Whether you’re just getting started or already flipping tickets regularly, there are key habits and strategies that experienced brokers follow long before a ticket even goes on sale. At TBUPRO, we believe the quiet moments are where the best brokers are made — when you’re not just buying but planning and preparing for what’s coming next.

Here’s a breakdown of how the top resellers in our Discord approach three foundational parts of the game: onsale timing, researching new tours, and understanding when exchanges actually pay you.

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🕙 Understanding Onsale Times and Tour Timing Logic

One of the most important skills a broker can develop is the ability to accurately anticipate when tickets will go on sale — and more importantly, how to be ready before everyone else.

The most reliable place to start is always the artist’s official website and Ticketmaster. These sites typically post presale and public onsale times well in advance, though not always in the clearest format. That’s where a group like TBUPRO comes in — we scan, verify, and organize this info daily, so you don’t miss anything crucial.

But even with presale links and onsale info in hand, you still need to understand how time zones affect onsales. Most artists follow the same cadence: 10 AM local time in the city of the show.

Here’s how that typically breaks down assuming you’re working from Eastern Time (ET):

• East Coast shows → 10 AM ET
  
• Central shows → 11 AM ET
  
• Mountain shows → 12 PM ET
  
• West Coast shows → 1 PM ET
  

Of course, not every tour sticks to this format, but this general rule will serve you well in 80–90% of cases. Once you learn which markets fall under which time zones, you’ll be better prepared to schedule your buys without chaos or surprises.

🔍 How Experienced Brokers Research Tours Before They Buy

When a tour is announced, the best brokers aren’t rushing in blindly. They’re asking smart questions first — gathering all the data they can to figure out if it’s worth buying, where the money is, and how to approach it strategically.

Here’s how that usually looks inside TBUPRO:

1. Scan the Tour Announcement
   
   • How many shows are listed?
     
   • What venues are being played (arena, stadium, theater)?
     
   • How are prices being structured?
     
2. Leverage Past Experience
   
   • If it’s a familiar artist, dig into your own sales history.
     
   • Look at what worked last time: Which markets performed best? Which seat types had demand? How did prices trend over time?
     
3. Do a Deep Dive on New Artists
   
   • If it’s someone new, research is your best weapon.
     
     • Social media following
       
     • Spotify monthly listeners
       
     • Recent venue sizes
       
     • Press coverage and Google Trends data
       
   • Look at their old tour routes (Google, Wikipedia, Songkick, etc.)
     
   • Compare them to similar artists to get a feel for where they might thrive.
     
4. Track the Media
   
   • Follow sites like Pollstar, Rolling Stone, Billboard, and Pitchfork for new announcements.
     
   • These platforms can tip you off to upcoming drops before they’re added to Ticketmaster or AXS.
     

Ultimately, this process becomes more instinctive over time. The more tours you analyze and tickets you sell, the better you’ll get at spotting winners (and avoiding duds) with just a glance.

Example: When a legend like Bruce Springsteen goes on sale, top brokers already know which markets to target, what rows hold value, and how prices will move. That’s the edge that comes with experience — and it’s exactly what we try to help newer brokers build inside TBUPRO.

💸 Which Ticket Exchanges Pay on Sale vs. Delivery

Knowing when you’ll get paid is just as important as knowing how much you’ll make.

Here’s a quick breakdown of how it typically works across major exchanges:

✅ Pay on Sale

These platforms pay you as soon as the tickets sell (even if you haven’t delivered them yet):

• TickPick
  
• Ticket Evolution (TEVO)
  
• Go Tickets
  
• Ticketmaster+ (Resale Program)
  

These are great options if you’re trying to reinvest fast or operate with limited capital. Just make sure you have the tickets in-hand or on the way — selling something you can’t deliver will tank your account health.

⏳ Pay on Delivery

The majority of platforms — like StubHub, SeatGeek, and Vivid — will only pay you after the tickets are uploaded and confirmed delivered. It’s standard, but it’s also slower. Use this knowledge to plan your cash flow and manage expectations, especially during peak season.

📈 Final Thoughts

A good tour starts before the onsale. The best brokers treat research, prep, and strategy with the same importance as the actual buy. And when you’re inside a community like TBUPRO, you don’t have to figure it all out alone.

Whether you’re looking for help with presales, digging into artist history, or just need clarity on where to list — we’ve got you covered.

👉 Join us inside TBUPRO — and learn the game from real brokers who are active every day.