Got a spare AFL ticket? Here's the right way to pass it on

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Life doesn't always cooperate with your footy plans. You nabbed tickets to the Anzac Day clash back in January, then your boss scheduled a work trip. Or you scored four seats for a Friday night game and two mates pulled out last minute. It happens to every AFL fan eventually - you've got a ticket, you can't use it, and now you're staring at a piece of paper (ok, it's a PDF in your inbox) wondering what to do with it.

The good news: there's a better way to handle it than either eating the cost or handing it to a scalper. Here's how to think about it.

Why Spare Tickets Are Such a Big Deal in the AFL

The AFL is one of the toughest competitions in the world when it comes to getting your hands on tickets for the big games. Finals series tickets routinely sell out within minutes. The Anzac Day match between Collingwood and Essendon at the MCG is basically a cultural institution - tens of thousands of fans miss out every single year.

Gather Round in Adelaide has become one of the most sought-after events on the football calendar almost overnight. Even regular-season blockbusters between traditional rivals can be nearly impossible to get through official channels.

That scarcity is what makes your spare ticket genuinely valuable — and it's also what makes it worth doing the right thing with it.

How People Used to Deal With It

Before smartphones and marketplace apps, the options were pretty limited.

Give it away for free. Noble, but not always practical. If you paid $90 for a reserved seat, it stings to hand it over for nothing — especially if you're doing it at the last minute to a stranger.

Sell it to someone outside the ground. The old "anyone need a ticket?" routine near the gates. Sometimes it worked fine. Sometimes you ended up dealing with dodgy blokes who were more interested in buying low and selling high than actually watching the game.

Chuck it in a Facebook group. More sophisticated, but still a lottery — tyre-kickers, ghosters, and the occasional person who seriously tries to low-ball you on a Grand Final ticket.

Let scalpers take it off your hands. They'll buy it, then flip it to another fan for two or three times what you paid. You got something, but another fan copped the price gouging.

Why Scalping Hurts the People Who Love the Game Most

When a ticket gets flipped for $400 over face value, a family trying to take their kids to a finals game simply can't go. A pensioner who's followed their club for 40 years gets priced out. A young fan who saved up for weeks misses out. The demand is real and massive, which is exactly why scalpers get away with it. But that doesn't make it okay.

The Modern Solution: Face Value Resale

Platforms built around fair-price resale — like Tixel, which focuses on AFL tickets and other live events — cap resale at face value or just above it. Listings are verified, transactions are protected, and the whole process takes about five minutes from your phone.

Not just more ethical — genuinely easier. No awkward handoff at the gate. No chasing someone who said they'd Venmo you.

A Few Practical Tips

• List it as soon as you know you can't go - the earlier, the more time the right buyer has to find it
• Set a fair price - face value is the standard; if you paid $75, sell it for $75
• Use a platform that verifies buyers - a proper marketplace handles fraud protection for you
• Don't hold out for a premium - if you're waiting three hours before bounce hoping to double your money, you're doing what scalpers do

Pass It On the Right Way

AFL fans are some of the most passionate supporters in the world — and that passion is exactly why the community deserves better than a secondary market that squeezes people on the way in. Sell it at face value, use a platform that keeps it honest, and let another fan have the day you were going to have.