StubOrder vs. StubHub: What 12 Matched Listings Actually Cost
On July 25, 2026 we put StubOrder and StubHub side by side on the same seats. Same event, same date, same section, same row, two tickets every time.
Across the 12 comparisons that matched exactly, StubOrder was cheaper on 10 of them. The typical gap was 3.54%, or $6.37 on a pair of tickets.
And here is the number that matters just as much: averaged across all 12, the two sites came out dead level. One baseball game went to StubHub by such a wide margin that it cancelled out every win we had. So the fair summary is not that StubOrder is cheaper. It is that StubOrder was cheaper more often, by a small amount, in a sample where one bad row wiped out the average.
Read this part before the numbers
We are going to be specific about what we could and could not measure, because it changes how much weight these figures deserve.
StubHub's checkout would not open for us during this capture. We could see its listing prices, which StubHub marks as including fees, but we could not reach its final order screen. So this is a comparison of listing-screen prices, not final checkout totals.
That creates a problem, and it runs in our favour if you ignore it. StubHub's displayed price includes its fees. Ours does not include the $9.95 delivery charge that lands at checkout. Comparing the two as displayed would have flattered us badly.
So we added our own delivery charge to every StubOrder price before comparing. Every figure below is StubHub's fee-inclusive price against our price plus the $9.95 we know is coming. That adjustment costs us:
| as displayed | adjusted, like-for-like | |
|---|---|---|
| StubOrder cheaper | 11 of 13 | 10 of 12 |
| Median gap | $15.92 | $6.37 |
| Median percentage | 8.08% | 3.54% |
The unadjusted 8.08% is the number we could have published. It would have been wrong by more than double. Neither side's figures include sales tax, which some states add at the final screen.
The 12 matched comparisons
Every price is for two tickets. "StubOrder" includes our $9.95 delivery.
| Event | Category | Section / row | StubHub | StubOrder | Gap | Lower |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Gaffigan, Hyannis | Comedy | B / 2 | $678.00 | $580.67 | $97.33 | StubOrder |
| Rod Stewart, Jones Beach | Concert | 202 / OO | $376.00 | $350.99 | $25.01 | StubOrder |
| Sebastian Maniscalco, Las Vegas | Comedy | MEZC / E | $214.00 | $202.53 | $11.47 | StubOrder |
| AC/DC, Las Vegas | Concert | 435 / 4 | $212.00 | $204.83 | $7.17 | StubOrder |
| Monster Jam, Foxborough | Family | 309 / 23 | $98.00 | $91.17 | $6.83 | StubOrder |
| Andrea Bocelli, Seattle | Concert | 211 / D | $258.00 | $251.23 | $6.77 | StubOrder |
| Disney On Ice, Orlando | Family | 110A / 23 | $118.00 | $112.03 | $5.97 | StubOrder |
| Zac Brown Band, Albany | Concert | 126 / P | $138.00 | $132.91 | $5.09 | StubOrder |
| The Lion King, New York | Theater | Mezzanine / L | $354.00 | $350.99 | $3.01 | StubOrder |
| Nate Bargatze, Pittsburgh | Comedy | 119 / M | $146.00 | $144.51 | $1.49 | StubOrder |
| Harry Potter, New York | Theater | Orchestra Left / T | $368.00 | $378.83 | $10.83 | StubHub |
| White Sox vs. Yankees, Chicago | MLB | 556 / 4 | $40.00 | $58.67 | $18.67 | StubHub |
The two we lost, and why one of them matters
Chicago White Sox vs. Yankees, Section 556 Row 4. StubHub had the pair at $40.00. We had the same seats at $58.67 once delivery was added. That is 46.7% more expensive, and on a cheap ticket our flat $9.95 delivery is punishing: it is a quarter of the entire StubHub price on its own.
That single row is why the average across all 12 comes out level. Take it away and our average advantage looks healthy. Leave it in, as we have, and it does not.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Orchestra Left Row T. StubHub $368.00, StubOrder $378.83. A close loss on a high-priced seat where the listing prices were nearly identical, $184 against $184.44 per ticket, and our delivery charge decided it.
There is a pattern worth naming: our fee structure wins on mid and high-priced tickets and loses on cheap ones. A flat delivery charge is a rounding error on a $339 comedy ticket and a serious penalty on a $20 baseball seat.
What we could not match
Moulin Rouge at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre produced no eligible pair. We could not find the same section and row available on both sites at the same performance, so it is excluded rather than fudged with a nearby seat.
Wicked at the Gershwin is a partial match and sits outside the headline. StubHub listed the section as "Orchestra" and we listed it as "Orchestra Left," same row U. It may well be the same block of seats, but "may well be" is not a standard we want to publish on. For the record, adjusted for delivery StubHub was cheaper by $3.87 on that pair.
We would rather show you two rows we threw out than pretend to a cleaner sample than we have.
Why the gaps look the way they do
The mechanism is visible in the per-ticket prices. On the comparisons above, StubHub's fee-inclusive price ran consistently above our listing price, and our booking fee is already inside the number we display. That is what produces a small, repeatable edge on most rows.
Then the $9.95 delivery lands at our checkout and gives a chunk of it back. On a $678 pair that is 1.5% of the order. On a $40 pair it is 25%.
That is the honest shape of it: not a site that is cheaper, but a fee structure that is competitive in the middle and uncompetitive at the bottom.
What we would tell a friend
Compare the final total on both sites before you buy, and be especially careful on cheap tickets, where flat charges dominate the percentage.
In this sample, doing that favoured StubOrder in 10 of 12 matched comparisons with a median saving of 3.54%. It also would have saved you $18.67 on one Chicago baseball game by going to StubHub. Both are true.
About this comparison. Captured live on July 25, 2026 at approximately 11:15 ET, at a quantity of two tickets, matched by event, date, section and row. StubHub's checkout was not reachable during the capture, so both sides are listing-screen prices, not final order totals. StubHub's listing price is marked by StubHub as including fees; StubOrder's does not include delivery, so we added our own $9.95 delivery charge to every StubOrder figure to make the two comparable. Neither side includes sales tax, which some states add at the final screen. 15 events were attempted: 12 matched exactly, 1 was a partial section-label match and is shown separately, 1 produced no eligible pair, and 1 is excluded for an unconfirmed event time. Resale prices and inventory change constantly, so these exact figures will not be reproducible later. This comparison was run and published by StubOrder, not by a third party, and it is a snapshot rather than the last word on either marketplace. StubHub is a trademark of its owner; StubOrder is not affiliated with or endorsed by StubHub.
