Pricing · Ticket resale glossary
Face Value
Also known as: Original ticket price, Base price
Face value is the original price of a ticket as set by the event organiser on the primary market, usually excluding booking and service fees.
On the secondary ticket market, tickets trade above or below face value depending on demand. The gap between what you paid and what you sell for, after fees, is your resale margin.
Some markets limit resale to face value: Ireland, for example, bans reselling tickets above face value for most large events, and many fan-to-fan resale platforms cap the price at what the seller paid. With dynamic pricing, the face value of the same seat can change over the course of a sale.
What face value includes and what it leaves out
Face value is the ticket price before anything is added at checkout. Booking fees, service charges, order fees and delivery charges are normally listed separately, even when the site also shows an all-in total. In some countries the printed price must include VAT; in others tax is added on top. When a law or a platform caps resale at face value, it matters which of these numbers counts, so check the exact wording of the terms.
- Base price: the organiser's price for the seat or area, set per price level.
- Booking or service fee: charged per ticket by the ticketing company and usually not part of face value.
- Order fee: a single charge per order, often for processing or delivery.
- Facility or venue levy: a fixed amount per ticket that some venues add, sometimes counted within face value and sometimes not.
How face value is set on the primary market
Organisers set face value by price level: the venue is divided into zones, each with its own price, and the levels are agreed between the artist's team and the promoter before the on-sale date. Pricing is a trade-off between filling the room, protecting the artist's reputation with fans and leaving money on the table for the secondary ticket market.
With dynamic pricing, face value is no longer one number. The same seat can be sold at different prices on different days, so two buyers in the same row may have paid very different amounts. For a reseller, face value should therefore be read as what you actually paid, not the price in the original announcement.
Face value vs resale price: a worked example
An arena show has three price levels: £55, £85 and £120, plus a £9.50 booking fee per ticket. A reseller buys two £85 tickets, paying £189 in total. A few weeks later the average sale price for that tier on resale is £160 and the get-in price is £130. Selling both at £160 with a 10% seller fee pays out £288, a margin of £99 over cost — but only because demand has pushed resale to almost twice face value.
Had the same show been subject to a face-value resale price cap, the most the seller could ask would be £85 per ticket, or £94.50 where booking fees count, and the trade would make no sense at all.
How to read the gap between face value and resale
The ratio of resale prices to face value is one of the simplest demand signals. Resale trading well above face value across most sections means demand is greater than supply; resale at or below face value means the primary seller still has stock or the event is overpriced for its audience.
- Look at the get-in price, not only the average: a high average can hide plenty of cheap tickets in poor sections.
- Compare like with like: a floor ticket's resale price only means something against floor face value.
- Watch primary availability: while the organiser still sells at face value, resale prices above it will struggle.
- Count fees on both sides: a ticket that resells 15% above face value can still lose money after booking fees and marketplace fees.
Comparing face value and resale prices with Eventory
On an Eventory event page, the Ticketmaster tab lists the offer types on sale — standard, resale, platinum and others — with their minimum and average prices, and the venue map shows average primary and resale prices per section. Read next to the resale tab's average sale price and get-in price, that shows how far an event is trading above or below face value, section by section.
Track it with Eventory
Eventory shows primary prices alongside average and highest resale prices, so you can see how far above or below face value an event is trading.
Frequently asked questions
Does face value include booking fees?
Usually not. Face value is the organiser's ticket price; booking, service and order fees are charged on top by the ticketing company. Some tickets show an all-in figure, and some rules define face value to include certain charges, so check the terms when a price cap applies.
Can I sell a ticket for more than face value?
In many countries yes, but not everywhere. Ireland bans resale above face value for most large events, some organisers forbid it in their terms, and many fan-to-fan resale platforms cap the price at what the seller paid. Breaking the organiser's terms can get tickets cancelled.
Why do some tickets resell below face value?
Because supply is greater than demand. If the primary seller still has plenty of tickets, or the show is priced too high, resellers compete on price and drop below face value close to the date rather than be left with tickets they cannot sell.
Is face value the same for every seat in a section?
Not always. Organisers can split a section into several price levels, and with dynamic pricing the price of the same seat can change during the sale. Two tickets in the same row can have different face values.