Ticket Broker Software | An Overview of Ticket Exchange Software

Whether you’ve been a ticket broker for 30 years or just started, there’s software (don’t let this word scare you) that can help streamline your operations, enhance your metrics, and ultimately, make you more money.

If you’re a novice ticket broker, you’ll want to read this from the start, if you’re well versed with Point of Sales (POS), but not much else, start at the 2nd section; and if you’re a pro, you’ll probably want to go straight to the 3rd topic (real-time software).

Note: This blog post is not about how ticket brokers obtain tickets or, specifically, how to become a ticket broker, but about helping potential ticket brokers or existing brokers better understand the software available to them. With that said, if you are trying to better understand how the secondary ticket industry works and/or are thinking about becoming a ticket broker, the following overview will be very informative.

Ticket Brokers Software – Step 1, Choose a Point Of Sale

Not all ticket brokers use a Point Of Sale (POS), but I couldn’t imagine having hundreds or thousands of ticket listings and trying to manage them with a Google Doc or Excel file. That’s the whole point of a POS: to help you manage your inventory, which can get very difficult if you are more than one person. There are “ticket brokers” that only list their tickets on Stubhub, and in that case, maybe a POS isn’t necessary. But if you are getting serious about becoming a ticket broker, then you should know that Stubhub doesn’t even account for 50% of all secondary ticket sales. So why wouldn’t you broadcast your tickets to more secondary ticket marketplaces?

When deciding which POS to choose, I won’t pick favorites; instead, I’ll state the facts. Ticket Network is by far the most used POS. Many brokers complain about Ticket Network because it has strict rules, but for the most part, these rules are easy to understand and logical. Despite the few negatives, Ticket Network is the most used POS and has the most advanced technology to date. Lastly, Ticket Network recently changed its pricing to better accommodate smaller brokers, and I have heard rates as low as $500 for the year (versus the normal $2,000k).

Ticket Technology is the second-most-used POS, which was acquired by StubHub around 2006. For large-ticket sellers focused on StubHub, Ticket Technology does the job. But from what I understand, this product has been somewhat neglected. For example, at Ticket trade shows, Ticket Technology no longer has a booth to entice new brokers to sign up, and last I checked, they weren’t even accepting new brokers onto their platform. With 300+ brokers, Ticket Technology isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, but I question how dedicated StubHub will be to ticket-broker software in the future.

Ticket Utils is the latest POS to hit the block. Released in early 2014, Ticket Utils Point of Sale has quickly become a major player in the point-of-sale market.  Their focus on providing broad inventory distribution and time-saving automation has helped them attract hundreds of brokers in a short period. Ticket Utils’ system is integrated with StubHub, Vivid Seats, Ticketmaster Plus, TicketNetwork, TickPick, and eBay. The software is cloud-based and has a simple, intuitive design. It also comes complete with a built-in Auto-Uploader that sends to all the industry’s top resale sites, built-in AutoHold for double sale protection, a dedicated mobile version, and QuickBooks integration. They have found success in providing a one-stop shop at a reasonable price.

Point of Sales

Ticket Network
Ticket Utils (From the makers of Rocket Poster)
SkyBox (VividSeats new free POS)
Ticket Evolution (Newish)
BrokersCloud / BrokerVisions (Newish)
Event Inventory (TicketMaster owned)

Ticket Evolution was the newest Point of Sale to hit the industry a couple of years ago. Ticket Evo was created by 50+ large ticket brokers whose mission was to make a better system that would take business and power away from Ticket Network. Ticket Evolution raised over a million dollars from ticket brokers and began developing a POS and other software for them. This started in 2009.

My understanding is that the POS is live, although in beta(ish) mode. Other tools and features that they created, such as their ticket auto-uploader and Evopayment solution, have been around for a while and have been well adopted. I do credit Ticket Evolution in helping propel the secondary ticket industry forward, specifically by helping ticket brokers adopt newer technologies. Besides cost, technology, and functionality, other factors lead ticket brokers to choose one system over another. We address that at the end of this blog.

Are your tickets listed on TickPick – The fastest growing marketplace in the US

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Auto-Uploaders

If you have been a ticket broker for more than five years, you know how difficult and cumbersome it was to get your tickets listed on the top 10 to 20 most-visited ticket sites. If you were using Ticket Network, you would export your ticket inventory file to a CSV file. You would then have to upload that CSV file manually or via FTP (file transfer protocol) to all the sites where you wanted your tickets listed. Depending on the size and amount of sales you did, you would do this every hour or so.

Ticket Utils and Ticket Evolution created a Ticket Auto Uploader to automate this process. This ticket broker software monitors a folder on your computer, and anytime there’s a change to your ticket inventory file, it automatically uploads the newest inventory file to all of the ticket marketplaces that you set up. Meaning, if your tickets were sold on StubHub, once you reflect this in your POS, your file would change, and those tickets would then be removed from TickPick and the other Ticket Marketplaces, helping you prevent “Double Sales”. This is a massive upgrade; however, the time delay on this system is roughly 15 minutes, so double sales still occur more frequently than one might expect.

If you are a large seller and not listing your tickets on TickPick, the fastest-growing ticket marketplace, submit your Ticket Broker/Large Seller info here, and we’ll have you set up in no time.

Real-Time Software – Autohold, Autofill, Auto-Everything

In the last two years, there’s been a plethora of advancements & new companies that have launched to help ticket brokers better integrate their POS with ticket sites to accomplish the following goals:

• Decrease human labor
• Decrease in double sales
• Decrease response times
• Reduce human errors
• And ultimately help ticket brokers better manage their inventory and cut costs

Here is a list of the most well known 3rd party solutions and their services:

Cloakify – Keeps all of your inventory up-to-date across all ticket portals in both directions. It constantly monitors your point-of-sale inventory and updates any changes across all portals. It monitors all portals for pending sales. Any sale has the corresponding inventory placed on hold, the order is marked as processing on the portal, and that inventory is immediately removed from all other portals.

Here’s my favorite quote, when asking for info from Cloakify: “The problem is that the industry is changing so fast, and now we are going to restructure our pricing cause our deals with hosting providers and bandwidth cost agreements are going to renew.  So we will be able to pass the savings to the broker.“

1ticket – In addition to keeping your inventory in sync across all marketplaces, including TickPick, 1ticket can download all of your PDFs, create purchase orders, and post tickets for instant download on both StubHub and Ticketnetwork. Cost $150 a month.

24/7 Broker is a flexible inventory management system designed to save time, enhance productivity, and increase your bottom line. They are broker-owned and operated, with 10 years of experience in ticket broker software development. Their software is compatible with three POS systems and seventeen ticket marketplaces. They assist brokers with uploading, reserving, and order completion. There are flexible rule sets that govern these three processes, which give brokers an unbelievable amount of customization. “We know every company doesn’t operate the same, and that is why flexibility and reliability are the foundation of our service.” Cost $299 a month.

Autoprocessor (aka DTR) – A high-end customized ticket broker software solution developed by brokers who’ve been in the business for 30 years. Autoprocessor says it’s perfect for both big and small brokers because it automatically invoices, confirms, and delivers orders. They also have unlimited flexibility on who, what, and how you list your tickets to all the other marketplaces.

Ticketattendant – A similar solution to AutProcessor and Cloakify, which works with both Ticket Technology’s POS and Ticket Network. Ticket Attendant – “We are constantly improving to adapt and keep up with ticketing trends and to make our company a one-stop shop for all your software needs.”

At the latest Ticket Summit, TicketAttendant quietly released a new service/product similar to Dreamtix (see details below). If you are interested in finding out more, feel free to email us or reach out to them directly.

Cloakify vs 1Ticket – Interestingly enough, I believe it may make sense to utilize both services, but as I write this article that’s changing. That’s because 1Ticket’s primary focus was on downloading tickets and managing PDFs, while Cloakify’s has been on automation. However, both companies now offer these features, and it’s debatable whether both services are necessary. At each company, there’s one main point person; I suggest calling both and deciding for yourself. The good news is, you can’t go wrong.

Radar – Radar is the latest broker software to hit the scene. It was developed in-house by a small ticket brokerage (in terms of people), however, a very large operation in terms of scale. Over the last two years, they have developed software to streamline every single process, and to be honest, it’s good.

How good? Well, here’s some feedback: “After implementing Radar, our company reduced hours of manual shipping by 125 hours per week, making it possible for shippers to spend more time on research and other more important tasks.” Note: Radar is currently available for Ticket Technology and Ticket Network POS users.

Are your tickets listed on TickPick? No Fees, No Chargebacks. No Hassle.

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Consignment / Ticket Broker Aggregators

After attending a recent ticket conference in Washington, D.C. (in January 2014, hosted by a ‘ticket broker’), I struggle to put into words what I learned and to describe what ticket brokers may look like in 5 years. Unlike the usual NATB or Ticket Summit conference, which has an average age in the 40s, this conference has an average age of roughly 30. This conference was all about partnering up and creating a new network of brokers. This concept isn’t new; Ticket Network, Ticket Evolution, and the NATB all had/have similar missions. But something here seemed different.

Email me at brett@tickpick for more info or an intro.

Data / Training 

Overview of the Secondary Ticket Industry – How It Works

Other Factors To Think About Before Choosing Your POS

Part of the appeal of Ticket Network is not just the software but also the broker board you can access. When you are on Ticket Network’s POS, you can see all of the other ticket brokers’ inventory. So if you are a broker who does a lot of business over the phone or just by email, you can access and sell other brokers’ tickets at wholesale prices. Additionally, if you are a new ticket broker interested in a website, Ticket Network offers a white-label solution so you can easily launch your own ticket website.

Many brokers and newbies are attracted to this feature, which I understand. But unless you’re a marketing guru, I wouldn’t advise you to spend much time and money on a ticket website. Instead, if you are trying to become a ticket broker, I would focus on the ticket inventory side of the business. I say this because there are well over a thousand ticket broker websites that are all the same and powered by Ticket Network’s white-label solution. It’s good and gets the job done, but if you think that you can turn a website on and start driving meaningful traffic, you will quickly find out how challenging it really is.

On that note, Rocket Poster, also known as Ticket Utils, originally got started by creating software to help ticket brokers automatically list their tickets on eBay. Since then, they have developed ticket-broker software, including their own Auto-Uploader. Ticket Utils’ latest focus is on building interactive seating charts and 3D maps to power ticket broker and ticket marketplace websites. So if you are debating whether to create a ticketing site and want to do some customization, here’s a great solution.

Who Is TickPick

My Name is Brett Goldberg, and I am the founder of TickPick, a new bid-ask ticket marketplace. Although I bought and sold tickets in the past, I am by no means a ticket broker and won’t tell ticket brokers how to run their business. However, I will make suggestions and provide feedback on software available to ticket brokers, which I believe will help both the largest and the smallest. If you want to chat, give us a call at 845-538-4567. Anyone can help and will provide honest feedback, but if you want, feel free to ask for me, or email me at brett at tickpick dot com.