Woman organizes concert tickets for friends who back out last-minute, she refunds their payments, but resells the tickets for an extra $150 each, when they discover she kept the profit, they accuse her of stealing: 'Insinuating that the profit was theirs'

Author image for Emma Saven
Emma Saven
Dec 23, 2025 10:00 AM EST

Mixing friendship with money is almost always a bad idea…

That's why most people will warn you at some point in your life to never get into business with a close friend. Unless, of course, you are looking for a secret out of that friendship, then we highly recommend it! Because the moment you mix friendship with finances, the financial profit and emotional profit begin entering the boxing ring, battling it out for first place! And as sad as it is, financial profit almost always takes the 'belt' home…This does not merely occur within business deals, but in many cases throughout the daily life of friendships. The I owe you's, and you owe me's need to remain under control in order to sustain a resentment-free relationship. Because if not, you'll most likely end up at the movies, sharing popcorn with a pile of cash, wishing Becky were here instead. So always be careful who you put first when it comes to friendship….Benjamin Franklin or Becky? 

Profit is defined as a financial gain, your total revenue minus your expenses. A simple math equation for many people. But is profit merely restricted to finances? Or is there also such a thing as emotional profit…or in this case, emotional loss? 

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  • Well, this girl was certainly choosing profit over her friends. However, in this scenario, most people can agree she had every right to do so…! This young woman was so excited about a concert coming to town that she bought and organized presale tickets for the following year…Fast forward a good few months to ten days before the show…Her thoughtful friends decide to pull out of their commitment to going with her to the concert…degrading all the planning and effort she had put in beforehand. Luckily for her, she refunded her friends their original amount and managed to make a $150 profit by taking on the resale amount…A big financial win if you ask us…but also simultaneously welcoming in a large emotional loss where her friends are concerned…

  • 01
    Three friends at a music festival smiling with their hands in the air
    via monkeybusinessimages

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02

    AITA for keeping profit from selling concert tickets?

    My friends (3) and I decided to go to a concert together that had presale for the following year.
    via amu-the-emu
  • 03
    Y'all know Ticketmaster- I got a presale code, waited in queue, raced for my life, put my credit card down, and got us tickets.
    via amu-the-emu
  • 04
    At this time, 2 of them sent me the money for their portion. A month before the concert, I asked them if they'd still like to go, or if I should sell the tickets.
    via amu-the-emu
  • 05
    At this time, this artist was getting a lot of traction for their first album, selling out venues, so it wouldn't be a problem to sell them.
    via amu-the-emu
  • 06
    They say they're all super excited to go and they can't wait. I get pumped up to go.
    via amu-the-emu
  • 07
    Flash forward 10 days before the concert, they say that they changed their mind and don't want to go, say that if I still want to, I can still go with someone else with one of the tickets (from the friend that hadn't given me money?) and ask me to sell their tickets (2 of them that had given me money).
    via amu-the-emu
  • 08
    I'm able to sell the tickets pretty easily, for more than what I originally paid for them on Ticketmaster (an extra $150 per ticket).
    via amu-the-emu
  • 09
    I ask some of my other friends for advice- should I send them all the money or should I keep the profit?
    via amu-the-emu
  • 10
    LIVE MUSIC CONCERT CONCERT HALL TICKET PRICE: $35.90
    via firnelf

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • A list of quick tips to help prevent finances from straining friendships, from me, a girl who knows how cringy ‘money talks’ can be:

    1.) Set Expectations Early: Don’t assume your friend’s wallet is psychic.

    2.) Respect budgets: Not everyone has the same cash flow, don’t guilt anyone into overspending.

    3.) Pay or split amounts immediately: Don't turn I owe you's into the elephant in the room (they're your friends, not your debt collectors)

    5.) There are apps to help you!: Avoid an awkward conversation and let your phones do the work! 

  • 11
    I got a resounding "yes, it's your money, you did all the work" answer from everyone I spoke to, so I felt good about keeping the profit.
    via amu-the-emu
  • 12
    So, after the concert, I sent back the amount of money they paid me for their tickets.
    via amu-the-emu
  • 13
    They then text me asking for "the rest of the money", insinuating that the profit was theirs.
    via amu-the-emu
  • 14
    I explained, I bought the tickets, put down my card, and they flaked on me (potentially screwing me from seeing the concert), so I thought I would keep the profit.
    via amu-the-emu
  • 15
    Suddenly, they're calling me a bad friend, telling people I stole from them, and saying they never want to speak to me again.
    via amu-the-emu
  • 16
    Am I the asshole? EDIT-to save friendship, I split the profit 3 ways with them and apologized for the miscommunication, but they are still telling people this story and that I'm a bad friend.
    via amu-the-emu
  • 17
    NTA. Blyatphemy They got a full refund, not a stock option. You handled the presale, the risk, and the resale. If the tickets didn't sell, you wouldn't be covering the loss. Profit comes with risk, not vibes.
    via Blyatphemy
  • 18
    irvingfosters YTA for selling the tickets for $150 more each - you're contributing to the Ticketmaster problems.
    via irvingfosters
  • 19
    Ok_Play2364 Why did you tell anyone you made a profit? All you needed to say was you sold them
    via Ok_Play2364
  • 20
    Woman holding a lot of dollar bills in her hands
    via Karola G

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 21
    mothandravenstudio NTA. They did absolutely nothing and got their money back.
    via mothandravenstudio
  • 22
    Patience NotMyVirtue1 If you had to sell it for a loss, would they have paid you the difference? What if you couldn't sell it at all? What about your time? Do they not feel like you should be compensated for the risk you took? What exactly did they do to deserve the profit? 100% NTA.
    via Patience NotMyVirtue1
  • 23
    blueeyed94 Honestly, NTA. I find it a bit suspicious they knew how much the tickets were worth and not sticking to a long planned event because you don't feel like it almost always makes you the ahole. It sounds a lot like they knew how much the tickets would be worth if they waited long enough and thought that they could simply leave all the work (and risk) to you.
    via blueeyed94
  • 24
    Katcar2007 I would totally have given them exactly what they had invested and kept the rest for my time and energy.
    via Katcar2007
  • 25
    Sad-Rice-1895 I mean, YTA for jacking up the ticket price for profit from other buyers in the first place. You only owe your friends what they paid, so NTA for that part. But $150 more? Really? I get wanting to recoup from the friend that didn't pay, and increasing a bit to cover service fees & all but ridiculously high resale prices are part of the problem with shows and YTA for being a part of that problem.
    via Sad-Rice-1895

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music-concert online contribution profit resale tickets
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