TickPick wants to put ticket-buying power back in customers’ hands

Buying event tickets is a serious pain. That’s why TickPick is doing its best to take back some of the power from ticket scalpers and put it in the hands of consumers. It offers a grading system for ticket prices, allows customers to name their own price, and only charges fees to the ticket seller.

Founder Brett Goldberg told The Next Web in an interview that the company is on track for an annual run rate of $1 million in ticket sales. The bidding platform in particular is taking off, as TickPick saw the number of ticket bidders double last month.

Goldberg wants to help ticket buyers capitalize on last minute purchases, as prices often drop precipitously as holders look to cut their losses in the hours before the event takes place. Bidders are encouraged to leave their bids open up until then.

TickPick also takes into account that buyers might want to offer different prices for different seats. It allows them to name multiple prices for different sections and seat qualities.

The site launched about a year ago, raising $250,000 in March. So far the company has been focused on marketing to the tri-state area from its office in New York City, but it already has plenty of venues around the US.

The service is close to breaking even, and Goldberg and his co-founder are currently contemplating whether to do more fundraising or to push on with what they have.

The event and ticketing industries are ripe for disruption, and it’s already a popular space for startups. In recent weeks, we’ve written about updates from Festickets and Ticketfly. And Eventbrite has been tearing it up, recently serving up more than 20,000 tickets on Apple’s Passbook app in just one week.

Still, even with lots of different companies tackling the ticket problem with different approaches, there should be plenty of room for TickPick if it can keep us from getting gouged by scalpers.

Image via Flickr / MightyBoyBrian