University of Michigan class Facebook pages, meant for academic inquiries, awkward freshman year introductions and wholesome memes are now a front for student football ticket sales.
MarketNoire, an open Facebook group with the sole purpose of serving as a space for transactions between students, has close to 7,000 members and is a frequent stop for students trying to buy or sell their football tickets.
Pharmacy student Kimberly Pais said she’s sold numerous tickets this year using MarketNoire and Facebook class pages.
“I’ve been doing it for a while,” Pais said. “For the most part, I get blasted with messages right away.”
Pais has been selling since her undergraduate years, which were also spent at the University.
“I’m basically just trying to make my money back,” she said. “I try and sell it around the average value. If I really want to sell it, I’ll sell it for a little under just so I can get rid of it.”
On the other end of the spectrum is LSA sophomore Matthew Askar, who only recently started flipping football tickets for a profit.
“When I originally sold my first (Ohio State) ticket, I kept getting messages from people offering me different prices and I realized I could’ve gotten a lot more,” Askar said. “So I messaged other people asking how much they were selling their tickets for and realized there was a gap, so I started trying to flip tickets.”
Askar has bought about 10 tickets and has flipped four of them for a profit.
“At first I felt bad, but then I realized that if you’re not willing to do the research — and I am taking the time to look it up and message people — it kind of evens out,” he said.
His greatest profit margin thus far has been $150.
“You feel some achievement when you flip a ticket,” he said. “It feels like I’m doing some shit with my life.”
Askar also conducts his business using MarketNoire, and already has plans for the future.
“Next year, probably not (going to try) because we don’t have the big games,” he said. “But for sure senior year, I can capitalize on that.”
Both Pais and Askar recognize some seasons can produce more valuable tickets than others. This year, with both the Ohio State and Michigan State games at the Big House, University of Michigan ticket holders are selling without any problems.
“I was trying to sell my OSU ticket and like five seconds later some girl messaged me and I sold it,” Pais said.
Associate Athletic Director Kurt Svoboda wrote in an email interview that 21,000 tickets were sold this year, the highest demand for tickets since 23,584 student tickets were purchased in the 2007 season.
In regards to students reselling their student tickets, Svoboda commented, “We love it when our venues are full because it adds so positively to our atmosphere. In that regard, I’d much rather have a ticket utilized than to go unused.”