How to Create a Healthy Secondary NFT Ticket Marketplace

For many years the live events industry has been locked in a (mostly) silent battle with the seemingly unstoppable forces of ticket scalpers.

From paper tickets to digital QR codes, almost every evolution event ticketing has undergone has failed to stop scalpers from buying tickets to popular events and selling them at exorbitant prices to faithful fans who missed out. It's a familiar story that we've covered at great length in the past.

Artists, event organisers and ticketing platforms have tried increasingly creative or restrictive ways of preventing people from transferring tickets. But, sadly, these anti-scalping measures invariably end up not working or creating a stagnant secondary market, neither of which benefits the live events industry.

A healthy secondary market for tickets is beneficial for two reasons. Firstly, it allows fans some leeway. After all, tickets are sometimes bought months or even years before the show. In the modern world, plans change, babysitters cancel, and fans who can no longer attend should have somewhere they can sell their tickets. Secondly, when those tickets go up for sale on a secondary marketplace, it gives other fans who may have missed out on the opportunity to buy one the first time around an opportunity to attend a show.

But how can we have a healthy, thriving secondary market to benefit fans while preventing scalpers from ruining the experience for everyone involved?

The answer lies in the use of NFT tickets powered by blockchain technology.

NFTs - New, Fairer Ticketing

Issuing event tickets as NFTs has several advantages when considered against traditional Web2 platforms; they're fraud-proof and offer additional functionality, like airdrops, to transform the experience for fans.

The journey of NFTs can be tracked, meaning applying conditions to their sale or transfer is possible. In this respect, they're also far more resistant to ticket scalping than event ticketing currently is.

NFT tickets offer a high level of secondary market control through self-executing pieces of code called smart contracts. This code can be used to determine where revenue from the sale of an NFT goes or set the maximum price it can be sold for.

Royalty splits can send any percentage of revenue from any secondary resale back to a specified royalty beneficiary. In addition, smart contracts are self-executing, removing the need for a third party to oversee the transaction.

Price ceilings operate autonomously, allowing people to sell an NFT ticket on a secondary market, with a predetermined maximum price set by the smart contract.

Of course, while neither of these things actually prevents ticket scalping, they both remove the ability to make a profit from selling tickets on a secondary market, making it not worth the hassle!

Royalty splits and price ceilings vs dynamic pricing to reduce scalping is a topic we’ve discussed before. We favour the former, as dynamic pricing leads to fans paying more for tickets, which is ultimately the problem we’re trying to solve. Royalty splits and price ceilings let us solve this issue while at the same time allowing artists and event organisers to unlock new revenue streams.

A Secondary Market That Benefits Everyone

Reducing the opportunity for profit on secondary ticket sales will lessen the impact of scalping. Still, smart contracts also mean that a healthy secondary market can generate additional revenue for those putting on an event.

Event organisers and artists that use NFT tickets will benefit from fans trading tickets on a secondary market. Every time an NFT ticket is sold, some of the revenue will be directed as stipulated in the smart contract. By directing revenue back to people who put on live events, it's possible to have a healthy secondary ticketing market that gives flexibility to fans, reduces the impact of scalping and helps pay for future shows.

SeatlabNFT

We're creating an NFT ticketing platform that allows artists and event organisers to use smart contracts to set royalty splits and price ceilings to give them greater control over the secondary market.

In addition, SeatlabNFT enables creators to use airdrop functionality to reward fan loyalty and enhance the attendees' event experience. Our platform also features a secondary marketplace, where fans can trade or sell tickets to shows, all governed by smart contracts set by the event organisers.

A healthy secondary market is just one of the ways that SeatlabNFT is redefining event ticketing.