A Tale of Two Online Ticket Sites
It was the best of shows, it was the worst of shows…
This is a tale of two neighboring websites, both in the business of selling tickets to all sorts of events, both boasting a steady inventory of hard-to-get tickets and tickets to sold out events, but both of which go about their business in quite different ways.
The two neighboring sites, like cities, both competing for your patronage, are:
Secondary Market Brokers
Secondary market brokers are licensed ticket brokers who secure their inventories from season ticket holders, individuals, other brokers, and the venues themselves, then resell those tickets directly to the interested buyer.
Intermediaries
Intermediaries are impartial hubs or gateways for sellers and buyers to converge and conduct their own transactions; intermediaries are not involved in the actual transaction itself.
Literary panache aside, the lesson is this -- take heed of which type of ticket seller you are considering patronizing before you give them your money.
Secondary market brokers sell a product, namely tickets to events. They are in the business of acquiring and reselling legitimate tickets to popular events, and as such, take great responsibility for the consequences of the transaction. Think: Amazon.com.
Though Amazon.com does also provide space, these days, for third-party sellers to sell their goods, its primary business model was, has been, and is as a store, obliged to fulfill and service orders themselves. Amazon has their own shipping policies and their own returns center.
Intermediaries, on the other hand, provide a service, namely a venue for buyers and sellers to gather and exchange currency for goods (in this case tickets). Think: eBay.
EBay doesn't sell anything (other than listing space on its site for sellers). If you've got a problem with a purchase you make on eBay, there's not much eBay can do to help you. You've got to take it up with the seller directly. Shipping policies and returns policies, for example, are all left to the discretion of the seller. And anyone but anyone can be an eBay seller. Same with intermediary ticket sales sites.
This is not to say you shouldn't ever deal with intermediary sites. On the contrary, you can often find far better bargains when multiple sellers are forced to compete for your savvy shopping dollar. But we are saying that regardless of which site you choose to order from, you should always research the actual seller and their specific and unique policies before dealing with them.
The following are some specific differences between these two types of ticket vendor:
Licensure
- Secondary Market Brokers are usually licensed ticket brokers and often are members of the NATB (National Association of Ticket Brokers);
- Intermediaries are not.
Authenticity
- Secondary Market Brokers guarantee that their tickets are 100% valid and legitimate;
- Intermediaries guarantee that they do their absolute best to ensure that the tickets their sellers sell are 100% valid and legitimate.
Service Charges
- Secondary Market Brokers determine a "fair market value" on each ticket based on face value + demand (popularity + availability), this figure factoring in their own brokerage/processing fees;
- Intermediaries list the prices as set by their listing sellers, then tack on a service charge (their "commission") at the time of purchase.
Refunds
- Secondary Market Brokers have their own refund policies;
- Intermediaries leave the handling of refunds to individual participating brokers themselves.