what the deal is with the Opening Day tix for sale on StubHub?  Is this a scam?

Absolutely not a scam.  Pick seats that have the Instant transfer option and the team issues a new bar code to StubHub so that you can print them at home and be certain that the seller's bar codes have been invalidated.

I'm surprised by the number of OD tickets sold this far from the gameday, around a couple hundred sold for greatly increased prices over face value.  The interesting thing is that most of the sales are in a small number of section in the RF and LF corners, so I suspect that there are two primary groups of sellers driving down the market in those areas, those that bought the Holiday Pack and those that bought the buy two full season ticket packages get two free deal.  (It's also possible that the Nats themselves are listing unsold tickets at jacked up prices.)

My plan is to wait until the season ticket holder presale and to buy the best available for my group of friends.  I'd highly recommend this option as you get great seats at the STH discount price.

A tip for using StubHub is to list dummy tickets for sale for the desired event, this allows you the option to view not only tickets for sale, but also the history for sales in each section of the ballpark.  (The fakes should be priced high enough to prevent anyone from actually buying them.)  I'm looking to buy some premium tickets to a spring training game at the Astros park and so I check the sales a couple times a week to gauge the market.  Currently prices are creeping down, as soon as I see the best deals starting to get snatched up I'll make my purchase.

Offline heeman82

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Oh ok great.  I'd really like to get front row tickets for left field for opening day, and if these seats are in fact available it would kill me to see them disappear before I can get them!

Offline PowerBoater69

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Oh ok great.  I'd really like to get front row tickets for left field for opening day, and if these seats are in fact available it would kill me to see them disappear before I can get them!

Two seats have been sold in LF, they were in row A for $69 each plus service charge, and since the cheapest ones listed in that area are also $69, I'd say that that is the market price right now.  I'd also check eBay since they charge less service fees, the downside is fewer sellers competing for the lowest price.  One more option is Ballpark Digest Tickets, their fees are comparable to StubHub, they don't have nearly as many sellers, and they don't have the bar code transfer system, so they are probably not a good option, but worth clicking on the site once in a while to bargain hunt.

Good luck.

http://www.ballparkdigesttickets.com/ResultsGeneral.aspx?pcatid=1&ccatid=63&gcatid=16&kwds=Washington%20Nationals

Offline PANatsFan

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RazorGator is garbage. Stupid Al Gore. Their system was broken and not listing new tickets, so I stupidly wondered why no one bought the tickets I was selling. Then I called and found out. Avoid!

Offline CatsEye

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Absolutely not a scam.  Pick seats that have the Instant transfer option and the team issues a new bar code to StubHub so that you can print them at home and be certain that the seller's bar codes have been invalidated.
My plan is to wait until the season ticket holder presale and to buy the best available for my group of friends.  I'd highly recommend this option as you get great seats at the STH discount price.

A tip for using StubHub is to list dummy tickets for sale for the desired event, this allows you the option to view not only tickets for sale, but also the history for sales in each section of the ballpark.  (The fakes should be priced high enough to prevent anyone from actually buying them.)  I'm looking to buy some premium tickets to a spring training game at the Astros park and so I check the sales a couple times a week to gauge the market.  Currently prices are creeping down, as soon as I see the best deals starting to get snatched up I'll make my purchase.
When is the season ticket holder pre-sale? You got a date?   :popcorn:

Offline PowerBoater69

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When is the season ticket holder pre-sale? You got a date?   :popcorn:

Nope.  I'm currently more concerned about the STH pre-sale to pick out our free spring training tickets.  Although I do worry that the regular season presale will take place while I'm down in Florida.

Offline CALSGR8

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GOT 1 ticket to see the CAPS vs. Rangers on the 24th.  423 row H.  Any interest?

Offline comish4lif

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Oh ok great.  I'd really like to get front row tickets for left field for opening day, and if these seats are in fact available it would kill me to see them disappear before I can get them!

LEFT FIELD - down the line, or in the outfield?

Either way, I'd bet that those are STH tickets.

Offline heeman82

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LEFT FIELD - down the line, or in the outfield?

Either way, I'd bet that those are STH tickets.

In the outfield.  Safe bet to buy these or not?

Offline Galah

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In the outfield.  Safe bet to buy these or not?

Full season ticket price, those are $20/seat
if they are in section 101 or 102 you look down into the visitors bullpen
...I like the view from the outfield personally, and front row really is a great way to watch the game, but, that's triple face value, might see if they bite if you offer less.

Offline PowerBoater69

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Full season ticket price, those are $20/seat
if they are in section 101 or 102 you look down into the visitors bullpen
...I like the view from the outfield personally, and front row really is a great way to watch the game, but, that's triple face value, might see if they bite if you offer less.

Unlikely at this point since there have been several sales for $69, that is the current market price, I have no advice on whether prices will rise or drop.

Offline blue911

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Unlikely at this point since there have been several sales for $69, that is the current market price, I have no advice on whether prices will rise or drop.

I've never seen OD tickets drop below face value on Stubhub. I go to the box office and buy mine to save on the 43 different convenience charges that online brokers charge.

Offline PowerBoater69

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I've never seen OD tickets drop below face value on Stubhub. I go to the box office and buy mine to save on the 43 different convenience charges that online brokers charge.

Heeman is looking for specific tickets that are currently selling for triple face value, hard to tell if the price will drop in the next couple months.

Personally, I buy my OD tickets during the presale for the STH price, I pay the extra service charges, but I get good seats without having to leave my desk. 

Offline blue911

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Heeman is looking for specific tickets that are currently selling for triple face value, hard to tell if the price will drop in the next couple months.

Personally, I buy my OD tickets during the presale for the STH price, I pay the extra service charges, but I get good seats without having to leave my desk. 

I'm retired I left my desk 4 years ago.

Offline GburgNatsFan

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Are there any season ticket holders that can buy an extra pair of opening day tickets? Would you be willing to sell me a set? I'd like to get some reasonably good tickets...

Thanks in advance.

Offline PowerBoater69

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Are there any season ticket holders that can buy an extra pair of opening day tickets? Would you be willing to sell me a set? I'd like to get some reasonably good tickets...

Thanks in advance.


Not a problem, as long as the pre-sale allows me to buy enough for my friends first, and I don't think that there was a limit last year.

After the sale you can mail me a check and I'll email you the tickets.  Or you can meet me at any Orange line stop in Virginia on a work day.

Offline GburgNatsFan

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That would be great. Thanks. I would like two tickets. I usually buy fairly cheap seats, but I'm thinking of spending maybe $65 or so each for Opening Day? Can you get pretty good seats at that price?
Not a problem, as long as the pre-sale allows me to buy enough for my friends first, and I don't think that there was a limit last year.

After the sale you can mail me a check and I'll email you the tickets.  Or you can meet me at any Orange line stop in Virginia on a work day.

Offline PowerBoater69

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That would be great. Thanks. I would like two tickets. I usually buy fairly cheap seats, but I'm thinking of spending maybe $65 or so each for Opening Day? Can you get pretty good seats at that price?

The seats behind the dugouts are $60 each plus service charges, but they are likely already sold out to season ticket holders.  Usually I end up with some real nice seats in the $50 section, about 30-40 rows up.  At ten AM when they go up for sale I'll buy the best available short of the Diamond Club.

Offline GburgNatsFan

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Are season ticket holder prices lower than standard prices? They sound like it.

I'm sort of limited to about $130 for the pair, give or take a little.

Thanks again, PB.

The seats behind the dugouts are $60 each plus service charges, but they are likely already sold out to season ticket holders.  Usually I end up with some real nice seats in the $50 section, about 30-40 rows up.  At ten AM when they go up for sale I'll buy the best available short of the Diamond Club.

Offline PowerBoater69

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STH pricing can be viewed on the site linked below.  As a 20 game plan holder, I have access to full STH pricing for any extra tickets purchased.  If I have a free morning I'll drive by the ballpark and save on the service charges, but most likely at 10 on a weekday morning, I'll have to work around my meeting schedule just to make sure I'm at a computer at the moment when they go on sale.

http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/was/ticketing/season.jsp?tab=seating_pricing