Vermont Business Magazine CashorTrade, the world s first social network where fans can buy, sell, or trade tickets at face value, has announced the closing of their first seed round. The Burlington-based tech startup raised $400,000, which will be allocated to expanding the CashorTrade staff and services. Additions are under way to the Customer Service, Communications, and Engineering teams in preparation for imminent platform updates.
The funding will enable CashorTrade s expanded team to build new features that their users have asked for, including offering a money-back guarantee on transactions made through the platform. Future plans include updates to the user interface and software that will reward fans for buying and especially selling on the platform.
In addition to avoiding inflated prices from ticket scalping, CashorTrade s users will enjoy transaction fees less than one-fifth of the industry standards of 25% or more for in-demand tickets. Both selling and trading, a unique CashorTrade feature, are free.
Fans are frustrated with overpriced tickets, sketchy transactions, and exorbitant fees. Scalpers hide behind the anonymity other ticket platforms provide, says Jonny Adler, Director of Business Development at CashorTrade. On CashorTrade, members create a profile, get reviewed by their peers, and communicate directly with each other. Our platform offers safety and transparency, for a small fraction of the cost of most other ticketing platforms.
Touted as the Airbnb of concert tickets (AL.com), CashorTrade was founded in 2009 by Brando and Dusty Rich. What began with two brothers and a bulletin board has steadily grown into an online fan community of over 170,000 members. CashorTrade is currently growing at a rate of 3,000 new users a month, with members in every state in the nation and more than 20 countries around the globe.
In 2017, CashorTrade caught the attention of the ticketing industry during Phish s Bakers Dozen at Madison Square Garden. The site handled more than 50,000 transactions, accounting for 25% of the stadium s seats during the 13-night run. The site has continued to flourish, growing its transactions by 38% over the previous calendar year.
Ticket Karma is real, says Brando Rich, CEO and Co-Founder of CashorTrade. We understand that most fans reselling tickets just want to make their money back and pass on an experience to someone who will appreciate it. We are so excited to provide the place for them to do that, and to keep improving it.
