This text initially appeared in Enterprise Insider.
This as-told-to essay is predicated on a dialog with Shiraz Mawani, an accounting supervisor, ticket reseller, and YouTuber in Toronto. Insider has verified his earnings with documentation. The next has been edited for size and readability.
I fell into ticket reselling in 2014. My associates and I used to go to an NHL playoff recreation yearly. That yr, the ticket costs had been too excessive, so we determined to purchase further tickets, promote them for a better worth than we paid, and use the earnings from the tickets to attend the sport for a cheaper price.
I bought a few the tickets by way of Craigslist and Kijiji, a Canadian promoting platform, after which determined to attempt to promote two tickets by way of StubHub — my first time utilizing the platform. I did not know a lot about it, and on the time, I did not think about that anybody would purchase tickets on-line with none thought who the vendor was.
After posting the tickets, I used to be sitting at a restaurant with some associates, and I obtained an electronic mail saying that somebody had purchased them. We used the earnings from reselling tickets to pay half the price of the normal-price tickets, and my associates and I obtained to go to the sport.
9 years later, I nonetheless resell tickets along with my full-time job as an accounting supervisor. I make as much as $32,000 a month in revenue. This is how I do it.
First, I expanded into concert events
Just a few months after the NHL playoff recreation, considered one of my associates informed me that Bruno Mars and Katy Perry had been coming to Toronto. They wished to attempt to promote tickets the identical method that we had for the NHL recreation — besides this time, we weren’t concerned with attending the occasion ourselves.
We continued reselling tickets to native occasions. After some time, my buddy misplaced curiosity, however I continued to run with it. I used to be always in search of tickets occurring sale in Toronto, and finally the US.
Now 65% of the tickets that I resell are to sporting occasions, whereas 35% are occasions together with concert events, Broadway exhibits, and comedy occasions. That is only a private choice as a result of I am not an enormous music individual. Sports activities are what I do know and the place my focus is.
There are 2 sides to ticket reselling
There are folks seeking to promote a number of tickets, after which there are ticket brokers seeking to make a revenue.
Relying on which sort of vendor you’re, there are completely different instruments you’ve entry to on every platform. The common vendor sees just one aspect of the platform. Ticket brokers, although, have entry to instruments that determine which tickets are occurring sale, a distinct charge construction, and a distinct suite of software program.
As a ticket dealer, I take advantage of a point-of-sale system that makes use of an software programming interface to permit me to listing tickets on a number of platforms directly. I will listing my stock on my POS system, which I entry totally free, and it will put the tickets on promoting platforms comparable to StubHub utilizing the API.
My favourite promoting platform is TickPick as a result of I discover that it has the very best pricing for buying, and its customer support is superb.
If there are tickets that expire or go unsold earlier than occasions, I will drop the costs, however there’s all the time a restrict to how low I will go earlier than I merely let the tickets sit.
Pricing relies on every vendor
I do know many sellers who attempt to worth their tickets for as low-cost as doable. I would not say that that is the fallacious technique, however it’s not how I do ticket pricing.
If there is a excessive search quantity for an occasion or an artist with a powerful social following, or they will a serious metropolis or particular venue, I’ll worth the tickets extra aggressively.
Whereas each ticket is priced in another way, my basic objective is to earn between a 30% and 40% revenue margin. With my sort of stock, I am usually nearer to 30% after my sell-through charges are taken into consideration.
For gross sales that happen on on-line marketplaces, there is no worth negotiation
When I’ve particular person consumers strategy me, I will attempt to supply them a good worth under the market worth and should enable for small negotiations, however I usually maintain agency on pricing.
In Might, I bought 850 tickets for slightly below $121,000 in gross sales, which equaled about $32,000 in revenue, however this quantity ranges from month to month relying on the season. This yr has been very optimistic for me, and I am operating a few $30,000-a-month revenue on common.
I began a YouTube channel in 2018
My first YouTube movies had been vlogs of me delivering tickets to will name areas in numerous cities so consumers may choose them up.
As soon as I returned from these journeys, I felt like I had a bit of information that I may share with different folks seeking to resell tickets, so I began creating content material about serving to the typical fan promote their tickets.
Largely, folks ask me what to do with their tickets if an occasion has been canceled, about timing for reselling tickets, and whether or not they can belief particular platforms.
I spend between 20 and 40 hours every week engaged on my resale enterprise, so it may very well be a full-time gig if I wished it to be, however at this level, I think about ticket resale and my YouTube channel to be aspect hustles.