Ticketmaster Scam? Better Seats Keep Opening After I Bought Mine (Not Resale)!

[Anonymous]

Two weeks ago, I bought tickets for a show at Capital One Center, thinking it would sell out fast. At the time, it looked sold out, so I rushed and bought the best seats I could find in one of the premium levels below the orchestra section (still a solid view). Everything closer was marked as sold out.

Then, about a week later, I saw a better premium level open up, so I grabbed those too, thinking I’d resell my original tickets. But here’s the kicker: every time I check, more and more seats in even better sections keep opening up! And these aren’t resale tickets—they’re direct sale tickets from Ticketmaster. I’ve been trying to sell my original tickets—even at a loss—but no one’s biting because Ticketmaster keeps releasing better options directly.

Is this some kind of Ticketmaster algorithm or sales tactic? It feels like a scam to me. I rushed to buy tickets thinking it was almost sold out, and now I’m stuck with seats I can’t sell while better ones keep popping up. Has anyone else experienced this? It feels really shady.

[Anonymous]

Yes, they hold back and release more tix if sales are soft. I don't buy tix at CapOne or Nats Stadium unless its within a week before a show. I always get great seats at a fraction of the cost of nearby seat holders.

I did this for Rage Against the Machine and Madonna at CapOne, and Red Hot Chili Peppers at Nats Stadium. I'm willing to pay $175'ish for good seats at those venues. Meanwhile people who bought months in advance paid 2-3x for the same nearby seats.

With Madonna at CapOne I started tracking ticket prices around 2 weeks before the show. Ticketmaster kept lowering prices by $10-15/each day. Finally we bought tickets the night before the show as they had not gone down in price for 1-2 days.

[Anonymous]

grrr. Going to a show this weekend and not even going to re-check ticketmaster. We'll be fine. Even if there are a bunch of empty seats in front of us! 🤣🤣

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, they hold back and release more tix if sales are soft. I don't buy tix at CapOne or Nats Stadium unless its within a week before a show. I always get great seats at a fraction of the cost of nearby seat holders.

I did this for Rage Against the Machine and Madonna at CapOne, and Red Hot Chili Peppers at Nats Stadium. I'm willing to pay $175'ish for good seats at those venues. Meanwhile people who bought months in advance paid 2-3x for the same nearby seats.

With Madonna at CapOne I started tracking ticket prices around 2 weeks before the show. Ticketmaster kept lowering prices by $10-15/each day. Finally we bought tickets the night before the show as they had not gone down in price for 1-2 days.

I had no idea these shenanigans happened until I bought tickets; maybe I didn't pay attention because I hadn't resold tickets before.

[Anonymous]

This happens all the time. Festivals that don’t sell well out of the gate will do this, too.

Granted it can go the other way on you as well with dynamic pricing and ticket costs going up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This happens all the time. Festivals that don’t sell well out of the gate will do this, too.

Granted it can go the other way on you as well with dynamic pricing and ticket costs going up.

HFS Fest is way undersold and now they are doing BOGO tickets. Sucks for all the people who already bought tix at full price!