What is the secondary ticket market?

The secondary ticket market is the resale market for event tickets—buying and selling tickets after they leave the original point of primary sale (the venue, promoter, or team/artist's official box office or ticketing platform).

Key features:

• Primary vs. secondary: Primary market = first sale, direct from the rights holder (e.g., Ticketmaster for an official on-sale, or a team's own site). Secondary market = any resale after that, whether by a fan who can't attend, or by professional resellers/brokers.
• Who operates in it: Individual fans reselling extras, professional ticket brokers and resale businesses, and marketplaces such as StubHub, SeatGeek, Vivid Seats, and the resale arms of primary sellers themselves (e.g., Ticketmaster's resale platform).
• Pricing: Prices float with demand rather than being fixed at face value — this is where you see tickets sell above or below the original price depending on scarcity, timing, and event popularity.
• Regulation: Legal status and rules (price caps, disclosure requirements, bot laws, etc.) vary significantly by state and country—this is a patchwork, not a single national standard, and it changes over time as legislatures act.

Updated on: 27/08/2026