Redbox starts selling event tickets in L.A.

The recently launched Redbox Instant streaming service isn’t the only thing Redbox is doing to expand its business beyond physical DVD and video game rentals.

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Yesterday, the Coinstar-owned company began offering customers in Los Angeles the capability to purchase tickets to sporting events, standup comedy shows, theme parks, night clubs, concerts, and more through its new Redbox Tickets service.

The ticketing service, which was first tested with a select number of events in Philadelphia last year, is available on both Redbox’s website as well as the 1,300 DVD and game rental kiosks in the area. Buyers can then either print off their tickets at home or pick them up at the event box office before the show.

But here’s why you should care about Redbox Tickets: It’s charging a $1 flat fee for processing, which is much lower than what other services tack on to the original ticket price.

The only downside is you likely won’t have a selection of premium seating to choose from. Venues that provide Redbox with tickets will be doing so to minimize the number of unsold tickets prior to an event, the company told the Wall Street Journal back in October.

In other words, people who are planning to buy tickets at top dollar as soon as they go on sale will get first crack at tickets like normal, along with the higher processing fee. Whatever is left will then become available through Redbox, which isn’t a bad deal when you consider that less desirable seats will now cost less.

Initially, Redbox is offering venue tickets from Caesars Entertainment, Improv Comedy Clubs, NASCAR/ISC at Auto Club Speedway, Universal Studios Hollywood theme park, Guinness World Record Museum, and Playhouse Nightclub. To do this, Redbox made agreements with five existing ticketing services, including Agile Ticketing, Paciolan, ShoWare, Ticketfly and TicketMob. My guess is that Redbox will add to that list of partnerships in the future and eventually roll out its ticketing service to more cities.

Despite charging just a $1 fee on ticket sales, Redbox will still probably bring in enough business to make it worthwhile. This is partially because selling tickets isn’t much different from selling DVD/game rentals, at least from a consumer perspective. Tickets are now just one more thing you can get through Redbox, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we started seeing those Redbox kiosks pop up near concert venues, stadiums, and night clubs.