“A black market is a market in goods or services which operates outside the formal one(s) supported by established state power” - Wikipedia.
“A black market is an illegal free market which flourishes in economies where consumer goods are scarce or are heavily taxed. In the first kind, black market prices are higher than the 'official' or controlled prices. In the second kind, prices are lower than the 'legitimate' or taxed prices, due to tax evasion. Black market and black money go hand in hand” - Business Dictionary.
Black markets are essentially channels of buying and selling which are not sanctioned by governments.
Black Markets for Movie tickets in the 1990’s and early 2000’s and the pricing of movie tickets
In the 1990’s and early 2000’, a flourishing black market for movie tickets existed. Movie goers could go to a theatre just before the movie and buy tickets for 3 - 4 times the price of the ticket. Quite a few reasons created the need for such a market. In the time period discussed, the only method to purchase movie tickets was off the ticket sales counter. This enabled touts to form a nexus with the ticket salesmen and purchase the tickets in bulk, which they later sold at a premium. Another reason was that movie hall owners themselves who encouraged this activity for a share in the profits. While the above reasons are valid, they are secondary to the main reason which will be discussed below.
Black Markets for Movie tickets in the late 2000’s and onwards
This period marked the advent of the multiplex culture in movie halls and with it steep increases in prices of movie tickets.
For example, table 1 gives the average movie ticket prices in Bombay during the 1990’s and the late 2000’s. We can see that there has been a huge increase in the price of movie tickets. It is interesting to learn
