( Selling Konocti Harbor Concert Tickets On Ebay
What is Konocti Harbor?
Konocti Harbor Resort in Kelseyville, CA is consistently rated as one of the top small concert venues in the United States. The outdoor theater seats around 5000 people, and the indoor showroom around 1000, yet it always draws top country and rock artists. Last year Aerosmith played one of its few US concerts there. Shows already announced for this year include Kiss, Matchbox 20, 3 Doors Down, Alan Jackson, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Sammy Hagar, Daughtry, Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood.
Box office prices for shows range from $35-100 for seats in the raised bleachers and from $50-175 for reserved seating, however Konocti has their free "Star Card" program that offers a limited number of seats to every show to cardholders for $20.08. Many people will tell you there isn't a bad seat in the venue, as even the farthest bleacher seat is not that far away (compared to other venues) and has a good view of the stage, but some are better than others. The true premium seats at this venue are the front reserved seats in Section BB and CC as they are located directly in front of the the stage, within feet of the artists. Seating in Sections AA and DD can be either good or bad; some are similar to BB/CC while others are at an angle. Other reserved seating (A, B,C,D,E,F,G) are closer to the stage than the bleachers but your view can be blocked by people standing or dancing in front of you. The bleacher (Gen Adm) seats are farther away but the view is rarely obstructed since they are raised at an angle.
Unique Ticket Situiation
The aftermarket for concert tickets at Konocti is unusual because the sale price rarely matches or exceeds the face value of the ticket (except Section BB/CC), and quite often they sell for significantly less. I have seen pairs of tickets sell for as little as $15, and regularly see pairs for almost any show sell for less than $50/pr despite the face value of the tickets being easily $100-200. I believe this is the result of several factors including the availability of Star Card seats; the fact that the venue is located in a lower income rural area a couple hours drive from the population centers of the Bay Area and Sacramento; and because sellers make critical errors when listing their tickets.The two main errors are:
1.Setting the opening bid too high.
2.Not leaving enough time to relist the tickets.
An example I witnessed a couple years ago illustrates these points. A seller from Oregon had four front reserved seats (DD) to the Nickelback concert and four tickets to the pre-show Sunset BBQ ($29 ea) with an opening bid near face value ($400+??). I wrote to the seller to ask a question about shipping as well as trying to explain I thought the opening bid was too high and offering to make an opening bid of around $200 to get things started. It was a friendly exchange but he declined so I bid on and won other tickets to the show. His auction ended a couple days before the concert without any bids. He wrote to ask if I was still interested. After I said I'd bought other tickets he explained he couldn't afford to throw that much money away and he couldn't come down for the show. He didn't have time to relist the auction and still ship the tickets in time for them to arrive before the show.Ultimately he shipped me the tickets and then ran a one day auction, ending the day of the show, and I delivered the tickets to the buyer at the venue. Unfortunately they sold for less than $50, probably because of the short amount of time the buyer had before the concert as well as the risk he had to assume in dealing with a third party.
This situation could have been avoided by doing some research prior to listing, and by leaving ample time to relist and ship the tickets.
How To Sell Your Tickets Successfully
Do Your Research. You know the face value of the tickets. Now do a completed auction search on ebay and see what similar tickets have sold for recently. The prices in green represent actual sales while those in red are items that did not sell. (Disregard listings from ticket brokers that are often hundreds of dollars higher than face value. These are mainly advertising for the brokers.) Then evaluate your tickets. Are the tickets for the same show? If not, is your show in greater or lesser demand than the ones that sold? Are the seats better or worse than yours? Take the prices of comparable items that actually sold (green ones) and adjust for demand and seating differences. This will give you a realistic expectation of the final selling price. If you are using a Buy-It-Now price, set it slightly higher than the market value you determined. Forget the face value - Your tickets are worth what someone else will pay for them.
Set An Opening Bid. You've done your research now and have a reasonable idea what your tickets are worth. I prefer to set a low opening bid to attract multiple bidders because the competition will usually drive the price higher than it would go if I only attract one or two bidders. Just be aware you might wind up actually selling them at this price. As long as you have time to relist the tickets you can go a bit higher here. However if time is short and you really can't use them yourself, start them at $9.99 or 19.99. Afterall, concert tickets are worthless the day after the show!
Include Details and Photos. Include photos of the tickets themselves (adds to your credibility). Give the Section, Row and Seat numbers of the tickets. If they are Section BB/CC include a seating chart graphic. Put as much info as possible, including the day, date and time of the show; the face value of the tickets; names of any of the bands hit songs.
Monitor and Communicate. Check on your auctions frequently and answer any questions promptly and politely.
Accept Paypal Payments. If you don't have a Paypal account, set one up. With time sensitive material like concert tickets you can't afford to waste time and you really dont want to wait for the check to arrive.
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