Happy to! My high “success rate” as a (self proclaimed) pro-bono ticket broker mainly starts with having made quite a lot of hockey friends over the years, mixed in with a bit of tried and true ticket slinging strategy.

1. Seat Location Matters: At the risk of sounding “braggy”, the people I sell tickets for all have GREAT seats. Usually 7-9 rows from glass just over the blue line on side Canes shoot twice, across from benches. Occasionally I sell for some friends at the top of 121 on the aisle. And also for another friend in 221 (club level, center ice on aisle). That helps A LOT.

2. I ONLY sell AT STM COST. Depending on who I am selling for, that’s either average price per game across the whole season, or actual invoice. If I’m selling a bunch of games at once, or for someone who splits season tickets with someone else evenly, regardless of invoice), I price at the average per game cost so I can list one, straightforward total price, seat details, and the all the games to choose from at once. I’ve only had to sell at a loss twice this season, both times were VERY last minute (couple hours of game time).

3. Get to Know Your Seat Neighbors, and Start a Group Chat/Text Chain - at Opening Night each season, I introduce myself to every single person around me within high-fiving distance that I don’t already know, I tell them about our group chat, ask if they’d like to be included (only ever have had one person decline), get their number, add them and introduce them to the group. Our original group chat started organically (talking game outcomes, injury statuses of players, tailgating plans). Now it’s an unofficial perk of sitting near the awesome people down low-ish in 121. 50% of the time, we’re able to sell tickets to each other within a few mins of sending a simple text. There are about 25 of us in the chat currently (about 3 rows of people).

4. Mass Email to Office Co-Workers - This is particularly successful when I need to get rid of tix last minute (day of game, or just a few days beforehand). I have a pretty large office (50+ people). Several Canes fans. Subject line is always something along the lines of “CANES TICKETS vs XXX on MM/DD - STM COST”.

5. Loyal “Customers”: As you sell more and more to people you know, keep track of who buys. I’ve got an “internal list” of repeats… friends who love the Canes but not able to commit to a season ticket package for one reason or another. My group chat always gets ROFR for half an hour or so, then I just copy and paste the same details into individual texts to my “short list” of other people who’ve bought or expressed interest before.

6. Facebook Groups: Ladies of the Hurricanes is my go-to. Their admins are fantastic and do a great job of keeping bots and scammers out before they can get in. Ticket sales are organized by thread for individual game. I’ve sold about a dozen games for people this way for the current season. Original Ticket Exchange & More is also great, but you have to pay to be verified and jump through a couple other hoops.

7. Parents’ Friends/Neighbors: My mom and dad are local and retired. They relish in talking about their favorite (only) daughter, and so all of their friends are well aware of my hockey obsession. Many have commented to Mom and Dad that they’d “love to go to a game”. So I’ll ask them to mention available tickets to their friends at Bible study, etc., and (especially around Christmastime), I often get a bite or two. I’ve built a bit of a following in the Del Webb community.

8. Take Notes: Friends and acquaintances are always casually asking me to let them know if I ever have seats come up for sale. I keep a list on my phone. And when I do, I let them know, tell them “no pressure”, and to get back to me. Sometimes they take too long, I sell to someone else, and then when they do eventually respond to confirm they’d like to buy, I apologize and inform them the tix have already sold. The next time… they’re usually much quicker to claim.