Purchasing Tickets From Scalpers/Box Office at Canadiens Games

[EagerBeaver]

My friend and I went to the Habs-Flyers game last night and we were ultimately able to buy tickets from a scalper but what occurred the morning of the game was interesting and informative.

My friend is a veteran of many professional sports events. He regularly attends games of the New York Yankees, New York Giants, Boston Red Sox and professional golf tournaments as well as NHL games. After we had breakfast at the Chez Cora, at about 10 am Saturday morning, he told me we could get good tickets by going to the Bell Centre box office and finding out when the players release their unused allotment for friends, relatives and babes. We talked to a nice young lady at the box office right after it opened at 10 am and she told us to check back at noon but she would call. She also took my friend's prepaid Canadian cellphone number and said she would call when she got the word of the ticket release.

As soon as we left the box office two scalpers followed us. The first guy spoke good English but was very aggressive and wanted $250 for seats that were not that great. He did not really negotiate with us so we told him thanks but no thanks. This guy had a seating chart and showed us where the seats were as did the second dude.

Another scalper must have overheard the conversation because he followed us and attempted to start a new negotiation. I let my friend handle the negotiations as he is veteran at these kinds of negotiations and has ruthless negotiation skills. Anyway the negotiation started at $250 but this second scalper was a personable dude and a knowledgeable sports fan. When he heard that we were from the New York area and were Giants fans, he seemed to know all the issues with the team.

Anyway we ended up buying two tickets in section 103, row E, 10 rows off the ice, for $180 each.

The girl from the box office called us back at shortly after noon and had section 112 seats also 10 rows off the ice, and said they were $190 each. After we heard the asking price we told her we thought we were set, and not to hold those tickets for us.

So tickets can be had in real good seats at sold out games for in the $180-$190 range. The trick is to wait until those player tickets get released and be ready to pounce. I actually think we could have gotten the section 103 seats for $170, maybe even $165, but my friend and I liked the scalper and we felt he needed to make something so my friend showed mercy and pulled the trigger at $180 although this guy was still dropping his price.

The seats were really good, sat next to a couple of hot French Canadian women and got to see the Habs beat the Flyers.

 

[Special K]

Beav, what was the face value of the tickets you bought off the scalper?

 

[EagerBeaver]

I believe the face value was $137.50 plus tax. With tax I think it comes to $160 or so? So I am guessing that the guy made $40 on the scalp for the 2 tickets.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Interesting thread. Very informative. I doubt I could get a similar 'deal' when the Leafs are in town, but it's worth a try.

Too bad the game kind of sucked, but you never know these things in advance when attending a sports event. The last NFL game i attended, my team got blown out of the stadium by Russell Willson & the up n' coming Seattle Seahawks.

Thanks for starting this thread, EB. It proves that a deal can actually be had with some of those scalpers. I'm curious how the discussion with the ticket counter girl went. Did your buddy have to specify that he was interested in those particular tickets (the one released to the players & friends) or were other tickets already available when you went there?

 

[EagerBeaver]

Did your buddy have to specify that he was interested in those particular tickets (the one released to the players & friends) or were other tickets already available when you went there?

He first asked if there were any seats available and she said not two together. He then made it crystal clear that he was interested in knowing when the unused player allotment would be released. She indicated anywhere from 12-2 pm and my friend asked if he could leave his phone number. When he gave her a Canadian phone number he explained it was a prepaid cellphone he actually purchased at the Eaton Centre the prior day. She did call back and I don't remember the exact time but it was close to noon and had we not purchased the section 103 seats from the scalper, we would have gotten seats also 10 rows off the ice and closer to center ice in section 112 for $190 each, or that is what she was asking. Not sure if we could have negotiated that or not but it told us the section 103 seats were fair market value at $180/each.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Indeed, the tickets you wound up buying from the 'ticket broker' were at a very good price, considering how early it was prior to game time.

The best ticket dealer i've ever met was none other than my buddy Maxwell Smart, a former merbite, who had the knack to always come up with a bargain price for any ticket he would wind up buying. I'd be at a concert and happy with the price i paid (at retail), and 15 minutes into the concert, he'd show up in a section even better than mine & had only paid a fraction of the price i had paid.

His philosophy was that he would only attend a game or concert if he got the ticket at a discounted price. My guess is that the scalpers eventually realized he would never buy from them unless this happened, so they'd wind up giving up to his demands. Of course, he'd always wait until the game or concert had just started before showing up and checking what their prices were.