Well, OD was buying tickets to Wicked in San Diego while DH and I were in Europe, the day they went on sale, from TM. She pushed the wrong button and bought them in Chicago instead. So, now we need to sell. Would you sell on Ebay or CL? Which is safer do you think? This is all new to me, but don't really want to eat $300 and can't afford to fly to Chicago to see the play right now. HELP! Would love your opinions, tips, experiences with this.

Both are safe. Since you won't send the tickets until you have the cash there should not be any issue.

Hope it is OK to post this. This could easily happen to anyone and have never dealt with this before. And it would involve travel to go and see the musical, so it is kind of travel related.

It is difficult for all of us working and purchasing through TM and if you do goof, they do not exchange or refund, you eat it. So might be nice for others to know that there are alternatives out there to recoup lost revenues...

I'm going to stray a little from the OP's specific incident because I made a similar mistake. Perhaps someone will benefit from my error. I was buying three plane tickets on Expedia and clicked the wrong city on the drop-down menu and didn't notice. I was unfamiliar w/the airports in that state so I think that's why it didn't catch my eye until I read my print-out. Anyway, I called right away, and it cost me $30 x 3 to get it changed. I suppose I was really lucky they didn't charge the $100 fee. It happened so quickly that I didn't feel that lucky.

I've bought items on Ebay, but not sold. The only risk I can think of with tickets, since they are time sensitive, is if a buyer were to back out after committing to the purchase. Good luck.

YOu are far better selling them on ebay. More people buy from ebay, and you and the buyer are protected. You also might sign up for paypal so you can get instant payment. Also charge for overnight shipping so the tickets will get there the next day, so there won't be any cause for worry on either side.

I buy and sell on ebay and have only had a couple of problems and they were easily resolved.

Good luck

Did you try calling TM, Heavens?
You never know...my MIL lost tickets she had purchased, and they replaced them at the box office day of show (not sure if she originally bought them thru TM or box office though).

Have you tried talking to or begging TM Customer Service? Not one of the agents that answers the phone, ask for a supervisor and call during normal business hours.

Twice, after purchasing Broadway tickets about two months prior to the date of the perfomance, from them on the phone not on-line, I had a problem on my side.

One was having to return home for a family surgery that was later unexpectedly scheduled for the same day as the play. This was maybe 3-4 weeks before the performance. They were so understanding and told me to mail the tickets back and they would give me a credit card refund. They even reimbursed me for all of the service fees too.
How much time do you have? If your tickets, like our's are hard to get, TM acknowledged that they would have no trouble re-selling them.

Try that first, and since you are willing to re-purchase them in San Diego, they may just be willing to cooperate.

Nina

why not put them on both ebay and CL and see what happens?

ebay you can do the whole thing by mail and get paid in advance..


craigslist you have no "middleman" to collect payment etc. so if you;'e given a bad Money order etc you have no recourse...otherwise you have t let people come to your house to pay cash.,...

What is the date of the show? Unless it's right around the corner,I would do Ebay using both buy it now and reserve pricing.You very well may turn a nice profit,but at the very least you should recoup as much of the money as possible. If you've never sold on Ebay before, if you know someone who frequents the site and has good " positive feedback" you might want to have them list for you. I do frequent Ebay, and I prefer to shop with sellers who have a good feedback percentage.
IMO, if I paid $300, I would set the buy it now price at $400..possibly more if the tickets are hard to come by-which I believe,"Wicked" to be, right? Set the reserve at the minimum you are willing to take. No reserve can be risky. Just do a quick search and see what others are listing at for an idea of where to start. You may be able to raise you price,but still be lower than what others are asking-especially if you are holding good seats! Good, luck! I'm sure you'll have no problem finding a buyer!

"if you're given a bad Money order etc you have no recourse"

That is why you always wait for the check to clear before sending merchandise.

Another fragment of advice I got from my brother who sells stuff on ebay.

Sellers get ratings from their buyers and these are displayed on ebay. Some people are more reluctant to buy from a first-time seller. I would think that something like tickets would have a reasonable chance of selling, but you increase your chances if by chance a close family member or friend already is an established seller on Ebay and you could sell it thru their seller name.

Thanks all for the advice. The tickets, I believe, are on email so the buyer, with a code or something, can just download them.

My OD made the mistake so I am having her sell them. She has bought on ebay but not sold, so this will be a learning experience for all of us. Not sure I know anyone with Ebay experience and rating. Maybe my son from the Pokeman days, LOL.

We will probably set this up tomorrow so if you have any other words of wisdom please add to the post. You all are great.

Thanks for your tips.

Well, just looked into the tickets and they aren't great. They are in the middle of the balcony, way to the left. Maybe I will be lucky to get face value on these. Gonna list today and see what happens. What a pain.

Thanks all for your advice and tips.

Heavens, did you first try phoning TM, as has been suggested here (asking for a supervisor)?

I made the same mistake (my family swears I am the only person ever to do this)...

I did a google search on Big Brothers and the city (Phoenix) - and then cold called them. They were thrilled to get the tickets. I received a lovely letter and a tax write off. Just another thought of how to make the best of your mistake...

Well, no I didn't call TM. I could swear that my OD said she called them right away bc she was in such a panic after she realized what she had done. I will check with her and see if that is correct. I can't believe they would take them back, especially since they dumped some pretty crappy tickets on us anyway. That "best tickets available" baloney can really be a lot of baloney...I am very unhappy with the tickets they issued us.

Julie in Colorado, that is a great idea, but being that I am out $300, I would really like to get back some of that loss.

OK, called TM. No dice for refund. Can't do on their exchange program either, why, don't know. AND they have added performances in Oct. so that is why the summer performances are not sold out. This is not looking good for me,people.

Will post on CL and Ebay today. And just cross our fingers.

While I don't know what date you posted, I looked at "Wicked Chicago" and there are alot of dates listed and a pretty big price range. The only possible trouble I see for you is the fact that you have Ticketfast tickets. There is no way to know whether or not the seller has sold those tickets to multiple buyers, since all you need to do is send a link and the buyer will print them out. First person to get to the venue is the only one getting in on those tickets.My friend got burned on ticketfasts-he bought Yankee/ Sox tickets and when he got to the stadium they were already scanned in. Several people I know (myself included) avoid ticketfast tickets purchased second hand for that very reason.That's where having alot of great positive feedback helps-you;re more likely to be trusted.

I'll cross my fingers for you! I'm sure you'll sell them..I still stand by pricing ideas if you have a few weeks to go. You can always lower the buy it now price as you get closer to the date-that's what ticket brokers do!

Craig's List is free, and you'll probably get locals from the area where the concert is, contacting you. My contacts with TM have always gone sour, such as when they sell me the wrong seats that I was purchasing online. Also you can get a Paypal account to get the money from your buyer, pass on the costs for that to buyer, and also the cost to overnight the tickets to them.