Informational · Ticket consignment explained
Consignment tickets are tickets you still own while someone else sells them for you.
The term gets used three different ways in the ticket world. Here is what each one means, how a consignment sale actually runs from handoff to payout, what it costs, and when it beats listing the tickets yourself.
The three things people mean by “consignment tickets”
1. A ticket holder consigning to a broker (the common one)
A season ticket holder, a company with a suite, or a fan with a few extra seats hands the tickets to a consignment service. The service sets the price, lists the seats across the resale marketplaces and its own buyer channels, handles the transfer when a sale lands, and pays the owner the net. The owner never sells the tickets to the broker; the broker sells them for the owner. This is what SellTicketsFast does, and it is the sense most search results for “consignment tickets” are about.
2. A marketplace listing where the seller keeps the tickets until sold
On StubHub, SeatGeek, Vivid Seats, TickPick, Ticketmaster resale and AXS resale, nearly every listing is consignment-style: the seller keeps the tickets in their own account, the marketplace advertises them, and the transfer happens only after a buyer pays. The marketplace deducts its seller fee from the price and pays out after the event. Sellers on these sites sometimes describe their own listings as consignment, which is accurate; the difference from sense 1 is that the seller is doing the pricing and the managing themselves.
3. Inventory a team or promoter places with brokers
Inside the industry, “consignment” also describes blocks of seats that a team, venue or promoter hands to brokers to sell, with unsold seats returned. Buyers occasionally see this term in fine print. It has nothing to do with your tickets; it describes where some of the inventory on the marketplaces came from.
How a consignment sale actually works
- You tell the service what you have. Team or event, dates, section, row, how many seats, and any dates you want to keep. At SellTicketsFast that is one short form.
- You transfer the tickets digitally. Through the team or venue’s official app (Ticketmaster account manager, MLB Ballpark, AXS, SeatGeek) to the service’s verified account. No printing, no mailing, no meeting anyone. You can see the transfer in your own account the whole time.
- The service prices and lists the seats. Every game or night is priced to its own live market and listed everywhere at once: the consumer marketplaces, wholesale broker channels and private buyers. Prices get adjusted as the date approaches and demand moves.
- A buyer pays, the tickets move. The service delivers the tickets to the buyer and handles any delivery issue. You are not involved in the sale.
- You get paid the net. Sale price minus the commission. SellTicketsFast pays every Friday for everything that sold that week.
- Unsold tickets stay yours. If a date does not sell, nothing is owed and the tickets are returned to your account. There is no charge for a ticket that does not sell.
What consignment costs
Consumer marketplaces charge a lower seller fee, roughly 10% to 15% depending on the site, because you are doing the work: pricing each date, re-pricing it as the game nears, answering delivery problems and waiting for the post-event payout. The commission on consignment is paying for that work, and for the reach of listing on every channel instead of one. Whether it is worth it depends on one question: does the service get a higher sale price than you would have set yourself, by enough to cover the difference in fee? For a single ticket, usually not. For a season you cannot fully use, usually yes.
A worked example: the same two seats, two ways
Two lower-level seats to a Saturday game. You list them yourself on a marketplace at a 10% seller fee and, not wanting to be stuck with them, price them at $150 each.
| Self-listed on one marketplace | Consigned to SellTicketsFast | |
|---|---|---|
| Listed price per seat | $150 (your guess) | $190, moved to $205 in game week as comparable seats sold |
| Where it is listed | One site | Every major marketplace plus wholesale and private buyers |
| Fee | 10% = $15 per seat | 20% = $41 per seat |
| You net, per seat | $135 | $164 |
| Your time | Pricing, re-pricing, delivery, support | One form, one transfer |
| Paid | After the event, plus bank time | Every Friday |
Illustrative numbers. The point is the shape of the math, not the exact figures: the fee is the smaller lever, the sale price is the bigger one, and the sale price is what the service is responsible for. If the market drops between handoff and sale, the price drops with it; consignment does not guarantee a number, it goes after the most the market will pay.
What to check before you consign tickets
- You keep ownership until the sale. A real consignment arrangement never asks you to sell the tickets to the service. If someone offers to buy them outright, that is a different transaction with a different price.
- Transfer only through the official app, to a named, verified account. Screenshots, PDFs and “send me the barcode” are not how legitimate services take delivery.
- The commission is written down, and it is the only charge. No upfront fees, no fees on unsold tickets.
- A fixed payout day. You should know in advance when money arrives, not “after the event, eventually.”
- Your unused dates come back. Ask what happens to tickets that do not sell. The answer should be “they stay in your account” or “we transfer them back,” at no cost.
Our terms, track record and the satisfaction guarantee are laid out on is SellTicketsFast legit, and the longer walkthrough of the process is at how ticket consignment works.
Frequently asked questions
What does “consignment” mean for tickets?
It means a broker or marketplace sells the tickets on the owner’s behalf while the owner keeps them until a buyer pays. The owner receives the sale price minus an agreed commission, and any ticket that does not sell is returned at no charge. The tickets are never bought by the service.
Is consignment the same as selling my tickets to a broker?
No. Selling to a broker is a one-time sale at a price the broker sets, usually well under market, because the broker is taking on the risk. Consignment keeps the risk and the upside with you: the tickets sell at market value and you pay a commission on the result.
How much does it cost to sell tickets on consignment?
SellTicketsFast charges 20% of the sale price, only when a ticket sells. There is no fee to list and no fee for tickets that do not sell. A season ticket holder’s first regular-season sale with us is commission-free.
How do I hand over the tickets?
Digitally, through the team or venue’s official ticketing app, to our verified account. You keep a record of the transfer in your own account, and there is nothing to print or mail.
When do I get paid for consignment tickets?
Every Friday, for the tickets that sold that week. Marketplaces, by contrast, release seller payouts after the event takes place, then add bank processing time.
What happens if my consignment tickets do not sell?
They stay yours. No commission is owed on an unsold ticket, and the seats are returned to your account so you can use them or try again later.
Have tickets you will not use?
Send us the dates. We price each one to its market, list it across every channel, handle the transfer and pay you every Friday. First regular-season sale for season ticket holders is commission-free.
Start selling →Notes: Marketplace seller-fee ranges reflect the published or widely reported seller commissions of the major US resale marketplaces as of 2026; see our marketplace-by-marketplace breakdowns for current figures. Dollar examples are illustrations, not guarantees; actual prices depend on the event, the seats and demand at the time of sale.