No Quick Riches For Resellers of Canucks Tickets
Bruce Constantineau
Vancouver Sun
April 12, 2007 -- Vancouver Canucks ticketholders expecting to reap playoff gold by selling their tickets to the first Canucks-Dallas Stars game had to rein in their expectations Wednesday.
Most still made a profit, but for Game 1 at least, an unexpected volume of ticket sellers has ensured that price inflation remained in check. One seller on eBay who wanted $200 for a $79 ticket attracted a $109 top bid.
Another who wanted $1,000 for a pair of tickets worth about $600 still hadn't sold them just three hours before game time. When offered face value for the tickets, he refused and said he'd rather go to the game himself.
ShowTimeTickets.com representative Terri Dueck said asking prices for tickets to the series opener dropped by 30 to 40 per cent early this week. At one point, she said, the ticket broker got 10 calls from sellers for every call it received from a potential buyer.
"It started to level off, though, and now we're getting an equal number of calls from buyers and sellers," Dueck said before Wednesday's game.
But prices never really skyrocketed. The ShowTimeTickets website offered Plaza-level tickets for $199, only about $10 above face value. Balcony tickets worth $79 were offered for $149, while Club seats worth $295 were offered for as little as $415.
Dueck expects ticket prices for future Canucks playoff games will increase as the Dallas-Vancouver series progresses.
"I think we'll see more and more demand created once people get a feel for the playoffs after the first game," she said. "There'll be a big buzz around town, with people talking up the games and wanting to be there in person."
