Zomato introduces secondary market for event ticketing ‘Book Now, Sell Anytime’

Gurugram-based Zomato, which is doubling down on its going-out business, is introducing a secondary market for event ticketing on its platform, according to a blog post by the company. Called ‘Book Now, Sell Anytime’, the feature allows users who have purchased event tickets from Zomato to sell their tickets on the app.

This feature will be launched on September 30, with bookings opening up for Zomato’s Feeding India Concert, which is being headlined by pop singer Dua Lipa.

“If their plans change for any reason, they can list their ticket on the Zomato app for a price lower or higher than their original purchase price (capped at 2x of the current phase price live on the ticketing platform),” Zeenah Vilcassim, CEO of Zomato Live Entertainment, wrote in the blog post.



“Once another customer purchases this listed ticket, the seller’s ticket is cancelled and a new ticket is issued to the customer purchasing this ticket – issued and authenticated by Zomato. The seller will get the full value of their listed price transferred to their preferred payment method (subject to applicable taxes),” she added.

To ensure the feature doesn’t promote ill practices such as market touting on unfair pricing, Vilcassim said Zomato has put in place certain checks and balances.

These include limiting the number of tickets a customer can buy, and which can be listed for selling, to 10 per category.

“The highest price at which they can list their tickets will be capped at 2x of the current phase price on the Zomato app – if the tickets for the event are sold out, the cap will be 2x the final phase price. For example – if a customer purchased an Early Bird ticket for Rs.1000 and the current phase is live at Rs 2000, the customer can list their ticket for any price up to Rs. 4000,” she said.

Multiple large ticket reselling platforms operate across the globe with companies such as TickPick, Stubhub, Ticketmaster, Viagogo and Seatgeek operating ticket marketplaces.

In India, Chennai-based startup Take My Tickets runs an events and sports tickets marketplace.

On August 21, Zomato announced it was acquiring Noida-headquartered Paytm’s events and movie ticketing business in an all-cash deal valuing the entity at Rs 2,048 crore.

The deal marks a significant step towards Zomato bulking up businesses beyond food delivery, after aggressive investments in the buzzy quick commerce segment through the Blinkit acquisition in 2022.

With this deal, the Deepinder Goyal-led publicly listed company takes the battle to Reliance-backed BookMyShow, which is currently the market leader in the online ticketing segment.

Zomato also plans to launch a separate app for its going-out business called ‘District’. This will include verticals such as dining out, live events, and movie and events ticketing.