Cubs cancelled my season tickets - anyone else?

[jersey cubs fan]

 

I wish the people that do this actually existed (on StubHub that is). Sure, people will sell to friends (or maybe like other NSB posters in our cases) for face or less, but that just isn't happening on StubHub or any other such marketplace.

 

But that is the point.

 

They aren't selling to friends for face. They aren't giving a couple to family here and there. They are selling every ticket they can for profit, probably every premier matchup, obviously every world series ticket, clearly all the special packages, and they are doing so for maximum return. If you put a Chicago address on the account, don't show up to games and sell virtually all your tickets plus the extra allotment for the highest dollar you can get, you are in it for the profit.

 

If all you wanted to do was see a game or two a year why not just buy those on stub hub yourself? If it's to guarantee yourself a seat if they make the world series, then you should probably go to the world series. The guy was in this to profit, not cover his costs, and the team did not like it.

[Sammy Sofa]

I wish the people that do this actually existed (on StubHub that is). Sure, people will sell to friends (or maybe like other NSB posters in our cases) for face or less, but that just isn't happening on StubHub or any other such marketplace.

 

Nobody's saying tons of people are just selling them for the exact face value; just that plenty of people ultimately do sell them for close enough to face value for the Cubs to not take action. We sell plenty of our tickets when we can't go, but almost all of them are still pretty close to face value; any "profit" really ends up mostly in the $15-$20 range per ticket. There's a pretty clear difference between making a little money off of an investment and someone selling almost all of their tickets for what was, no doubt, a huge profit.

[Sammy Sofa]

The very fact that this dude is talking about 2009-14 in terms of 'lost money' is game, set and match.

 

You didn't lose money those years. You purchased Chicago Cubs tickets. You're pissed that you didn't get to then profit off them. Done.

 

Don't agree at all.

 

2013-14 sucked. Those of us that had them those years did so for the payoff of having them when they were good. It was money lit on fire.

 

Donate that horsefeathers, homie.

[David]

 

I wish the people that do this actually existed (on StubHub that is). Sure, people will sell to friends (or maybe like other NSB posters in our cases) for face or less, but that just isn't happening on StubHub or any other such marketplace.

 

But that is the point.

 

They aren't selling to friends for face. They aren't giving a couple to family here and there. They are selling every ticket they can for profit, probably every premier matchup, obviously every world series ticket, clearly all the special packages, and they are doing so for maximum return. If you put a Chicago address on the account, don't show up to games and sell virtually all your tickets plus the extra allotment for the highest dollar you can get, you are in it for the profit.

 

If all you wanted to do was see a game or two a year why not just buy those on stub hub yourself? If it's to guarantee yourself a seat if they make the world series, then you should probably go to the world series. The guy was in this to profit, not cover his costs, and the team did not like it.

 

Well, yeah. I completely agree. But I still think the profit tells you very little about their intentions. It's the sheer quantity that kinda drives both things.

 

It's just that the sheer quantity tells you none of those things you mentioned are happening. I just doubt they have much reason to look to see if they are being sold for cheap on StubHub since those people don't really exist (people selling in high volume for very cheap).

 

And yeah, I'm not debating any of the bold nor have I felt he was wronged at any point. As soon as he said he sold all but 8 games, well, the intentions are obvious (although I'm not even sure how that's worth the hassle...especially knowing what StubHub is like and what the return is like).

[David]

The very fact that this dude is talking about 2009-14 in terms of 'lost money' is game, set and match.

 

You didn't lose money those years. You purchased Chicago Cubs tickets. You're pissed that you didn't get to then profit off them. Done.

 

Don't agree at all.

 

2013-14 sucked. Those of us that had them those years did so for the payoff of having them when they were good. It was money lit on fire.

 

Donate that horsefeathers, homie.

 

Yeah, we did some of that. Of course, that won't be an issue again for a long time.

[Sammy Sofa]

It's just that the sheer quantity tells you none of those things you mentioned are happening.

 

So if STH A sells 80 games and makes, I dunno, a grand off of his tickets an STH B sells 80 games and makes something like ten grand, do you think both of them are getting kicked out by the Cubs?

[David]

It's just that the sheer quantity tells you none of those things you mentioned are happening.

 

So if STH A sells 80 games and makes, I dunno, a grand off of his tickets an STH B sells 80 games and makes something like ten grand, do you think both of them are getting kicked out by the Cubs?

 

well, my contention really is that STH A doesn't actually exist so the cubs aren't bothering to try to parse him out.

[ConstableRabbit]

Yeah, I didn't buy season tickets to make a profit. It's a vanity purchase and everyone should go into the process with eyes wide open: you're likely to take a bath for the right to go to whatever game you want.

 

Still worth it.

[UMFan83]

 

Don't agree at all.

 

2013-14 sucked. Those of us that had them those years did so for the payoff of having them when they were good. It was money lit on fire.

 

Donate that horsefeathers, homie.

 

Yeah, we did some of that. Of course, that won't be an issue again for a long time.

 

IIRC David did offer up some of his tickets in those years for free on the board

[jersey cubs fan]

Donate that horsefeathers, homie.

 

Yeah, we did some of that. Of course, that won't be an issue again for a long time.

 

Greedy bastard.

[Sammy Sofa]

It's just that the sheer quantity tells you none of those things you mentioned are happening.

 

So if STH A sells 80 games and makes, I dunno, a grand off of his tickets an STH B sells 80 games and makes something like ten grand, do you think both of them are getting kicked out by the Cubs?

 

well, my contention really is that STH A doesn't actually exist so the cubs aren't bothering to try to parse him out.

 

I can assure you you're wrong; we sold most of our tickets in that range, and actually had to compete with other STH selling their tickets low as well if we wanted to move them.

 

Basically we wanted people to be able to use the tickets. Almost all of the most popular games we were going in some combination anyway, so most of what we sold were "regular" tickets. Combine that with the decision or realization of nobody friends or family-wise being able to attend often times being close to the game itself, so even with an awesome team you were selling them at minimal profit margin-levels to get them sold.

[Bull]

Is there a waitlist for season tickets? If there is one, then I could see the Cubs wanting to give people that want to attend most of the games themselves a shot at the expense of people that sell most of them off.

 

Is there a waitlist?

 

I'm pretty sure there are over 100k people on it.

 

I'm number 37094. I've been on the list since 2011 or so.

[David]

 

So if STH A sells 80 games and makes, I dunno, a grand off of his tickets an STH B sells 80 games and makes something like ten grand, do you think both of them are getting kicked out by the Cubs?

 

well, my contention really is that STH A doesn't actually exist so the cubs aren't bothering to try to parse him out.

 

I can assure you you're wrong; we sold most of our tickets in that range, and actually had to compete with other STH selling their tickets low as well if we wanted to move them.

 

Basically we wanted people to be able to use the tickets. Almost all of the most popular games we were going in some combination anyway, so most of what we sold were "regular" tickets. Combine that with the decision or realization of nobody friends or family-wise being able to attend often times being close to the game itself, so even with an awesome team you were selling them at minimal profit margin-levels to get them sold.

 

well, yeah, but nobody is making big money off those games, right?

 

we sold about 40ish. of those, the games we could sell for the most profit, we did, but there was an awful lot of face or below, especially early on.

[David]

 

Donate that horsefeathers, homie.

 

Yeah, we did some of that. Of course, that won't be an issue again for a long time.

 

IIRC David did offer up some of his tickets in those years for free on the board

 

Hell, I even did that this year, I'm pretty sure.

[David]

to put it another way, on a per ticket basis (and of course taking into account seat location), i don't think there is a very wide chasm among high volume sellers on stubhub between the ones making the most profit (on a percentage basis) and the ones making the least. there's gonna be some that lean aggressive and some that hold out for more, but i think if you sell 80 tickets, for the most part, you're neither making a killing or losing your ass compared to someone else doing that same thing.

 

when we're pricing our games on an individual basis, i'd imagine we're all trying to get as much as we can. not out of greed, but to cover as much of our STH expenses as we can. it's once you start selling the vast majority of your games that you're talking about making a profit off these seats, like this guy did.

 

i guess that's very different from the way i originally said what i said, but it's really the basis for what i was saying all along.

 

edit - as an aside, i actually think the biggest driving force behind that (how much you can profit over face value) is the section. we mentioned the problems in the STH thread where perception drives a lot of it. terrace infield boxes and upper deck infield seem to be really undervalued on the secondary market. or like if you have bleachers i think you can expect to consistently sell enough above face to cover the fees these days.

Edited December 14, 2016 by David

[Brian707]

I wish the Blackhawks did this. I have been on their waiting list for 7 years and they have a 99.6% renewal rate. In my section I have partial season tickets, scalpers bought up rows of tickets just before the 2009 winter classic, none of those people ever set foot in the United Center.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I'm 48,221 on the wait list now. I'm pretty sure my number gets higher every time I check

[Brian707]

39,640 for me

 

Was it just updated? I could have sworn I was around 43000 last summer

[jersey cubs fan]

to put it another way, on a per ticket basis (and of course taking into account seat location), i don't think there is a very wide chasm among high volume sellers on stubhub between the ones making the most profit (on a percentage basis) and the ones making the least. there's gonna be some that lean aggressive and some that hold out for more, but i think if you sell 80 tickets, for the most part, you're neither making a killing or losing your ass compared to someone else doing that same thing.

 

i guess that's very different from the way i originally said what i said, but it's really the basis for what i was saying all along.

 

edit - as an aside, i actually think the biggest driving force behind that (how much you can profit over face value) is the section. we mentioned the problems in the STH thread where perception drives a lot of it. terrace infield boxes and upper deck infield seem to be really undervalued on the secondary market. or like if you have bleachers i think you can expect to consistently sell enough above face to cover the fees these days.

 

The section matters, and so does your aggressiveness in acquiring additional seats through the team at face and selling those (not mention selling all your world series tickets).

[CubinNY]

The very fact that this dude is talking about 2009-14 in terms of 'lost money' is game, set and match.

 

You didn't lose money those years. You purchased Chicago Cubs tickets. You're pissed that you didn't get to then profit off them. Done.

 

Don't agree at all.

 

2013-14 sucked. Those of us that had them those years did so for the payoff of having them when they were good. It was money lit on fire.

 

When you buy season tickets you are not supposed to be making an investment for a financial return. You are buying a product. You shouldn't expect to break even or make money. If that's your expectation, I hope you lose your seats too.

[David]

The very fact that this dude is talking about 2009-14 in terms of 'lost money' is game, set and match.

 

You didn't lose money those years. You purchased Chicago Cubs tickets. You're pissed that you didn't get to then profit off them. Done.

 

Don't agree at all.

 

2013-14 sucked. Those of us that had them those years did so for the payoff of having them when they were good. It was money lit on fire.

 

When you buy season tickets you are not supposed to be making an investment for a financial return. You are buying a product. You shouldn't expect to break even or make money. If that's your expectation, I hope you lose your seats too.

 

Yes, the product I was buying was lots of tickets to games when the Cubs got really good. And the right to buy playoff tickets those years too. Without those things and the promise thereof, I'd have had no interest in owning those 2013-14 tickets.

[Sammy Sofa]

[evanstonian]

When you buy season tickets you are not supposed to be making an investment for a financial return.

 

Right, because season ticket holders are not entitled to receive anything favorable for investing thousands of dollars for years, including during bad seasons.

 

They should just give the tickets at face value to you -- the guy who was sitting on his couch eating pork rinds -- rather than putting them on a marketplace that millions of people have access to and can decide what the value of the ticket is worth to them.

 

Seems fair.

Edited December 14, 2016 by evanstonian

[Sammy Sofa]

You sound a bit...confused on how you ended up with those tickets in the first place.

 

I mean, sure, maybe it was some weird situation where Poor Tom Ricketts forced you to buy them...but I doubt it.

[BigbadB]

Right, because season ticket holders are not entitled to receive anything favorable for investing thousands of dollars for years, including during bad seasons.

 

But anyone with a decent sized bank account can "invest thousands of dollars for years". The Cubs want to be sure that someone is also investing their "TIME" in the team. How much time did you invest this year? I can afford a few season tickets. Tell me why I should deserve them over someone who actually lives in Chicago and wants to actually go to the games.