A ticket exchange, also known as a secondary ticket outlet, is a market where
tickets
Ticket or tickets may refer to:
Slips of paper
* Lottery ticket
* Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start)
* Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a tol ...
are bought and sold. Ticket exchanges allow people to buy and sell tickets online. Typically, ticket exchanges are used by individuals wanting to buy or resell tickets from other individuals rather than from the event the ticket is for. Originally, this industry was dominated by
street-based touts working outside large events and venues, buying tickets cheaply from people who had spares and selling them on to last-minute buyers. While some street
touts may still exist, the advent of the internet has transformed the practice.
Secondary markets
The secondary market, also called the aftermarket and follow on public offering, is the financial market in which previously issued financial instruments such as stock, bonds, options, and futures are bought and sold. The initial sale of the ...
today are predominantly online. There are two niches of ticket exchanges, also called secondary marketplaces: event tickets and travel reservations.
Ticket exchange in events
The event ticket exchange business is predominantly dominated by
Viagogo
Viagogo, stylized by the company as viagogo, is a multinational ticket exchange and ticket resale brand. It is headquartered in the United States and owned by StubHub Holdings. It was founded in 2006 by Eric Baker, the co-founder of StubHub.
V ...
, alongside its long-time rival
StubHub
StubHub is an American ticket exchange and resale company. It provides services for buyers and sellers of tickets for sports, concerts, theater, and other live entertainment events. It is the world's largest ticket marketplace. While the compa ...
which it merged with in 2021. Among these big online ticket marketplaces, smaller companies are emerging offering slightly different servicing. For example, a
marketplace
A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a '' souk'' (from the Arabic), ' ...
that limits the price of the tickets to the current live price. There has been significant criticism of event ticket exchanges in recent years for enabling 'armchair' touts. These are groups of people who purchase a large number of event tickets with the intent to resell them at a
mark-up on ticket exchanges before fans are able to purchase them for themselves.
Ticket exchange in air travel
There are online marketplaces where people can offer their transferable flight tickets and hotel reservations for sale. For travellers without travel insurance, it can reduce losses when unable to travel. Flights are transferable if the name on the ticket can be changed. There are over 60 airlines which allow name changes.
These airlines always charge a fee for this service. The resale of airline tickets depends on the rules of the airline.
Ticket exchanges for travel reservations also facilitate the resale of hotel rooms and
package holidays, such as SpareFare.net.
See also
*
Ticket resale
Ticket resale (also known as ticket scalping or ticket touting) is the act of reselling tickets for admission to events. Tickets are bought from licensed sellers and then sold for a price determined by the individual or company in possession of ...
*
Tout
A tout is any person who solicits business or employment in a persistent and annoying manner (generally equivalent to a ''solicitor'' or '' barker'' in American English, or a '' spruiker'' in Australian English).
An example would be a person wh ...
*
Spiv
In the United Kingdom, the word spiv is slang for a type of petty criminal who deals in illicit, typically black market, goods. The word was particularly used during the Second World War and in the post-war period when many goods were rationed du ...
Notes
Tickets
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