Dear Readers,
We're back with another edition of the Broker Buds Q&A Series, where we address the burning questions that will help drive your business forward. As your partners in success, we're dedicated to providing you with the knowledge and strategies you need to thrive in the dynamic world of ticket brokering.
In this edition, we're diving into the top four inquiries that have landed in our inbox. Your questions reflect the pulse of the ticket brokering industry, and our mission is to equip you with actionable insights and valuable perspectives. Let's jump right into it:
Question #1: Once I’m through the waitroom, any suggestions on the best method to select tickets?
Generally speaking, once you’re through the waitroom – If it’s a hot show, don’t pick off the interactive map; go right to the side-bar and hammer it (if available, which isn’t very often). Focus on 2 tickets and not more. For less hot shows, you have more time and can use the map to pick the exact seats you want. BE PERSISTENT. A big chunk of the tickets we buy for shows happen after the show appears sold out within the first 5-10 minutes. Especially for hot shows, we pull for a full 30-60 minutes. You’d be surprised how many tickets get re-released after someone decided or failed to checkout and where odd scraps get released.
Question #2: Why are the prices different on my point-of-sale (POS) vs. what is listed on Vividseats?
Vividseats typically marks down your price and the amount varies by show and by event. A rough number you can use for easy math is 10% but it’s sometimes a bit more. For example, if you price your inventory at $100/ticket, Vividseats would display the same ticket at approximately $90/ticket.
Question #3: What is the best advice you could give to a new broker?
The best material is your own experience buying and selling tickets. The more you buy and sell, the more you’ll learn about all the artists, venues, markets, trends, etc. There is no substitute to the experience of considering a tour or show to purchase, researching about it in advance, buying it, watching the market over time, and selling your tickets. The more you do that the more you’ll learn.
Question #4: How do you decide on when to sell your inventory for specific shows?
This is a great question and one that is hard to answer definitively. Cash flow is a major consideration in this business and it’s different for everyone. Depending on your cash flow situation, you may just have to work with what you’ve got so it’s always a balance depending on your personal situation and risk tolerance. That said, there are certain strategies to implement and over time as you become more experienced, you’ll get a better sense of market dynamics which will help with pricing. Here are some considerations:
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Your outlook on a specific event. Some events are better holds because value is rising over time. Others you want to sell quicker (think comedians for example, which have a heightened risk of show adds – you might want to hedge your risk and sell quicker if you are expecting show adds to come).
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Typically we don’t sell until the sales process is complete as usually only after the public sale is when the most activity on the secondary market happens (but that’s not a hard rule and every situation is different).
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If you’re unsure about the prospects of a certain event rising/falling on the secondary market, implement a tiered approach to hedge yourself. You could price some inventory to sell now, price another set of inventory to sell a few weeks/month later, etc. Sell it off in tranches over time.
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November/December are typically big sales months because of the holiday season approaching. We may hold certain inventory for the Christmas season rush as there is often a holiday wave that happens with certain events or certain genre of events (for example Broadway).
But again, everyone’s situation is different so you just need to find what works best for you, and that will only happen through trial and error and experience.
If you have questions of your own or want to learn more about a specific topic, don't hesitate to reach out. Our goal is to elevate the entire community by addressing your concerns and sharing our expertise.
Stay tuned for our next edition where we'll share additional insights that can help transform your business.
That’s all for now,
Broker Buds
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