For years, ticketing platforms have treated resale as a nice-to-have: a checkbox, a secondary marketplace link, an optional “widget” you tack onto your site.
But in reality the secondary market has grown into a core part of the live-events ecosystem. Resale defines how a ticket lives after its initial sale, it shapes fan trust, data visibility, brand control and long-term revenue.
At menta tech, we view resale not as an afterthought, but as an operating model. A system where policies, pricing, payments and protection work together, designed for growth, loyalty and control.
1. The scale and growth of the resale market
The secondary-ticketing market is no longer niche. Global market estimates place the secondary tickets market at approximately USD 2.85 billion in 2023, with projected growth to USD 6.56 billion by 2032 (CAGR ~9.7 %). straitsresearch.com+2zionmarketresearch.com+2
In parallel, studies show that consumers saved over USD 414 million in 2024 from tickets listed below face value on the secondary market. theamericanconsumer.org+1
What this means:
- The secondary market is large and growing.
- It’s influencing behaviour, price sensitivity, platform trust and brand value.
- Ignoring it isn’t an option anymore.
2. Why treating resale as a “feature” misses the point
When resale is treated as a simple add-on, platforms often face:
- Fragmented data: tickets leave your ecosystem, you lose sight of value flows.
- Lost control: pricing logic, transfer rules, brand experience slip to third-parties.
- Fan trust erosion: if the resale journey isn’t seamless and reliable, fans hesitate to buy.
- Revenue leakage: undermanaged resale means someone else captures the margin.
But if you treat resale as strategic, you gain:
- A lifecycle view of the ticket: initial sale - re-sale - fan behaviour.
- Governance and compliance: you define the rules, protect your brand, mitigate fraud.
- Fan trust and loyalty: “I know where to resell, I trust the platform, I buy earlier”.
- Incremental revenue: resale inside your ecosystem becomes new revenue line, not lost revenue line.
3. Key data-driven arguments
Here are concrete performance levers when resale is integrated strategically:
- Savings and pricing visibility: consumers benefit when resale is transparent, in 2024, over USD 414 million was saved via below-face secondary tickets. theamericanconsumer.org+1
- Market size indicates opportunity: with billions in secondary market volume, platforms stand to capture large slices of that value.
- Behavioural insight: resale isn’t just about late buyers, it’s about risk mitigation, flexibility and trust. Platforms that embed resale send a signal: “We’ve got you covered.”
- Data & insights: secondary-market data (price trends, transfer behaviour) can inform primary-market pricing, fan segmentation and yield strategies. nomad-data.com+1
4. What a strategic resale model looks like
A strategic resale model needs to be thought of as a system, not a bolt-on. Here are essential components:
- Pricing logic: floor/ceiling rules, dynamic adjustments, cap/uncap decisions.
- Transfer/verification engine: ensuring tickets move securely, identity checks, fraud prevention.
- Brand & platform control: resale experience under your brand, preserving fan journey and data.
- Data capture & insight: every resale is an event you own — you understand demand, fan behaviour, secondary value.
- Monetisation path: resale fees (listing/seller, buyer), liquidity tools, discovery promotion for resold tickets.
- Compliance & risk management: regulatory issues, consumer protection, bot mitigation, pricing transparency.
5. Why now is the time to act
- Live-events are resurgent and fans expect flexibility. Resale becomes a trust lever more than ever.
- The secondary market is growing, meaning more value is at stake if unmanaged.
- Platforms that integrate resale early gain a competitive edge: they retain control, build deeper data, increase fan loyalty.
- Fans are more price-sensitive and trust-sensitive, giving them a safe resale option reduces friction in the purchase decision.
- Revenue margins in ticketing are tight , capturing resale within your ecosystem moves resale from leakage to profit.
6. Summary
Resale is not just a feature you add when you’re “done” with primary ticketing.
It’s a strategy, a new operating model for live-event platforms: where revenue, trust, data and loyalty converge.
At menta tech, we help ticketing platforms transition from “let’s add resale” to “let’s own resale”. Because when resale happens inside your ecosystem, you win the fan’s trust, you retain the data, you capture the value, and you turn what was once a cost or risk into a growth engine.
