The Opportunity Cost Queuing Up for Big Bang’s Alive Tour in Malaysia Ticket

Article was taken from http://en.korea.com/bigbang/board/record-breaking-3500-fans-queue-for-big-bangs-alive-tour-in-malaysia-ticket-launch/ (excerpts):

28 Jul 2012 (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) – Proving the massive popularity of BIGBANG, a record-breaking crowd of an estimated 3,500 started queuing for their first-ever concert in Malaysia – BIGBANG Alive Galaxy Tour 2012 – from as early as 22 hours before tickets launched for sale at 10.30am today at fahrenheit88. As of 6.00pm today, 95% of the total 12,000 tickets up for sale were sold out, with only Category 5-8 tickets currently available for sale (RM 288, RM 198, RM 188, RM 98).

A total of over 600 tickets in the highest tier category (RM 688 = US$ 218) sold out the quickest in a mere 30 minutes, while Category 2 (RM 588 = US$ 185), Category 3 (RM 488 = US$ 154) and Category 4 (RM 388 = US$ 123) sold out within an hour. A total of over 11,000 tickets were sold today, making this the largest number of tickets sold within a day for any K-Pop concert in Malaysia...

...BIGBANG Alive Galaxy Tour 2012 Malaysia is set to be the concert of the year with a massive RM 4 million (US$ 1.2 million) production show, in a one-night only concert at Stadium Merdeka on 27 Oct 2012. BIGBANG, consisting of five K-pop heroes G-Dragon, Taeyang, TOP, Seungri and Daesung, will perform the Malaysia leg of the BIGBANG Alive Galaxy Tour 2012 in their very first concert in Malaysia. BIGBANG Alive Galaxy Tour 2012 Malaysia will be the first outdoor concert across Asia.

Based on the article, Big Bang is a South Korean group who will be holding a concert in Malaysia. The tickets for the concert were launched 3 months before the concert and on the first day, 95% of the tickets were sold out. On the launching day, there were around 3,500 people queued up to buy the tickets. There were even people who queued up 22 hours before the tickets were launched which started at 10.30am. By 6.00p.m, 95% of the total 12,000 tickets up for sale were sold out with left only Category 5-8 tickets were available (RM 288, RM 198, RM 188, RM 98). A total of over 600 tickets in the highest tier category (RM 688) sold out the quickest in a mere 30 minutes, while Category 2 (RM 588), Category 3 (RM 488) and Category 4 (RM 388) sold out within an hour. A total of over 11,000 tickets were sold on the launching day, making this the largest number of tickets sold within a day for any K-Pop concert in Malaysia. The concert is set to be a massive RM 4 million production show in a one- night only concert.

From the article, it shows that there is scarcity, choice and opportunity cost. Scarcity is the condition that exists when there are not enough resources to satisfy all the wants of individuals or society. The tickets for Category 1- 4 are limited and they do have enough tickets to satisfy people who need it. Therefore, it leads to choices. When they are unable to choose the exact category tickets because it was sold out, they need to give up and choose another category. It is a tradeoff and it means that they have to give up obtaining the best tickets sold to get other tickets that are available. There are some benefits for the people who go to the concert as they get to gain or pleasure that are determined by preferences. The people are willing to give up their time to attend the concert.

As for the people who queued up 22 hours before the tickets were launched, it creates opportunity cost. When we choose the best alternative, the next best alternative which is left out is known as the opportunity cost of making a choice. In other words, the benefits that was lost and could have achieved from the next best alternative. The opportunity cost of queuing up 22 hours before the ticket was launched is they could have spent their time on doing other things. To see the concert, the people will need to use up scarce funds to buy the concert tickets. If they did not buy the concert tickets, the money could have been spent on shopping. They will also use up scarce time to queue up for more than 22 hours to obtain the concert tickets. Then, they also need to give up studying and their sleeping time and queue up to secure getting the concert tickets. If they did not queue up for 22 hours, they could have spent their time on studying to get better results and some sleep to stay healthy. For them, it consists of a few things that are given up which is their money When they give up studying or doing homework, their results will get worst. Moreover, when they have to give up sleeping, their health problem will be poorer. Therefore, to watch the concert the people have to give up on a few things which are shopping, get better grades and healthier lifestyles.

 Let’s put it in a production possibilities frontier. A production possibilities curve is a graphical representation of the alternative combinations of goods and services an economy can produce. We will look at the production possibilities frontier for time to queue up for concert tickets and grade in economics.

Let’s take a look at the PPF. For example, this is a PPF for Amy who really wants to queue up for the concert tickets to watch Big Bang and also wants to score well for her economics paper. Starting from point A, it shows that the grade for her economics paper is 80% if she did not queue up for the concert tickets. But, to obtain the concert tickets, she has to forgo her studying time to queue up. Every choice along the PPF involves a tradeoff. On the PPF, Amy tradeoff her grades in economics for the concert tickets. When Amy wants to spend her time to queue up for the concert tickets, she faces a tradeoff which is higher chance to get the tickets and getting lower grades for her economics. Tradeoffs involve a cost which is opportunity cost. Suppose Amy is at point B, and she is queuing up for the concert tickets for 5 hours. Her grades were dropped from 80% to 78% which is 2 marks lower. The longer she queues up for the concert tickets from point C to point D to point E, the opportunity cost will increase more. The outward - bowed shape of the PPF indicates that there is an increasing opportunity cost. When Amy spent more time to queue up, it costs her grades her grades in economics to go lower. It is known as the law of increasing opportunity cost.