StubHub’s fees are more confusing than ever. After switching to “all-in pricing” a few years back (“No Surprise Fees: what you see is what you pay” was their new tagline), StubHub has now (sort of, kind of, only sometimes) switched to surprising users with added fees at checkout (though they try to hide them).
What are StubHub’s fees for buyers? What are StubHub’s seller fees? Do some sellers pay different commissions? Are there ways to reduce the cost of these service charges?
We have the answers to all your questions about StubHub’s fees, and as an added bonus, we’ll show you how to minimize the excessive service fees that StubHub charges. We’ll show you how to sell your tickets on StubHub. If you’re looking to buy tickets on StubHub, we’ll show you how to do so in the most cost-effective way possible and find affordable tickets that may not be listed there.
Let’s dig in.
[toc]
StubHub Fees – How Much Does StubHub Charge?
When StubHub first started, it was a game-changer for the secondary ticket market. While StubHub’s fees may have been high, at least they were consistent. Buyer fees were always 10%, and seller fees were almost always 15%, with some exceptions for sellers who had been with them since the company’s inception.
At the start of 2014, however, StubHub began charging higher fees. When StubHub transitioned to showing all-inclusive pricing, it used the opportunity to experiment with charging buyers between 2% and 20% (in addition to the 15% already charged to sellers). StubHub’s buyer fees change based on the event location, timing, performer, or team, and other factors.
The only time someone would know what buyer fees StubHub was charging was when they listed a ticket for an event and then checked the price StubHub was listing it at. There was absolutely zero transparency.
StubHub Buyer Fees – What Does the Buyer See?
With a more extensive site redesign, StubHub is now experimenting with showing buyers the amount they’re charging, but only if they look for it.
For example, here’s the current StubHub checkout page:
Did you see where StubHub disclaims the fees they charge you?
Neither did I. You have to click the tiny icon next to “Pricing details” to see a breakdown of how much StubHub is charging you to buy tickets from them:
As you can see, for these Taylor Swift tickets at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, StubHub would charge the buyer $332 for a set that costs $1,900. That’s 17.47%!
The lesson here: StubHub is constantly changing its buyer fees. Pay attention to what’s being charged, and look for ways to save money on sports, concert, and theater tickets (see below).
How to save money when using StubHub
If you’re looking to save money when buying tickets, you have a couple of options:
1. Use StubHub Fan Codes & Coupon Codes. You can get up to 3% off using a StubHub Coupon Code. See the link above to learn more.
2. Use a ticket marketplace that doesn’t charge such ridiculous fees. One alternative would be us – TickPick. We’re a ticket marketplace with no buyer fees, so our tickets are typically 10-25% cheaper than what you’ll find on StubHub.
We’ve also compiled a list of the best ticket sites that don’t charge high fees, available here.
StubHub Seller Fees – What is StubHub’s Commission?
Sellers can list their tickets without any fees, and unlike StubHub’s buyer fees, sellers are pretty consistently charged a 15% fee if their tickets sell. If you’re a seller looking to reduce the fees you pay on StubHub, your only real option is to sell a large number of tickets. As a seller, no discounts or coupon codes are available to decrease the commission StubHub takes on your sales.
StubHub assumes that they’re the only resource available if you want to sell your tickets online, and they take advantage of that. If you’re a large seller, your fees can be reduced to as low as 10%, based on how much you sell, but to make a serious dent, you’ll need to sell hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of tickets every year. If you’re just looking to unload some extra tickets, that’s probably not for you.
See how to sell your tickets in the StubHub section of the blog for tips on how to use StubHub to sell your concert, sports, or theater tickets.
What StubHub Says About Its Fees
It’s too bad that StubHub’s User Agreement doesn’t talk more about its fees. Here is all it says on the subject:
“StubHub reserves the right in its sole discretion to change Fees at any time as it deems appropriate, including after you list your tickets.”
This shows a complete lack of transparency on StubHub’s part regarding its pricing.
It’s a little crazy that the MLB, which has partnered with StubHub to cash in on the baseball tickets being sold on StubHub’s site, has the most straightforward answer on StubHub’s fees:
“It is free to list tickets for sale, and to search for tickets to buy on StubHub. On each completed transaction, the buyer pays a 10% fee, and sellers are charged a 15% fee. For example, on the sale of a $100 ticket, the buyer would pay $110. The seller would net $85.”
Unfortunately, as you can see from the above sections, this fee structure is no longer in effect.
From what I understand, there are approximately 50 brokers that charge only 5% to 7.5%. These brokers receive preferential treatment because they were among the early adopters of Ticket Technology, a Point of Sale (POS) system that helped them manage their large number of ticket listings and sell tickets. When StubHub acquired Ticket Technology, the original 48 brokers using that POS received a discounted commission rate under the agreement.
How to Sell Tickets on StubHub
Selling your tickets on StubHub is actually pretty simple.
First, go to StubHub’s sell page and search for the event you’re looking for:
Next, select the event. If you have tickets for the same sections and rows at multiple events (e.g., season tickets), you can select multiple events simultaneously.
From here, we’re not allowed to show screenshots due to StubHub’s user agreement, but it’s straightforward. Simply enter the barcodes of your tickets or select the section, row, etc., set the price, and you’re all set.
Comments
14 responses to “Stubhub Fees – The Truth About Buyer and Seller Fees”
Do I have to register as a ticket broker in NJ if I only sell tix’s through tickpick or stubhub?
I don’t understand why stubhub, etc are scooping up tickets within seconds when they go on sale, then ticketmaster says sold out. So the tickets that ticketmaster was going to charge me $97.00 for, stubhub only 20 mins after them going on sale, is now charging me $325.00?!?
That’s ridiculous.
StubHub does not buy or sell tickets, they are a brokering site that matches buyers & sellers for a fee. It’s individual ticket brokers that are scamming the system by flooding Ticketmaster with hundreds of ticket requests a minute for the top shows. Ticketmaster has tried (and obviously failed) at trying to stop the bots from ticket brokers by making buyers type in phrases or click pictures. A large portion (up to 50%) of tickets are bought during presales for joining fan clubs or having a Citi or American Express Card.
Seller pays 10% on stubhub, i just listed a ticket there
Stubhub is at 10% sellers fee and I think this is for everyone
David – This is true, they are at 10% fee for sellers. Now they charge the 15% to the buyer instead. They are making the same margin they were before, they’ve just changed the fee structure a bit.
i didnt realize stubhub had changed from the “what you see is what you get” they advertised last year. there was going to be a 21% fee on tickets for a Kansas basketball game i was looking at. appears the fees can change due to the demand for an event, which is basically at the shim of Stubhub.
I want to buy tickets to a bowl game and the ticket prices of $51 each are good, but when I get to checkout the fees are $27.88. That is around 30% isn’t it? That is crazy..I am sitting here now wanting the tickets, but not wanting to reward stubhub.
WOW
500$ for a Taylor Swift concert…to be seated at the stadium and not in the floor?
Dude, come to Brazil…those international concerts are around 80$~100$ regular seating and or on the field….and premium seating costs around 200$
Plus if you’re student or in some places a blood donor, you have a 50% discount!
Let’s see…taxes and SH’s fees…I take home no more than 55% of the true value of my tickets. Where can I sign up???
Did you see what Stub Hub did?
This is what 3 ticket at $300each totaled when one goes to
checkout.
STUBHUB has hit a new low is their ability to deceive
people. STUBHUB has eliminated all in pricing and is now adding fees at
checkout. For the last year they have advertised how up front and honest and
forthright they are by including the fees in the price one sees when checking
the internet. Well, the last StubHUB CEO lost his job over this change when
sales plummeted. Ok, go back to hideafee. But Wait, it gets better.
When you look at the tickets they say, for example, $300 per ticket. I chose 3.
$900 right. WRONG. When you go to checkout the total says $1059.75. Fees
included is in microscopic writing.most would not even notice. When you see it
right here on the same page it is easy to discern, but if you are not paying
attention or the numbers are not so precise ($300eachx3 does not equal $1059.75)
a consumer will go right past it. See for your self:
Go to checkout when you follow this link. Skulduggery at its finest
This is how it looks on the checkout page.
Order total
$1,059.75 USD
Includes all fees (when I copied this over it got bigger, but it is in microscopic writing when you actually check out)
I just bought baseball tickets on StubHub. For a base price of $69.62 the buy fee was $13.34 and shipping was $2.00 despite the fact there is no shipping-it is an instant download. So I paid 22% in shipping and buy fees over the base ticket price. For 2 tickets I paid $31.67 in fees over the ticket prices. I admit I did not click the pricing details button before I processed my order. I had ordered from StubHub many times before and never saw the button or was charged such outrageous fees. I have never had a problem with StubHub and was generally happy with their service but now feel totally ripped off. They got their money from me this time but I will be very careful about using them in the future and avoid them whenever possible. Really feel their new policy regarding the showing of fees is dishonest. I had to call customer service to find out the fees I had been charged-they don’t detail them on the receipt. Very shady and any feeling of trust I had is now destroyed.
Ken – You’ll be happy to know that TickPick does not charge the buyer a service fee at all, and that we do not charge a fee for e-tickets to be transferred. I hope you’ll consider us for your next ticket purchase!
I think the issue is about professionalism and transparency, not StubHub or anyone else needing protection. I came across this blog while doing a search about StubHub fees, and didn’t realize it was basically an advertorial for another poorly trafficked ticket resale site until I was about one-third of the way through reading it. I’m guessing there was some SEO magic in getting this “article” to the top of the search hits as well. I’ll continue to try to avoid StubHub whenever possible, as 25% fees on ticket sales is atrocious, but now I know for sure one alternative site I definitely will try to avoid using to list/buy tickets from: TickPick.