Forecasting trends and expected rises or drops is nothing new, of course. Stock analysts and market players do this for a living. But what about doing this for the market of concert and sports ticket prices on secondary markets like online auctions or StubHub?
SeatGeek.com attempts to do that by crawling various secondary market websites that list concert or sport event tickets, watching for the lowest price and analyzing the trends as prices rise or fall as the event approaches. Using this data, the site predict what the lowest price for a given event will likely be.
So for the truly frugal concert-goer or the budget-wise sports fan, the information on SeatGeek can help you save every penny possible.
Maybe you want those tickets now, but are worried that next week, right before the concert starts, it’ll be like the last time and you’ll find out that you could have saved another eight bucks by waiting. What if that auction on eBay for those tickets ends tomorrow with no bidders? Will the seller list it again, cheaper?
These are the kinds of questions that haunt the bargain-hunting ticket buyer and these are what the new startup, SeatGeek, wants to answer. By analyzing historical data, social factors like what day of the week the event falls on and how large the stadium or arena will be, as well as current trends for that event on various sites, SeatGeek spits out guesses.
Buyers can freely peruse the site to find individual events and the analysis and expected lowest price point for them. For most of the listings and purchase points, SeatGeek has affiliate relationships to monetize its efforts.
A soon-to-be-released professional section will be for brokers and other professionals who want better data on what to expect and who want a line on low-cost ticket availability.
Finally, a new “ticket insurance” plan will be forthcoming that can be purchased along with tickets to guarantee the difference if SeatGeek’s prediction is wrong. This will give some extra buyer guarantees on lowest-price or missed opportunities.
All in all, SeatGeek is a great idea and seems to be working well so far. Over time, it’s services and the availability of predictions will expand and its accuracy appears to be keeping people happy. Definitely one to watch.
