SeatGeek's new tools help fans resell tickets at the best price

Ticketing platform and resale marketplace SeatGeek is introducing three features to simplify the ticket-selling experience for users wanting to resell, including a tool that recommends the best price, automatic tags that list extra perks (like padded cushions or exclusive club access), and the ability to list tickets to multiple events at once.

SeatGeek’s latest product release, which it calls “Next Fan Up,” gives sports and music fans access to tools used by venues, organizations, and licensed sellers alike.

The features will be available for a range of events, including the upcoming Major League Baseball season along with NFL, NBA, NHL, MLS and NASCAR events, among other SeatGeek partner events.

Smart Pricing is SeatGeek’s new algorithm that leverages several machine-learning models to automatically track and adjust the ticket price using data from historical sales of similar events and other information like weather changes and seat location, Serge Derby, senior product manager at SeatGeek, tells TechCrunch. Ticket costs could also change if a player gets injured or even if an artist’s song goes viral before the concert, a company spokesperson adds.

Applying machine learning algorithms to sales data is a common practice among businesses — especially in the online retail space — to set more competitive prices, so it only makes sense that SeatGeek would introduce a proprietary tool to help ticket resellers turn a profit without all the guesswork. Facebook Marketplace and eBay have implemented automated price suggestions since 2018.

The feature gives you three selling options to choose from — sell faster at a lower price, sell slower at a higher price or sell at a more balanced pace and rate. It’s never a guarantee that you’ll successfully sell a ticket on secondary markets, but SeatGeek hopes its new tool makes it easier to appeal to the right buyer at the right time. For right now, Smart Priced listings can only be edited on SeatGeek’s website via desktop.

If you would rather set the price manually, you can simply disable the feature. However, SeatGeek will still recommend the best price in a separate box below. The company takes a 10% commission fee from the seller.

Smart Pricing is currently available in beta for select users and events. The platform will gradually roll out the feature to its wider user base throughout 2024.

Additionally, the new Seat Perks feature aims to improve SeatGeek’s ticket-selling experience further by automatically tagging every seat with all the included special features, making the ticket more attractive to buyers. For instance, food and beverage credits could be linked to your ticket or it provides access to the Delta Sky360° Club at Citi Field. Other perks include aisle or front-row seats, accessibility and a skyline view.

One feature that could be controversial is SeatGeek’s new Bulk Listing option because it incentivizes more people to buy in bulk just to sell them, potentially ruining the experience for others. Ticket reselling can leave a bad taste in people’s mouths when resellers blatantly capitalize on rising demand and limited ticket availability for their financial gain. Other times, it’s understandable when fans who can no longer attend the event want to sell their ticket at a slightly higher price tag to make a small profit. (SeatGeek also allows customers to return their tickets up to 72 hours before the event.) Regardless, resellers are nowhere near as bad as sleazy scalpers who drastically overprice tickets for desperate fans to cough up their hard-earned cash.

The company says the new feature saves users time by not having to repeat the process of creating new listings. Currently, Bulk Listing is only available on the web via desktop. It’s rolling out to mobile devices in the coming weeks.

“Our goal for Next Fan Up is to make the ticket-selling experience easier,” co-founder Russ D’Souza noted in an announcement. “We’ve spent the last year reimagining the selling experience on SeatGeek and are now releasing another set of industry-first features before the start of the MLB season, which boasts the most games of any US-based sport. Now fans can quickly list, price and sell their tickets for another fan to enjoy.”

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