How a Ticket Broker Works

If you have ever had a concert or show that you thought of attending and were not able to do so because of your lack of ability to buy tickets to the event, a ticket broker may have been the starting point of your problem.

Because of the way a ticket broker works, it is quite common for the top seats to an event to already be committed for. This is because the ticket broker often employs outside individuals to do the ticket buying for him. On a common day, when tickets to a specific entertainment event initially go on sale, those individuals who work for the ticket broker will purchase seats before anyone else attempts to. Once the seats are purchased, they are gone to be sold at a higher price.

Because of this sort of activity, a lot of state regulation exists with regard to the offering of event tickets for an amount greater than face value, and each state has its own set of procedures. Some states go so far as to say that a ticket broker is banned from business operation in their state. The only difficulty with this approach is that the Internet makes it very easy to manage a business across state lines.

Selling tickets to an entertainment event for greater than face value bases itself on the principle of supply and demand. For any typical event, there are only so many tickets available. Because the demand for "choice seats" can be in excess of the supply of tickets available, the value of those "choice seats" rises, and this is where the ticket broker comes into play. The most popular seats to an event will be available -- for a particular price often noticeably more than face value. Logistical aspects also come into play here, because in theory the event promoter only wishes to release as many tickets as can realistically be sold. Issuing any more tickets is a waste of money. On a more realistic level, only so many "choice seats" can logically exist for a normal event in question.

The debate continues on whether ticket brokers should even be given permission to do what they do. Ticket brokers will always represent that they have a right to do business and are in simple terms taking advantage of "the market." The problem stands, however, that they aren't actually "doing anything." No service is truthfully being provided. Ticket brokers are basically taking advantage of the workings of the marketplace rather than adding accredited service to it.

To evaluaute the noteworthiness of ticket brokers in the entertainment event marketplace, a person should ask themselves what the event ticket market would be like if if ticket brokers were nonexistent.