Selling event and entertainment tickets on eBay can be an extremely profitable niche. Tickets on eBay fall into one of two categories:

1. Events such as concerts, Broadway plays and sports contests
2. Specific entertainment areas like Disney World or Six Flags

The advantages of selling tickets on eBay:

* Demand is strong, strong, strong. We westerners love our entertainment and are willing to pay a lot of money to be amused.

* Unlike many heavier and bulkier physical products, shipping is easy. Slipping a couple of tickets into an envelope and dropping them in a mail box is much simpler - and cheaper - than locating a box and carefully wrapping merchandise so that it will arrive in top condition.

* Because shipping is so simple, there are no high costs to pass on to the buyer. Some merchandise, such as furniture, is so expensive to ship that eBay sellers cannot compete with local deals.

* This is not a seasonal business. Yes, particular events might be seasonal - for example, football games - but when football season ends, basketball and baseball aren't far behind.

The rules of ticket selling:

In some states "scalping" tickets is illegal. Scalping is defined as selling tickets for more than face value. The "face value" of the ticket includes the price of the ticket and any service charge and tax charged by the original ticket provider that is printed on the ticket. In a few US states, you may be allowed to charge an additional fee (usually no more than $3 per ticket) to the buyer. The buyer can also be charged actual postage costs, but no additional "handling" fees.

Some states have a "face value" policy, which requires sellers to disclose the face value of each ticket (face value includes the price of the ticket and any service charge and tax charged by the original ticket provider that is printed on the ticket). Sellers misrepresenting the face value of their tickets may have their listing ended, may be permanently suspended from eBay, and may be subject to criminal prosecution.

Reselling tickets for up to face value is legal nationwide and that's great if you have tickets that you can't use. But as a profit center, it seems as though these limitations might effectively kill a ticket-selling business?

Fortunately, that isn't the case. It's true that some states attempt to regulate the entire ticket industry. For example, in my home state of Georgia, only the original purchaser, a charity or a licensed broker may collect more than face value for tickets sold to events taking place in Georgia.

But the residence of the seller is of crucial importance to the ticket business. In New York, for instance, residents are restricted in their profits:

a. If the event seats more than 6,000, the ticket can be sold for no more than 45% above the ticket price, plus fees
b. If the event seats less than 6,000, only 20% above the price printed on the ticket, plus fees

However, if the seller is not a resident of New York, there are no restrictions whatsoever! The same is true in Georgia so someone selling tickets to an Atlanta Falcons or Atlanta Braves game can charge whatever buyers are willing to pay - as long as the seller doesn't live in Georgia.

eBay verifies location of all bidders and sellers on events in regulated states using both the bidder's or seller's eBay registration information and a credit card confirmation.

When selling tickets on eBay, it's critical to include a venue seating map and/or sightline picture. Not only will the value of your tickets be enhanced if the seats you're offering are good ones, but in fact, tickets will remain unsold if buyers don't have a clear picture of where they will be sitting. Of course, there are some events that are so incredibly popular that buyers will pay simply to attend, regardless of the seating. That isn't normally the case, though. eBay includes a Venue map for most events, making it easy for sellers to specify location.

eBay offers a service called Vendio Ticket Manager for sellers who deal in large numbers of tickets. The small cost of less than $20 per month allows sellers to mass import ticket listings and even includes integration with PayPal and FedEx.

eBay loves ticket sales! Especially if you own or you are an affiliate of some travel agency that has discount tickets, be sure to consider this profitable niche.