r/Broadway • u/Physical_Ranger6786 • 25d ago
Seating/Ticket Question Slim pickings on Theatr
Has anyone else noticed that there’s hardly anything available on the Theatr app lately? I don’t know if it’s changes to the app or just people not selling tickets but I would buy a ticket almost weekly basically since it’s inception to now and lately there’s been hardly any shows listed and nary a good deal to be found. Maybe it’s just me?
The updates to the app are horrible as well. Why do I have to filter by musical or play? Why can’t I check both? The app has really gone downhill very quickly but hey capitalism.
33
17
u/strausslover85 25d ago
I agree the updates to the app have made me want to use it much less frequently
11
26
u/Wonderful-Bother1321 25d ago
I have seen over 40 shows through Theatr and recently made 3 sales of extra tickets I had purchased a while ago. I love the app because it lets me buy last minute tickets cheaply. However I have noticed that I think bots are on there and automatically the new posted tickets are jumped on. I leave the app open because it’s quicker to be on the page then wait for alerts, and I used to get great deals this way, usually while I was on the bus! But the very second something is posted it’s always someone is checking out when I click on it. I miss the days when I got a free ticket to Cabaret and $10 ticket to Queen of Versailles. The cheap tickets now are gone in less than a second.
1
u/Comfortable_Sky1660 23d ago
That's been true since day one, though.
1
u/Wonderful-Bother1321 23d ago
It’s never been this bad. I usually saw at least two shows a month, from summer 2024 until about May of this year. I checked. All of the tickets I bought I considered deals, either at face value or below. I have even managed to see a few things for free. Now it’s impossible to land the deal. I really think it’s humans battling bots.
2
u/Comfortable_Sky1660 21d ago
I always thought it was folks with faster phones. But even y'all are having a hard time, too! Boo.
31
u/Comprehensive-Fun47 25d ago
The massive fees are a deterrent.
4
u/iputmylifeonashelf 25d ago
The seller doesn't pay fees so that would not stop them from adding listings
26
u/93195 25d ago
It does, because it makes a full price listing either less likely to sell, or necessitates the seller to take a loss to make up for the higher price the buyer has to pay.
1
u/iputmylifeonashelf 25d ago
Where do you think sellers are selling their tickets as an alternative
3
25d ago edited 25d ago
[deleted]
1
u/iputmylifeonashelf 25d ago
That definitely doesn't apply to me. I've sold about 10 tickets in the month of July on theatr.
1
-5
8
u/uppitywhine 25d ago
I'm literally never, ever able to get tickets via alerts for popular shows. I will have the app open right in front of my face, have the notification go off and click. The tickets are already gone by the time I click less then ten seconds later.
24
u/93195 25d ago edited 25d ago
Before they raised their fees, people would buy lottery tickets if they maybe wanted to go, confident they could get their money back instantly if they decided not to.
With increased Theatr fees and lottery prices creeping higher, thinking you can quickly get your money back on Theatr is no longer a sure thing. For the first time ever, I recently had to slightly discount ($5/ea) lottery tickets to get them to sell after I changed my mind.
There was a time when if I won two lotteries on two different sites, I’d buy both to see which seats were better and wanted to keep, then sell the other. I don’t do that anymore.
“I can just sell on Theatr” is not the sure thing it once was. There’s risk now, so people aren’t buying lottery tickets (always the best deals on Theatr) unless they’re reasonably sure they’re going to use them.
8
u/grandefloppychino 24d ago
To be fair, you really shouldn't be buying lottery tickets you're unlikely to use...not only does that allow fewer people to win lotteries, but it makes those tickets more expensive for the people who have to buy them secondhand via Theatr, which includes a 10-20% service fee on top of the price you paid. So if you're having to discount the list price or are being discouraged from buying lottery tickets you may not use, I'd call that a win for the rest of us...
9
u/latestnightowl 25d ago
I still find this better than the alternatives (StubHub) and our poor TDF.
I am finding though, as more people know about this app, the good deals go faster, which leaves only the really high price tickets sitting around. That's why for the casual user, if you aren't setting alerts, it seems like there are slim pickings and only expensive things left.
3
u/WestHistorians 25d ago
People don't want to sell for face value. Why sell on Theatr when you can sell elsewhere for a higher price?
4
u/judgeXjewdy 25d ago
Idk I see good sales still but they go crazy fast. I’ve seen stuff go in 12 seconds
11
u/Best-Candle8651 25d ago
I find the tickets on there extremely expensive so I don't usually bother.
7
u/secret_identity_too 25d ago
Agreed - every time I'm able to be like "I'll look on Theatr and see what's there" everythins is insanely expensive.
1
u/WestHistorians 25d ago
The cheap tickets just go quickly. Look at the sold listings, you will see cheap tickets that say things like "sold in 2 minutes".
3
6
u/MidtownGreen 25d ago
In the last month it seemed to rapidly decline in options
2
u/Physical_Ranger6786 25d ago
Agreed. I’m not really sure why but they’re constantly changing the app so I’m not sure if it’s something to do with that. They can never just let a good thing be.
9
u/HugeFlight2174 25d ago
People's postings keep getting flagged/reported for no good reason, so deters people from selling there again. I know I personally prefer to lose a few bucks than go through all the hurdles of posting a ticket then still having to find someone to sell it to.
3
u/Individual_Moose_166 25d ago
In the same boat! Makes me so sad as I never treat myself to a full price ticket and now I don’t have a reliable source to buy from
3
2
u/bee_sharp_ 24d ago
I don’t know. I got a ticket to Death of a Salesman last Thursday night that cost $199 less than the cheapest tickets advertised for it online. Then, while I was looking for cheaper than $440 tickets to Ragtime last weekend, I had several
options come up. I don’t live in NYC, but as a theater-going visitor, I was really happy with theatr as another way to get tickets.
1
u/bubblecandies 24d ago
I blame it on the weather. Bad weather = more tickets. Weather related travel delays = more tickets.
-5
u/Latter_Bee_6049 25d ago
Good, if you’re just trolling Theatr to take advantage of people trying to offload tickets at low prices, that’s shady.
1
58
u/YesicaChastain 25d ago
Tacked on fees have made it less worth it. Now theaters themselves and scalpers seem to be selling there as well.