Is StubHub Legit, Safe, and Reliable?
By Corbin HartwickUpdated on August 19, 2024
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In our introduction to StubHub, we mentioned that it’s a ticket resale site. This means that you’re buying tickets from (or selling tickets to) other StubHub users — essentially, random people on the Internet — rather than StubHub itself. We realize that this may make potential users uneasy (and we don’t blame you), so we’ll try to put those fears to rest by giving you a safety primer on StubHub.
The tips below can also apply to StubHub alternatives, such as SeatGeek.com and TicketNetwork.com.
Is StubHub legit?
StubHub is definitely a legit company. It’s owned by eBay, one of the largest e-commerce companies in America (if not the world). It also has sponsorships with over 100 organizations worldwide, including many sports teams and leagues, as well as some technology companies (such as Apple, Spotify, and Uber).
StubHub is legit, so the question you should be asking is: “Are sellers on StubHub legit?” We’ll do our best to answer that question below.
Is StubHub reliable?
Overall, StubHub is fairly reliable, but this depends on how your tickets are delivered. If you can download your tickets right from StubHub, then it’s very reliable. If you need to get them over email, it’s a little less reliable. If you have to have your tickets shipped to you, then things start to get iffy.
We’ll have a suggestion on how to avoid this problem below.
Is StubHub safe?
Using StubHub is usually safer than the practice of using online classified websites (such as Craigslist) to trade tickets, since you don’t have to meet the seller in person. It also has the FanProtect guarantee, which can reimburse you if your tickets are late, not valid for the listed event, or grossly misrepresented.
With that said, StubHub can’t protect you from “buyer’s remorse”, where you purchase tickets for an event and then later decide that you can’t (or don’t want to) go. Also, though StubHub can protect you if an event is outright cancelled, it can’t protect you if an event is rescheduled, and the event’s new circumstances prevent you from attending (e.g. date, time, or venue). Finally, StubHub can’t protect you from paying a seller far more than a ticket is worth; you either accept the price or you don’t.
StubHub will, however, allow you to re-sell your tickets, provided that there is time to get them to potential buyers before the event.
Top 3 tips for buying tickets safely on StubHub
1. Research prices before you buy.
You can’t haggle for a lower ticket price on StubHub, but you can search around to see how fair a ticket price is before you buy the ticket. Go to the venue’s online box office (if they have one) and see if there are still comparable tickets available, and — if there are — how much they’re selling for. You may even want to see how similar tickets are priced on some other sites like StubHub, such as SeatGeek.com or TicketNetwork.com.
It might not be a bad idea to browse tickets right on StubHub for other dates or venue areas for the same event, and compare the prices that you find there. The more information that you gather ahead of time, the better your ability to determine whether you’re getting your money’s worth for a ticket, or whether you’re being ripped off.
2. If possible, look for tickets that can be instantly downloaded.
When you’re browsing for seats for an event, look for tickets that have the “Instant Download” icon. These tickets will be available almost immediately after you purchase them; just save them to your computer and print them out! They’re a lot speedier and more reliable than ones that you have to wait for while they’re delivered over email or through courier services. In these circumstances, it’s possible that the seller doesn’t even have the tickets yet.
As we’ll cover in our How to Buy Tickets on StubHub tutorial, you can actually filter available tickets for an event so that the only ones that you see are those that can be instantly downloaded!
3. If you have a problem with your tickets, contact StubHub customer service.
While rare, it may unfortunately happen that your tickets don’t arrive in time for you to attend the listed event, don’t gain you entry into the listed event, or have details that are vastly different from how they were advertised on StubHub. If any of these things happen (or the event you have tickets for is cancelled and not rescheduled), get in touch with StubHub customer service, and they may be able to compensate you with a monetary refund, on-site credit, or replacement tickets. See our StubHub Return Policy article for more details.
That’s our brief overview of how to use StubHub safely! Next, we’ll review the website’s pros and cons!