This has been bothering me for a while. These people are pricing out the people who want to see a big game so that only rich people can buy these tickets. I consider myself lucky if I can get a ticket, but the idiots who want to be seen take all the fun out of being there. What happened to the days when the only way to get a ticket is to hang out overnight with the die-hard fans by the stadium? Not to mention the fact that cops still arrest run of the mill scalpers selling tickets...
I've never seen a run of the mill scalper get arrested, and you know what, I was thinking about buying tickets today on stubhub if they went low enough (100 range) and they didn't, so I accept that there is enough demand (and a low enough supply) that 200 is the price of a balcony seat tonight - we shouldn't be mad at people taking advantage of that - we should be mad at the Celtics for giving us high expectations by charging too little for a game - if the c's were smart there'd be a way to change ticket prices based on perception of sell outs - Stubhub/Craigslist etc. are actually almost a perfect model of a free market economy
Okay. And this is only beneficial for who? Not the fans/consumers. It is a perfect model of a free market economy but we suffer because of that. The price of tickets are already rediculous (It will cost 90 dollars face value for corner balconies this round). You think they should RAISE the prices? The same thing would happen only now scalping agencies can drive the price even HIGHER. No you should only be able to purchase tickets if you plan on going. Period.
this is beneficial to people who have the money to pay for tickets - its good for fans, consumers and the Celtics - I'm arguing the Celtics are actually making less money than they could, put it this way, if a $30 seat is going for $200 on Stubhub, the equilibrium price for the seat is $200 - charging $30 creates a shortage of seats and angry fans. If the seat was $150 from the Celtics, the equilibrium price is still $200, but scalpers/stubhub people are less likely to bother paying $150 for a seat and marking it up $50 than they were to get a $170 profit on a $30 seat, thus the consumer who wants to get the ticket directly from the Celtics is in a better position to actually get the seat. If the celtics charge $220 for said seats, there will be an excess and seats will go unsold (see Yankees, New York)... its all supply and demand my friend - the diehard fan with no money does lose out on going to the game yes, but seats are sold, people go - I'm sorry to tell you this, but the Celtics organization cares most about making money, not making less financially healthy fans happy