Because of recent news items, ticket brokers do not have the most sterling reputation. Stories of ticket bots that swallow thousands of tickets, double the cost and resell, have been all over the news in recent years. It’s got music artists, pro sports teams and venue owners in a frenzy. What is not well known, however, are the benefits that ticket broker agencies offer.
Ticket brokers help venues buffer losses
Not every concert and sporting event is going to sell out. Venues often go half full or three-quarters full, and that is where ticket brokers can help. When venues cannot fill seats, many often contract to ticket resellers – StubHub and Ace Ticket come to mind – to sell the remainder of seats at a discounted cost which buffers whatever losses the venue incurs.
Ticket resellers actually mirror our reseller program. With banking partners on six continents that welcome high risk industries, competing merchant services providers often come to us to find banking solutions for their high risk, hard-to-place merchants. We then split the revenue share 60-70 percent in favor of the partner.
Thus, in both cases, venues and our reselling partners are, at the very least, earning something.
Ticket resellers help season ticket holders
With our Portsmouth, NH, home office a mere 50 miles north of Boston, we know plenty of folks who own season tickets to the likes of the Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics, Patriots and Revolution. One particular couple, who are longtime season ticket holders of the Red Sox, provides them to an independent ticket broker when they cannot use them. By doing so, the couple earns back a decent percentage of the tickets worth while the ticket reseller keeps a small percentage. It is a win-win situation for both parties.
The ripple effect of ticket resellers
Considering the above scenarios, when ticket resellers resell tickets to, for example, a concert or a sporting event, they are filling more seats. Here are three outcomes from higher attendance at events:
- More concession sales: Higher attendance means more sales at the concession stand, the restaurants, pubs and street vendors surrounding the venue.
- More merchandise sales: Similarly to the aforementioned, more tickets sold results in more merchandise sold: t-shirts, hats and other gear.
- More transport: With more consumers in seats, it also means increased use of public transport, taxis and driver services such as Uber and Lyft.
One thing you need for a ticket agency merchant account
Ticket brokers are considered high risk merchants for two reasons:
There is a significant amount of fraud associated with the industry. Counterfeit tickets and ‘scalpers’ are a consistent threat with sporting events, plays and concerts. Increased use of ticket bots isn’t helping the industry either.
Additionally, ticket reseller businesses without a suppliers agreement (for example, from a concert hall, events center or other venue) will likely not get a merchant account from a domestic bank. Suppliers agreements are the key to obtaining a domestic merchant account.
For ticket brokers and resellers in need of payment processing solutions, Instabill offers ticket agency merchant accounts contingent on merchants with supplier’s agreements. We offer live support with one merchant account manager dedicated to your business, reachable by telephoning us at 1-800-530-2444.
