Stubhub fees for buyers
Of course, all buyers would like to pay only the ticket price and avoid service fees. But the secondary market is arranged in such a way that it is almost impossible to avoid this link. Fees are a constant component in the secondary sales market in 98 percent of cases.
StubHub fees are one of the main topics that buyers are concerned about in the first place. To be honest, StubHub, like many competing services, has a situation with fees that is not entirely unambiguous. The rules change quite often, but the so-called “all-in pricing” rule introduced a few years ago clarified the situation. In fact, for the entire existence of the service, the number of fees ranged from 17 to 35 percent. Of course, the service fee is charged without taking into account the nominal cost of the ticket, do not forget about it. Do not forget that this broker is one of the leading and undoubtedly it is a legal service. Therefore, there is no need to doubt the legitimacy of the fees. The activity of this broker is carried out exclusively within the framework of legislation. Some customers sometimes begin to doubt the legality of fees, it is not worth doing this. The site has repeatedly confirmed its legitimacy at a high level.
So let’s focus on the fact that you will not be able to avoid paying fees in StubHub, so let’s take a closer look at what service fees are on this site.
What are Stubhub fees?
The site’s service fee policy has changed significantly in recent years. If earlier these fees did not exceed 10 percent for buyers, now they can exceed 23 percent. There are a lot of reasons for changing the number of fees, they vary depending on the venue of the event, time, performer, and many other factors. A simple buyer can’t track and check how the final amount that he has to pay turned out. As of 2022, on average, service fees for events amounted to 20 percent of the nominal ticket price, sometimes this amount reached up to 30 percent. If you want to understand point by point and to the last cent exactly how service fees are compiled on this site, then unfortunately this information is not available to ordinary buyers.
Important! The terms of use of the service indicate that StubHub reserves the right to set, regulate and change the number of fees.
However, in general, you should know what affects the number of service fees. This is mandatory:
- Type of event (sport/theater/music show)
- Venue of the event
- Taxes
Why are Stubhub fees so high?
Fees are funds that essentially help StubHub to carry out its activities. The service charges fees from both sellers and buyers. Representatives of the company claim that the fees are high because they are needed to provide all the functions of the service, including security functions, fraud protection, and technical support of the site. In other words, the service has a lot of expenses and it covers these expenses through fees. From the point of view of the company’s representatives, customer service cannot be of the highest quality at the lowest cost, so the fees are extremely high. By the way, at the moment StubHub is the leader in cost and is the most expensive ticket-selling site. In addition, do not forget that everyone regards the concept of “expensive” in their way. For example, a person with a good income is satisfied with the services of the service, and after paying and receiving a ticket, he forgot about its cost and writes a positive review. At the same time, another customer who has been saving money for a ticket for several months, when placing an order, discovers that he has to pay a considerable amount more, which is formed incomprehensibly for him. The reaction of such a client is also immediately expressed in angry reviews and blame the site for high fees.
How to avoid Stubhub fees
Of course, the question of how to avoid paying fees always remains relevant for most buyers: no one wants to spend more. If you are fundamentally opposed to various fees, then consider buying tickets at the box office of the venue itself. But even this will not give you a full guarantee that you will pay only the nominal price for the ticket. Of course, you can avoid fees completely, but only if you use the services of some other site, not StubHub. Because StubHub representatives have repeatedly stated that no one is going to refuse fees or revise them. According to StubHub employees, it is impossible to work without fees. Is this statement true? The Megaseats and Tickpick sites, for example, show themselves as “services without fees”. Now we will tell you more about this.
Megaseats and Tickpick as alternative ticket brokers with no fees
For those who are made nervous by high fees, there are such ticket sales sites as Megaseats and Tickpick. These services position themselves as sites that sell tickets to buyers at a nominal cost and the buyer does not pay fees. However, according to some analysts, the buyer does not always benefit from such a transaction. The reason is the ticket price. Paradoxically, however, for some events, the sites “without fees” offer tickets at a higher price than services with various commissions.
Of course, representatives of Megaseats have repeatedly denied accusations that they inflate the ticket price. The topic of such brokers as Megaseats is very often discussed not only in the American media but also in publications of other countries. This is an endless debate on the topic “Isn’t Megaseats deceiving us? Does he secretly include fees in the ticket price? “. Representatives of Megaseats have stated hundreds of times that there are no “dark” schemes. However, ardent StubHub fans often write that it is more profitable to pay taxes and fees than to buy a very expensive ticket on sites such as Megaseats or Tickpick.
Let’s give an example. StubHub sells two tickets to the Billy Eilish show for $161 (excluding fees). While Megaseats sells similar tickets for 340. That is, when the cost of fees is added to the ticket on StubHub, the price will be the same as on Megaseats, which positions itself as a commission-free site. The situation with Tickpick is not much different: buyers often complain about high prices.
However, as a psychological move, the absence of fees works perfectly: many people buy tickets for these services with the confidence that they are saving.
Important! There are also cheap tickets on each of these sites, it is impossible to generalize prices since they depend on the type of event, season, and demand.
Looking at the reviews and popularity in general, StubHub currently receives more positive reviews even despite the presence of fees. Of course, there are always enough people who are dissatisfied with extra surcharges, but those who like the services of StubHub much more. Most StubHub customers believe that it is more reliable to pay fees and taxes but to be sure of the high quality of the services provided and that the ticket will be received on time.