Ticket Brokers and Economics 101
There is a rule of business within free societies that governs the price you will pay for the commodities you desire, be it sports and concert tickets or any other commodity. That rule is basic Economics 101 "Rule of Supply and Demand". If the demand for tickets to particular sports, concert or theater event is greater than the amount of the pre-printed tickets, the price of the tickets will sell for above face value. However, even with ticket brokers, at times the price for the ticket will be discounted below face value because the demand is low and the broker has an inventory of tickets he or she needs to liquidate. Additionally, ticket brokers provide a convenient service to customers by often times having an inventory of tickets with prime seating. These tickets may have been sold to the broker by a season ticket holder who could not attend. Or, someone may have purchased the tickets with the intent of attending the event and something came up that prevented them from being able to attend. Whatever the reason, these tickets are now available for purchase in the free market of capitalism.
Events that are scheduled for a future date have "time risk" associated with them. For example, if someone desires to attend an event that has recently been announced but is, say a month away, they may not be certain they will be able to attend due to potential schedule conflicts. The option is to go ahead and purchase the tickets for the event and take a potential risk of not being able to attend or purchase from a ticket broker at a later date. If on the other hand one chooses to wait closer to the time of the event, they have less time risk but the better seats will likely have sold. Or in a worse case scenario, the event may be sold out.
Whatever reason there may be for purchasing a ticket at a later date than announced, ticket brokers provide a valuable service to the public. Through a broker's contacts or someone that may have sold tickets to a ticket broker for inventory, the opportunity to purchase a ticket and attend an event has now broadened for the consumer. This makes for a more liquid market and gives more availability to the purchaser. There are several ticket sites online and with some searching the possibility is very good that tickets can be found to most any event. On the ticket site there is normally a statement attesting that the tickets may be above the face price and listing the reasons. The decision is up to the consumer as to whether it is worth spending more than face price to attend an event that has been anticipated.
If you decide to purchase the tickets near the time of the event; most sites offer several delivery methods. Normally, next day delivery by an overnight service is available. There will be a premium overnight shipping charge to have the tickets delivered next day, but that is an option that you choose. Also, be aware that there may be state and local taxes in addition to the price of the tickets that will increase your final costs.
In the future, when deciding whether to purchase tickets from a broker or miss the event, remember that the ticket broker absorbed the time risk. Additionally, the added convenience the ticket broker has provided is worth a premium price to most consumers.