eBay, Paypal, etc.

[VertigoGal]

Alright, after being basically shut out of the second show, I may consider using eBay. Will someone explain the eBay/Paypal process, tell me how safe and effective it is, success/horror stories, etc?

I found some reasonably priced GA's and the seller has 100% positive feedback and claims to be a *fan* who had something "come up."

I need help. (???)

Thanks so much

 

[VertigoGal]

alright, well, I signed up for both ebay and ticketmaster, so now I've got a question (of course)...

It says enter highest bid...If my highest bid is like twice what the second highest bid is, do I still have to pay that much? Or does it bid by intervals?

(ex: if it's going for 300, and I bid 600, do I still pay 600 or do I pay like 305?)

Thanks

 

[U2FloridaFan]

Don't know much about the process, but whatever you do, don't bid on tickets that are Ticket Fast or whatever TM calls it when you print out the confirmation for the ticket on your computer. Make sure they have the tickets in hand. Anyone can take the same confirmation and print multiple copies of it and the buyer won't know until they get to the venue and find their "ticket" has already been used.

 

[VertigoGal]

Yep, I'm bidding on "hard" tickets. Is that what you mean?

 

[cmb737]

You do in fact bid in intervals. Make sure you pay through PayPal through Ebay. After the auction ends you can go to your Ebay and pay for the tickets. Do not under any circumstances make other arrangements outside the protection of Ebay.

Watch out for snipers. Snipers are people that come in and outbid you at the very last second. Find your price and bid it, and don't go over just because you get emotional. There will be others you can bid on.

Pay the extra amount to get the tickets shipped to you via FedEx or UPS. Make sure to purchase insurance for the total amount of the tickets. GET THE TRACKING NUMBER and estimated day of arrival.

Track at fedex.com or at ups.com

email or pm if you have other questions or concerns.

cburke737@comcast.net

 

[clerks]

Like another poster has said, it bids in intervals.

He also said, pick your final amount and stick with it. If you are willing to pay 300, just bid it, walk away and check later if you won. Don't let emotions affect your judgement. I agree 100%.

Never bid from anyone who doesn't have at least 10 transactions (my opinion) with good feedback. Some good people have less than 100% feedback because you can't please everyone, but be sure to read their profile.

Anyone with no feedback selling might be a fan, but is more likely a scapler/trying to make money ( especially if their handle is oddly U2 related).

However, that doesnt' mean they aren't selling you the geniune tickets. I'm sure some jerks make fakes, but at least most people on eBay are selling real tickets.

I would only pay via paypal and use a credit card (so you can have protection later). I don't know if using a debit card offers the same protection or not. and I think paypal itself has some built in protection.

I bought tickets for Elevation from yahoo from an obvious ticketguy as his handle was great8ticets or something like that. I knew he was a scapler, but he had a decent price and all his feedback was on good sales for other shows. So I trusted him. It was for 2 GA to a Hartford, CT show. It was 125 bucks a ticket and it was the best show I ever saw. Worth every prenny.


Another good tip that I recommend to all is to be sure to write an e-mail to a seller with any and all questions. Judge their answers and response time.

Sometimes I ask questions I know just to see if they know. It works at retail stores too. YOu can tell who is a fan/scalper by what they write (not always of course).

And if they don't respond to you before the auction ends, don't bid. That means it will be hard to contact them later if you need too.

Also, click on the link that shows what else they are selling. If they are selling five shows at once, but claim they "changed plans" then they are lying.

So I'd say 90% of the time if you buy from eBay, you get what you wanted. You just have to use your instincts/intellegence that all U2 fans have, to protect yourself from the other 10%.

Good Luck.

 

[VertigoGal]

Thanks for all your help!

I'm gonna have to bid at about 7:30 am and the sale ends at 8:50, so I'm not getting my hopes up, but we'll see.

One final question: you can't see what the current "high bid" is, can you? Like, if I set my limits to 300 bucks and someone else has already set their limit to 350, I just don't get the tickets, right? I'm still kinda confused about how the bidding works. :-/

Thanks for all your help though!

 

[norsehorse23]

yeah, i have gotten tickets to three shows off ebay, each time getting good tickets for reasonable prices. i have also sold some tickets on ebay, and even though i started the bidding at face value, i made about 80 dollars off of them. yeah, if the price is ridiculous, don't bid, and like others said, look at the feedback, usually it makes the sale a little safer. so i have nothing but good experiences with ebay... but again, like others have said, be careful.

 

[clerks]

If you bid 300, and someone else bids 350, it will tell you, "You've been outbid by "soandso23".

If you bid 300, and someone else bid 200, it will tell you, "VertigoGal" is the higgest bidder and place you bid at 205 bucks I believe (I think it's in intervals of $5 bucks). Something like that.

Happy bidding.

And remember, if you can't find tickets on EBay....
...prices will go down closer to the show as people get desperate, some places its easier to get tickets from people on outside of the show with extra tickets, U2 usually releases extra tickets a few weeks before a show at a random time, and countless other ways.

 

[cmb737]

And remember, if you can't find tickets on EBay....
...prices will go down closer to the show as people get desperate, some places its easier to get tickets from people on outside of the show with extra tickets, U2 usually releases extra tickets a few weeks before a show at a random time, and countless other ways.

Exactly, there is absolutely no reason to panic or get all bent out of shape if you don't win. There will be literally hundreds of other opportunities.

 

[U2Girl1978]

I wouldn't bid on the tickets...I'd rather have the buy it now thing next to it so I won't have to get all emotional over bidding on tickets.

 

[cmb737]

I wouldn't bid on the tickets...I'd rather have the buy it now thing next to it so I won't have to get all emotional over bidding on tickets.

In most cases you will end up over paying with Buy It Now. What we are advocating is determining an amount in one's mind that you are willing to pay and then bid and forget. If you win, you win...if you don't, keep shopping.

 

[VertigoGal]

Thanks for all your help! Indcidentally, I actually *got* tickets, about half an hour ago. God knows how. Nosebleeds, but I'm sticking with them, I'm not buying GA's off ebay even though I'd love the floor.

Now I have to sell the single 162.50 ticket I bought Saturday. I'm new on eBay, so have no feedback, and it's the kind of ticket you get through email. Is anyone gonna buy from me? I'm not going to price it too high, I'd like to make a small profit, maybe 45 bucks, to help pay for my other ones (I'm a poor teenager)

I just hope someone will buy from me, or my dad will have my ass. (it's on his debit right now)

 

[cmb737]

That is a real tough sell...no feedback, ticketfast. I would try and sell it to a friend or family member.

I wouldn't personally bid on that.

 

[clerks]

I don't trust ticketfast or regular mail for u2.

I always want hard tickets and a tracking number.

I've used ticketfast for a 20 dollar college hockey game, but I've never use them for a concert of this magnatitude.

Just throwing it out there.

I also wouldn't buy a ticketfast ticket for fear that someone else might also try to use the ticket.

My advice would to sell it for face value and worry more about making your money back than making a profit.

 

[Chizip]

did you buy the ticketfast ticket from ticketmaster?

if so i think some people have been able to get ticketmaster to send them a hard ticket instead, that would be much easier to sell on ebay...

 

[cmb737]

My advice would to sell it for face value and worry more about making your money back than making a profit.

If you can even get your money back. That is why I would start looking for friends and family members. Not a lot of people are going to be fighting you for that ticket. You would most definitely want to try and convert the ticket to a hard ticket if you purchased it.

 

[VertigoGal]

how could I switch that to a hard ticket, chizip? is that gonna cost me even more?

I'm still gonna put it on eBay with a "buy it now" option at face value. I really hope someone buys it. heh, anyone here wanna buy it? lol

I'll go advertise it in the "what do you have" section, so maybe someone here who trusts me will buy it, lol.

 

[cmb737]

Ebay charges for auctions whether they sell or not, so be sure that is what you want to do.

Call ticketmaster and tell them you want to convert your buy it now ticket.

 

[matt_tx00]

some E-bay/Paypal tips (some of which have already been mentioned):

Stick with e-bay auctions from users with high percentage feedback (preferably like 98% or greater). Look to see if they have many negatives - if any of them are recent. See if they have any experience selling concert tickets. Ask them questions about their auction if you have any concerns. Don't bid until you know for sure you're willing to buy their tickets!

Stick with auctions that have no reserve price on them. There's no use bidding on an auction before the last day - all you're going to do is drive the price up even higher. In fact, you really don't need to bid until the last hour or even the last few minutes.

Always bid the highest you are willing to pay for an auction as close to the end as you are willing to wait. If somebody bids higher than you, e-bay will keep bidding for you automatically until it reaches your maximum bid. If you wait until near the end and bid your highest amount then its unlikely anyone will exceed your bid.

Just bid once and walk away as someone said. Don't get caught up in a "bidding war" because you will end up paying a lot more for the item than you really wanted to. If somebody else beats your high bid then just let it be.

Do your bids in inexact amounts. In other words, put a bid down of "$202.16" instead of "$200.00". That way if someone else does a bid of "$200.00" you've already beat them.

If you bid on something on e-bay, you can retract the bid if there is more than 12 hours left to go and you are the highest bidder, but it is not looked upon kindly. Within 12 hours of the end of the auction I don't think you can retract a bid.

If you bid and win, you are obligated to pay. Pay as soon as possible and you will make the seller happy. Try to stick with the obligations of the auction - if the seller wants payment within 2 days, then pay within 2 days.

AND MOST IMPORTANT: when paying through Paypal, always use a credit card!

Paypal defaults to making payments through your bank account. You have to switch to your credit card each time you make a payment through the "other funding options" link - then click the "Yes" button saying you for sure want to use a credit card. The credit card gives you double protection in case you don't get your tickets delivered to you.

 

[matt_tx00]

Thanks for all your help! Indcidentally, I actually *got* tickets, about half an hour ago. God knows how. Nosebleeds, but I'm sticking with them, I'm not buying GA's off ebay even though I'd love the floor.

Now I have to sell the single 162.50 ticket I bought Saturday. I'm new on eBay, so have no feedback, and it's the kind of ticket you get through email. Is anyone gonna buy from me? I'm not going to price it too high, I'd like to make a small profit, maybe 45 bucks, to help pay for my other ones (I'm a poor teenager)

I just hope someone will buy from me, or my dad will have my ass. (it's on his debit right now)

Single seat tickets are a very tough e-bay sell because most people want tickets in pairs. Also, the ticket is already in the high price range so it's already pretty expensive. Your best bet will be to start the auction below face (maybe around $129 or so) and go from there. It will be hard to get more than face for this unless its really close to the stage.