Kirby on Finance

Cheap World Series Tickets for Those Who Wait

I’m not sure how many of you are baseball fans, but getting to see a World Series game probably has some appeal to most of us. As a Braves fan, I never had the chance to make it to any of their previous appearances in the World Series, but I was lucky enough to catch several of their playoff appearances (those were the days!). Normally, I’ll do a quick check on Ticketmaster to see if there are any tickets available and if not, I usually resolve to find a scalper (where legal, of course) or a friend that might have a ticket to spare.

Well, if you’re interesting in seeing a World Series game this year, don’t worry - it’s a good thing you haven’t bought a ticket yet. Andrew Sweeting did some ticket price analysis for a research paper and determined that ticket prices actually decrease as game-time draws near.

Sweeting has meticulously crunched the data on baseball ticket sales for 2007 on StubHub.com, and he cross-checked his analysis with data from another (anonymized) online source. He documents a rather striking fact: the prices of baseball tickets tend to fall through time.

So here’s my advice: If you are looking to buy World Series tickets, you should wait until a day or two before the game. In fact, as the graph below shows, this may yield savings of 25 percent, or more!

When to Buy World Series Tickets [Justin Wolfers/Freakonomics Blog]

Tags: bargains, cheap, Saving, sports, tickets

10 Positives About Today’s Economy

I know what you’re thinking - this economy stinks.  While you’re absolutely right, it is certainly good to remember that few things in this world are all good or all bad.  Perhaps this crappy economy follows that maxim as well.  The jolly folks over at Klippinger’s came up with 10 positives of this current economic mess.  Here’s my summary of their list:

1. It’s cheaper to fill up your car.  Remember that it’s not just the U.S. economy that’s struggling, it’s the global economy too.  “The national average for a gallon of gasoline is down to $3.00, from $4.11 in March, and should stay in the $3.00-$3.50 range through next year. Prices for home heating oil and natural gas are also headed lower this winter than last.”
2. Car makers are finally going green.  In the past, the auto industry treated fuel efficient and electric cars as more of a gimmicky concept.  Well, in today’s economy going green means business.  As the average consumer remains conscious of the price at the pump and the cash in their wallet, the auto industry knows that they’ll need to entice you with a car that will save you money at the pump.
3. Cheap Real Estate.  Every time you see a statistic about foreclosure rates being high, remember that it’s a buying opportunity for someone.  I currently do not own a home, but as a potential homeowner this market is getting very appealing. 
4. More cheap money!  While cheap money has been part of the problem in creating this crappy economy, it remains part of the positives that remain if you’re able to properly take advantage of the relatively cheap mortgage loans.
5. Increased FDIC insurance.  Recent legislation increased the limit of FDIC insurance on all of our bank accounts from $100,000 to a pretty snazzy $250,000.  So, if you’re NOT like me and have hundreds of thousands of dollars sitting in your bank account, cheers to you!
6. Cheap stocks.  If you’re able to stomach the volatile market, there are some pretty serious bargains out there.  I’ve been tempted to take advantage of a few stocks that are trading at seemingly rock-bottom prices, but I just can’t help but feel that the risk of the market going lower  has the potential to pull even the bargain stocks down alongside it. 
7. Cheap Tech.  With the slagging economy comes some great deals on items that are normally artificially marked up, like T.V.’s.  I’m not really sure this is the time to drop $1,500 on a new T.V., but if you’re able to you’ll certainly get a nice bang for you buck.
8. Farm exports are up by 40%.  You would think that the sagging economy and the recent hurricanes and tropical storms would pose a double whammy for farming, but that isn’t the case. 
9. Change brings hope.  Whomever is elected on Nov. 4th will offer an opportunity to turn the page on the past 8 years and the struggling economy too.
10. Insane Holiday Bargains.  Stores normally deeply discount products and offer enticing sales to get you into the store to spend the money that you probably don’t already have - this year will be no exception. With less people spending money the don’t have - the stores will up the ante with even deeper discounts to get you in the door.

10 Things That are Going Right [Kipplinger.com]

Tags: auto-industry, bargains, cheap, Economy, exports, FDIC, gas, holiday bargains, insurance, Real Estate, stocks