There's really two different ways to purchase event tickets online today. There's StubHub, Ticketmaster, and other ticketing sites that will charge you large transaction fees, and then there's the Craigslist route, which comes with its own set of issues.
But now there's a ticketing app that combines the best of both services to find event tickets in Chicago. Ticket Beagles, launched earlier this month, is an iOS app that works with Prime Time Tickets in Chicago to provide more than 14,000 tickets to Chicago sporting events, theater shows, concerts and other events. What makes Ticket Beagles different is that it personalizes the transaction process by giving the buyer the contact information of the seller. The buyer can call, message or email the seller to negotiate the price. Then the two can find a place to meet to finalize the transaction or purchase the tickets online.
And with no transaction fees, Ticket Beagles often has lower priced tickets than the other online ticket brokers, said co-founder Mark Thomann.
"When I initially thought of this concept it was really based on the fact that the current ticket market, even though there's an over supply, certainly in Chicago, it really wasn’t a fluid market," he said. "If you buy a ticket a month in advance you’re going to pay a premium. If you buy it 10 minutes before the game you’re going to pay less ... I felt that by creating an instantaneous way for buyers and sellers to meet and negotiate, the market would correct itself and the negotiation would happen directly."
Another feature of Ticket Beagles is it will find tickets for you based on your preference and send push notifications to your phone when they're available. For example, in the app you can request two Sunday tickets to Lollapalooza and you'll get a notification when a seller has posted those tickets. And as you continue to use Ticket Beagles, the app will get to better know your behavior and alert you to tickets based on past purchases. If you purchased tickets to a Phillies vs. Cubs game, the next time the Phillies were in town you would get a push notification.
"The Ticket Beagles app was deigned to make it easier for fans or anyone looking for tickets," said fellow co-founder Dane Drotts. "So we did the theme of a beagle because he knows the scent and can track things down.
"It fetches the best tickets for you."
Ticket Beagles currently makes its revenue off of ads placed in the app. Restaurants and bars such as Goose Island and Murphy's offer coupons like $2 off a Bud Light, Drotts said, and those places are also function as "safe zones" as places for people to meet up and safely exchange tickets.
The next steps for Ticket Beagles are to launch its Android app and expand into other markets. It already has a potential partner in Cleveland who is ready to use the app, and the company wants to roll Ticket Beagles out to cities across the country, Drotts said.
"We really thought Ticket Beagles could revolutionize the way tickets are found, sold, and purchased," Drotts said. "We’re like the meet-up of tickets. There's no middle man. You secure the price that you want."
And with other ticket brokers increasing the focus on online buying and selling, Ticket Beagles sees a chance to personalize the ticket buying process again.
"I think people would prefer a personal touch rather than buying it online," Thomann said. "A lot of tickets are purchased via Craigslist, which is very impersonal and there is fraud and things that happen there. But if you establish relationships directly with buyers and sellers, it's not only about the one time purchase but potentially hundreds of purchases over the course of a year."
Image via Ticket Beagle
