Looking at the prices for a hot concert or rival baseball match-up, cheap summer fun can seem anything but.
On the secondary market, tickets for popular acts such as Justin Timberlake and Paul McCartney are averaging $243 and $241, respectively, reports aggregator SeatGeek.com. (See chart below for the going rates for some of this summer's popular shows.) Baseball fans, meanwhile, are seeing box office ticket prices that are 2 percent higher than last season, according to Team Marketing Report. That's $27.93 for the average seat and $93.41 for premium ones. (See chart below for some of the priciest and cheapest teams.)
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But there's no need to pay a premium price—or in most cases, even shell out for a ticket's face value. Event tickets are the rare area where it can pay to be either an early-bird or a procrastinator.