What Is A Ticket Broker, and Can They Really Help Me Get Playoff Tickets?

Summary: If you've ever tried to get sports tickets, concert tickets or theatre tickets, only to find them sold out five minutes after they went on sale, then you may need to locate a ticket broker.

If you've ever tried to get sports tickets, concert tickets or theater tickets, only to find them sold out five minutes after they went on sale, then you may need to locate a ticket broker. A ticket broker has all the resources he needs to buy more tickets and buy them faster than any individual can. If you can't find sports tickets, concert tickets or theater tickets for a specific event, chances are a ticket broker already has some tickets in his or her possession. Many states in the USA have certain laws that prohibit the sale of tickets for more than the actual face value of the ticket. Some states even have laws that prohibit ticket brokers from operating in their state. With the Internet giving worldwide access to anyone, a ticket broker can operate in one particular state that allows him or her to do business, and then turn around and sell concert tickets, sports tickets and theatre tickets from venues all over the world! An effective ticket broker makes his or her money based on the fundamentals of supply and demand. One particular show only plays on so many dates and there are only a limited number of seats available at any given venue. So there is always a limited supply of tickets for any given event. This allows the ticket broker to control a portion of the ticket supply, and market demand helps the broker to earn a profit for providing his tickets to those who want to go to the event. Ticket brokers may employ a group of buyers to purchase a certain amount of tickets for a particular event. The buyers stand in line at certain distribution points of sale. They may even use the Internet to make purchases of theatre tickets, sports tickets or concert tickets. After these employees have purchased the tickets, they deliver the tickets to the ticket broker, who then sells them to his own customers. Ticket brokers may occupy a physical location, or they may sell their tickets through a website. When people are not able to find certain event tickets, they will go to the ticket broker who may be holding the only available tickets for the event. Ticket brokers actually provide a valuable service. Not all of us can afford to take three days off work to camp outside the ticket seller, in order to get Rolling Stones tickets, tickets for the playoff games, or tickets for the opening night of the next installment of the Harry Potter movie series. So, instead of you and I missing work, the ticket brokers staff can spend their time in the hot sun or blistering cold weather, holding their place in line to get the first available tickets for an event. If we were to sit outside the ticket seller's office for three days, we might lose our job or just three days' pay. Either way, the markup that the ticket broker asks for the tickets will more than compensate us for what we would have cost us to get those tickets ourselves. When there's a need for movie tickets, sports tickets, concert tickets, and theatre tickets to a specific artist or event, then many people will pay any price to get that ticket. By purchasing a large number of tickets and selling them at a markup, the ticket brokers are really supplying a market economy. Many people consider the ticket broker to be a beneficial participant in the ticket-buying process. If you really wanted to go to the specific event, but you could not afford to take off work to wait in line to buy the tickets, then the ticket broker would be a real lifesaver. Due to the existence of the ticket broker in the marketplace, you now have the opportunity to see that big football game. If the ticket broker had not been able to participate in the process, would you have had the opportunity to get tickets to the game? There are opponents of ticket brokers, who say that ticket brokers offer no real service because they corner the market and sell tickets at a markup they feel is unfair. They say that these individuals are buying event tickets that may have been available at the regular price, and then demanding high prices for the same tickets. For the individual who can afford to spend all day and night waiting in line to buy tickets, this might be true. But, for those of us who work for a living, the ticket broker offers a very valuable service. Whatever your opinion of ticket brokers, the bottom line is that if you are unable to get concert tickets, sports tickets, or theater tickets to your favorite events, you can almost always win by going to a ticket broker.