Many popular restaurants struggle with fully booked tables and last-minute cancellations, leaving frustrated diners unable to secure reservations and restaurants with empty seats. A secondary marketplace for restaurant reservations could help by letting users resell bookings they can’t use, ensuring tables stay filled and restaurants earn extra revenue.

How It Could Work

The idea is a platform where users can list reservations for sale, and others can buy or bid on them. Prices could adjust dynamically based on demand, similar to a stock market. For example, someone with a Friday night reservation at a sought-after restaurant could sell it to the highest bidder instead of canceling. Over time, restaurants could join directly, managing bookings on the platform and earning a cut of resales.

• For diners: Access to sold-out reservations or a way to monetize unused bookings.
• For restaurants: More filled tables and additional revenue from resale fees.
• For the platform: Sustainable income via transaction fees (e.g., 10-15% per sale).

Getting Started

One way to test this concept would be to begin with a manual process—like coordinating transfers via WhatsApp or email—in a single city with high-demand restaurants. This would help gauge interest and pricing behavior before building a full platform. Early partnerships with a few exclusive venues could ensure liquidity, while features like reservation verification and user ratings could prevent fraud.

Existing Alternatives and Improvements

Current systems like OpenTable or Resy focus on direct bookings but don’t allow resales. This idea borrows from secondary ticket markets (e.g., Ticketmaster’s resale platform) but applies it to restaurants, creating a more efficient way to match diners with available tables.

By starting small and proving demand, this marketplace could eventually expand, offering diners more flexibility and helping restaurants maximize revenue.