Maybe you’ve got a ticket to a concert or sports event that you can’t attend, or you’ve ended up with more tickets than you need. Organisers never offer refunds in these situations, so if you want to recoup what you spent, your best option is to enter the world of ticket resale.
The idea might seem intimidating, but with a bit of planning, you can maximise the value of your resale tickets. In reselling your ticket you’ll give another person the opportunity to go in your place and fill a seat, so everybody wins.
We will explain ticket resale in its simplest terms, give you some tips on reselling tickets, and will take a look at the best ticket resale site for the seats you want to sell
So What is Ticket Resale?
True to the name, ticket resale means reselling a ticket for an event. The ticket is purchased in the primary market from the event organiser or sports team, and is then resold by that buyer to a new customer on what is known as the secondary market.
Tickets can be resold in a variety of ways, from classified sites like eBay, Craigslist and Gumtree, to fan communities on social media. However, the most common and safest routes are via specialised ticket resale sites.
The best ticket resale sites will have thorough terms and conditions, legal obligations, and secure payment methods to protect both buyers and ticket resellers. These allow the resale sites to guarantee the authenticity of the tickets sold on their platform, and turf out scammers.
Ticket Brokering vs Ticket Touting/Scalping
Ticket brokering is the legitimate way of reselling tickets for events. Whether you’re buying or selling tickets, it’s important to know that there are guarantees in place. If you adhere to the rules of fair trade, the transaction is known as ticket brokering.
Ticket brokering is an entirely different game to ticket scalping or ticket touting, which is done without protections, involves market manipulations, and can be illegal.
Touts will often use unfair purchase methods like bots that can snap up tickets in bulk before humans have the chance to buy them.
Why Ticket Resale Sites are Needed
Secondary ticket marketplaces fill a gap in the market, and offer a crucial service for both sellers and buyers.
Because they Help Keep Venues Filled
Resale ticket marketplaces cater to this huge demand, helping to keep stadiums, arenas, and other venues filled with the most dedicated fans, which is a positive thing for all parties.
Because they Help out Fans Who Can’t Go
Sellers who have to change plans also get the chance to claw back the money they spent on the ticket in the primary market. Remember, primary market tickets are usually non-refundable unless the event is cancelled.
Because Ticket Allocations Are Broken
There are many reasons for this, but a big one in the football world is because club members enjoy a lot of ticketing privileges that many would consider unfair.
Premier League clubs for instance have huge international appeal, and ticket resale gives the people who can only get to one or two games a season the chance to see their favourite team in the flesh.
Because Loyalty Points Systems Are Unfair
Premier League football teams run loyalty points systems that oblige fans to buy tickets for matches that they can’t or don’t want to attend. These loyalty points accumulate, and are required if the fan wants the chance to attend the biggest games, or even apply for season tickets.
So it’s natural that they will head for ticket resale sites to sell tickets for games they were never able to attend in the first place. The Premier League’s official ticketing is a mess, and the secondary market at least offers one solution.
Because Everyone Deserves a Second Chance
Secondary market tickets also offer a second chance to those devoted fans who miss the initial sales phase for their favourite event or team, after tickets have sold out.
The reasons for this could be anything from missing the announcement, temporary cash flow problems, or a delayed decision. Resale ticket marketplaces give this audience an opportunity they wouldn’t otherwise have.
Because People Will Always Try to Resell Their Tickets
If people sense an opportunity to recoup money on tickets to an oversubscribed event, it’s only natural that they will take it. Resale ticket marketplaces give them the chance to do this in a safe way that protects both buyers and sellers.
The Best Ticket Resale Sites
Here’s a run-through of some of the leading ticket resale sites represented on Ticket Compare:
StubHub | The world’s foremost resale ticket marketplace, with a massive user base |
Football Ticket Pad | A great source for secondary market tickets for football |
SportsEvents365 | One of the most reputable ticketing brokers in the industry, with an emphasis on European football, and non-football sports including rugby’s Six Nations in February and March |
WoWTickets | A specialist in European football tickets, with an emphasis on customer service thanks to “always on’ live chat |
Live Football Tickets | Possibly the best ticket resale site for UK and European football tickets |
How to List Your Tickets on Resale Ticket Sites
The process for selling secondary market tickets depends on the resale ticket marketplace that you’re using. However, the steps are similar on every website. While all resale ticket marketplaces charge service fees—usually when you make a sale—all are free to join:
- First you need to search for the event for which you want to sell tickets. You’ll notice a “Sell Tickets” button next to the event
- Click on this and you’ll be asked to sign in or register as a new user
- After signing in/registering you’ll be asked some questions about your tickets
- Do you have the tickets currently in your possession?
- Will you deliver your tickets via email or by shipping them?
- You can then fill in details like the section, row, and seat number, and can specify if you want to divide the tickets between separate buyers
- From here you can set a price point for your tickets, stating whether you want a “Fixed Price” or “Declining Price”
- StubHub for example reduces the price of the tickets to keep it competitive and improve the chance of finding a buyer
How to Maximise Value from Ticket Resale
Whether you’re reselling tickets for an event that you can’t get to, or you’re listing resale tickets to turn a profit on an investment, it’s important to assess demand when you set the price of your listing. Here are a few tips for maximising value from ticket resale:
- Conduct a little research, comparing similar events, to determine whether the original tickets are underpriced
- Consider who the team, competitor or performer is and the size of their fanbase
- Look for other factors that might contribute to a surge in demand—maybe a beloved sports star is playing their final game, or a band is on a farewell tour
- Take into account the geographical location of the event and its proximity and transport links to big populations
- Keep in mind the time of the event—for instance, midweek evenings may be less popular than weekends, while seasonal weather could have an effect on attendance
- Pay attention to the capacity of the venue and how it might affect availability and price
- Give some thought to the fanbase—are they the kind of people who will be willing to fork out big money to see their favourite performer or team?
- Think of how the price appears to buyers (£29.99 is more enticing than £30)
Some of these factors can change over time, so ticket resale sites will let you adjust the price of your listing accordingly.
Examining the Costs when Reselling Tickets
When you’re setting your price, you’ll need to factor in the various costs that may come up. In providing security, peace of mind and ease of use to buyers and ticket resellers, ticket resale sites will include charges at both ends. Among them are service fees, payment processing fees, and delivery fees.
These fees fluctuate from site to site, and as a rule will be higher for the reseller listing the ticket than the buyer. The fees can also change across the lifespan of the listing, depending on demand and supply, and the site’s own marketing costs.
Usually, a fee is only charged if and when these secondary market tickets actually have a buyer. As a rule, fees aren’t such a bad thing, as they’re a sign that a platform is investing in its legitimacy, but of course they need to be factored into your pricing.
Don’t Forget the Risks of Ticket Resale
Listing seats on ticket resale sites comes with a risk, which is how it should be. You may find that in order to resell your tickets you have to drop the price below face value.
To plan against this situation, keep some of the risks in mind. Here are a few factors that could negatively affect the price of your resale tickets:
- Negative PR could easily affect demand for tickets to see a performer, while there are many other factors that could put off people from attending
- The star player on a team could get injured, and many people who would have bought a ticket just to see him might lose interest
- Late in the season, there will be huge interest if a team is still in a title race, while this could dissipate if they close a couple of games
- The third match in the robin stage of a football tournament like the World Cup, Euros, Copa America, or the group stage of club competitions like the Champions League could lose all jeopardy
A Case Study - Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool Departure
The football club Liverpool FC sells a huge allocation of its home tickets to members in two bulk sales, one in the summer and one in the winter. The demand is always massive, but something extraordinary happened on ticket resale sites in January 2024.
Out of nowhere, the beloved and long-serving manager Jürgen Klopp announced that he would step down at the end of the season.
With four months left of the campaign, the news sent demand for tickets skyrocketing. There was limited time left to see Klopp on the touchline, but, to add extra drama, Liverpool were also in the hunt for an historic quadruple. Liverpool Season Ticket holders and LFC Members with primary market tickets could resell them many times over face value.
Through February and March, Liverpool remained in the hunt for four trophies, and the desperation for tickets grew as the team drew closer to something historic. In the end, the team had to settle for one trophy, the EFL Cup..
By April, with Liverpool slumping, demand for tickets on every resale ticket marketplace was still strong but had dwindled. The people who turned the highest profit resold their tickets in February and March. This all illustrates the huge potential but also the changeability of selling secondary market tickets.
Acquiring Tickets to Resell
Many people selling secondary market tickets will use the site as a one-off, as unusual circumstances lead to them having extra tickets for an event to resell.
Others will plan the whole transaction ahead of time. If you’re in the latter group, it’s vital to stay up-to-date with primary ticket sources, making use of alerts and notifications to be first in line to buy the tickets to sell on a resale ticket marketplace.
This can be done by subscribing to the major primary ticketing outlets, or using specialised apps that inform you before tickets go on sale.
Is it Safe to Sell Secondary Market Tickets?
Yes, but only if you use legitimate ticket resale sites. Fees on these platforms fund a variety of services that ensure your security, from conducting all communication with the buyer to guaranteeing fast and secure payment.
StubHub, for example, investigates fraud claims on a case-by-case basis, and limits the number of claims a buyer can file in a calendar year. If they find that a buyer has attempted to abuse their user agreement, they’ll report them to the legal authorities.
Not to forget, these companies have reputations to protect on review communities like Trustpilot, so they go to real lengths to prevent fraud and keep all parties happy.
Compare Resale Ticket Marketplaces
So we’ve seen that ticket resale comes with a lot of risks, but there are lots of things you can do to maximise a profit.
It doesn’t matter whether you intended to use the primary market tickets but had to change plans, or if you bought the tickets to make a profit on a resale ticket marketplace.
On the flipside, if you’re hunting for secondary market tickets, Ticket Compare instantly checks availability for the world’s biggest events, comparing several trusted platforms offering event and football tickets across a wide spectrum of venues and competitions.
