E3 is an industry-only event, so for the past decade, PAX Prime and its little brother PAX East have quickly become the pre-eminent fan gathering each year for U.S. gaming fanatics.
Unfortunately, fan demand for the four-day event at Seattle’s Washington State Convention Center this weekend meant tickets went fast. Like, blink-and-you-missed-em kind of fast…
Four-day passes as well as individual Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday tickets went on sale back in April — and sold out in a day. Actually, the coveted four-day badges were gone in less than an hour.
So, the ticketless are out of luck if they wanted to spend the Labor Day weekend geeking out in the Pacific Northwest, right?
Well, not entirely…but if you’re intent on being there, it’s gonna cost you.
Four-day badges originally prices at $95, were selling on ticket broker sites like StubHub this week for over $300. Meanwhile, a Friday only ticket that was $32 back in April was now going for north of $120.
A look on eBay showed the situation wasn’t a lot better there either. The lowest “Buy It Now” price Wednesday for a four-day set of passes was $225.
However, if one day is enough and you’re free on Labor Day Monday, you can likely get in for not a lot more than the early birds paid. StubHub had Monday badges for sale as low as $50, while some eBay sellers were dishing out those single-day tickets in the $30 to $35 range.
While the furor to get tickets — any tickets — for a sold-out event is high, be careful. Make sure to take precautions and read eBay’s own safe trading tips for buyers before you plunk down your hard-earned money with a seller you don’t know.
