Difference Between a Primary and Secondary Ticket Broker

When buying tickets for a particular event, it is important to know what the difference is between a primary ticket broker from a secondary ticket broker. So what is the difference? Major concert and sporting events are usually sold through a ticket broker. These ticket brokers will usually charge a commission for the particular service that they provide. There are two types of ticket brokers: Primary ticket brokers and secondary ticket brokers. A primary ticket broker is a company that has agreements with event promoters to sell tickets for the promoter's particular concert or sporting event. An example of a major primary ticket broker is Ticketmaster.com. A primary ticket broker serves the interest in both the promoter and the consumer. The primary broker serves the promoter in offering a more efficient means of distributing tickets, in effect, increasing the promoter's revenue. The primary ticket broker serves the consumer in providing easier access to obtain tickets.

A primary ticket broker charges a small percentage of the ticket revenue as well as a service charge (commission) that the consumer pays. Although it seems that there are a lot of extra costs associated with these brokers, and there are, buying from a primary ticket broker is usually the cheapest way to buy tickets to major events. The reason being, primary ticket brokers charge the face-value for the tickets that they sell. There is very little if any mark-up on these tickets. Once these tickets get sold out in the primary market, the only way consumers can get tickets to these high demand events is through the secondary ticket market.

A secondary ticket broker is one of the major players in the secondary ticket market and usually buys tickets at their face value or just a little bit over, and then subsequently sells them to the general public for the tickets fair market value. This fair market value is basically determined by what the consumer will bear to pay for a high demand event. Secondary ticket brokers like TicketsNow.com sell these tickets at a premium price as well as charge a 15% commission. StubHub.com, although not a real ticket broker, allows people to buy and sell tickets at their site as they please. Since some of the times you may be buying tickets from sellers that either do not understand the ticket market or do not care about the ticket market, a buyer can potentially get better deals here.

Stubhub.com charges a 10% commission to the buyers of the tickets and 15% commission to the sellers of the tickets. So Stubhub.com makes a total of 25% commission per transaction. When looking for major events that have been sold out, and in consequence shopping in the secondary ticket market, the key is to have the right information to pay the least amount of money. Using resources like ticketpirates.com will give you the information you need to determine the best sources to buy tickets in the secondary ticket market, evaluate the different secondary ticket brokers, and get a feel for the secondary ticket market prices for particular events. This in turn will help you keep as much money as possible in the pocketbook.