Bargain Seats Online for Theatre Tix ?
 

We just bought tickets to Elf on Broadway from Bargain Seats Online- looks like we got pretty good seats, not at a discount, but seats when none were left. Picking them up the day of the show. Getting a little nervous! Wondering if anyone has had any experience with this retailer? TIA

Never heard of them. Typically scalpers sell only at a premium. Is there some reason they couldn't send you the tickets? Have you called the box office to see if the tickets are there waiting for you?

I know nothing about Bargain Seats Online, but I can tell you that both playbill.com and broadwaybox.com currently have excellent discount offers available for the show through its entire run! So, it looks like you didn't exactly get the deal available!

I pick up the tickets at a reseller that's a few blocks from the theatre. HowardR, i checked both broadway box and playbill and they were sold out or ony had bad seats available for the saturday matinee we are going to.

If you paid more than the "regular" price (plus the standard $7 or so service charge), then you would have been better off going directly to the source, which is this case would have been Telecharge.
A good rule of thumb: Once you've exhausted the possiblities for securing tickets at a discount and have to pay full price, your best option, pricewise, is to go directly to Telecharge or Ticketmaster, whichever one is handling the particular show you're interested in.
I'm curious: What did you end up paying for each ticket?

The tickets were 147 plus surcharge and taxes. As i said, telecharge and broadway box showed them as sold out so this was our only reasonable choice for that particular show

The $147 charge seems okay, though the price via Telecharge was either $145 or $160, depending on which Saturday matinee. However, I am puzzled by your mention of "taxes." I've never paid taxes on tickets. What was the total cost, including the service charge and those taxes?
Again, as I previously mentioned, when getting full-price tickets, get as close to the "source" as possible, and that usually means Telecharge or Ticketmaster.

A very quick google yielded:

http://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/ww...eatsonline.com

It's your call if you want to trust them.

Just looked at my receipt. Tickets were 142 each (sorry I misremebered). There is a $15 delivery fee and $34.08 per ticket service fee. We will see what happens. I will report back after this weekend.

If that experience is typical, I'd say,"Keep away from buying tickets there!" A $34.08 per ticket service fee is outrageous! And that $15 delivery fee? Wow!

Worse yet: $15 for delivery and not delivered! That $15 would cover overnight Fedex!

I was happy to pay an extra 35 per ticket to get great seats that were unavailable otherwise. When i think of the premium you pay to see jersey boys or lion king or book of mormon- double the ticket price, an extra 35 for good seats isn't offensive.

Anyway, I have the tickets in hand. They look legitimate...I will know tomorrow and will report back!

I'm glad you're satisfied. Still, I don't mean to overdo things, but, you'll never know what you would have gotten if you had gone directly to Telecharge.
I say this mainly for others so they can avoid paying more than they have to. The best advice: Start by going to the source. In this case, it's Telecharge. Who knows, they might have tickets!

PS: And I hope that emcash will take my advice the next time he/she wants tickets for a show.

Although I appreciate Howard's warning, I'm happy to report that we had a wonderful time and AMAZING seats.I may have been one of the lucky ones to have had such an experience, but to be fair and to keep the promise i made to let you know how we made out,our seats were incredible. Third row center orhcestra. yes, they did cost us an extra 35 per ticket but it was a price i gladly paid for 3rd row center! These tickets simply were not available through telecharge, so it was pay alot of money for not great seats or do it the way we did , and I have to say, for me, it worked out amazingly well. Our seats could have been anywhere in the center row but third row, WOW. Even my daughter was saying" wow you can really see them sweat, huh?"

I really mean it when I say I'm happy for you, i.e., that you felt that the experience was worth--in my words--every penny you spent.
Still, as a previously mentioned cautionary tale for others, I don't think many of us (including me) would be willing to spend a total of almost $370 for two theater tickets!

But these same people would pay almost 300 for those same tickets?????I guess i don't understand the argument. Orchestra and front mezzanine seats were 142- that's what the theatre was charging.There are always handling fees in addition. I could have gotten mezzanine seats only for that price when I looked for the tix. For 177 - just 35 more a ticket, I got third row center orchestra. Its not like a difference of hundreds of dollars for each seat. And for the record,my original query wasn't "do youthink i'm crazy for paying a $35 premium for orchestra seats through this website." I was wondering if anyone had any experience with them as i had just purchased tickets. Personally when i want to get good tickets to get good tickets to a show that is sold out of good tickets, i wouldnt hesitate to go this route again.

emcash , personally I have no issue with how people spend their money, on tickets, restaurants, hotels etc. I'm glad that this company worked out for you and that it did turn out to be legitimate.
It's not what happend in your case, but people do come here and ask about ticket brokers before they've even tried going directly through the theater and the official agency. Those people are usually happy they asked because they may have both saved money and spared dealing with a fraudulent company.
Remember that you asked if anyone had dealt with them because you were feeling nervous, but you bought the tickets anyway. What if you had come here and people said "oh, don't use them they're a rip off!". I am truly glad you had a great time, but suggest to others that if they have nagging doubts, they should ask before they've spent the money.

To The OP - everyone is delighted you got great seats for a premium you were willing to pay. I THINK the points most of us would like to make, is that the time to ask if a broker is legit is BEFORE you buy the tickets. No one here had heard of the service you used, and I'm glad it worked out. BUT some unscrupulous brokers (like unscrupulous travel agents) take your money BEFORE they actually have the tickets in hand. Yes, even though they advertise particular seats - some places know what the "house seats" are (seats that the producers or other luminaries have marked out for themselves) and have an avenue to get them on a regular basis. So they take your money, but if at the last minute, the producer wants those seats, you are SOL.
The few times I have wanted to see a show where good seats aren't available, I do go to legit brokers like stubhub who are nationally known and do NOT sell tickets "on spec"

One of the key points I'm trying to make seems to be getting here. Simply stated, it's this: When looking for tickets at the regular full price (assuming you don't want discount tickets or none are available), the best place to start is at the source, namely Ticketmaster or Telecharge, depending on the show, or, of course, the theater box office if you are in New York!