Prague is more expensive than New York

When the betting company Sazka recently started selling tickets for the NHL openers scheduled for Prague in the autumn, the cheapest ticket cost almost CZK 2,000. This is three times more than a similar ticket costs in the US. But even this huge difference did not put Czech fans off: Sazka said the tickets were gone in a single day.

Are Czechs so wealthy that they are willing to pay far more than people in the West? Or where is the problem with the local, often overshot, prices, and how can one cope with them as a customer?

Slow process

People used to Czech prices are often surprised to find out how cheaply one can buy things in the „expensive“ West. There are a number of reasons for this, of course, but the economic explanation of weaker competition or willingness to pay for exclusivity, such as with the NHL matches, will not always do. Another factor is psychology linked to the past, or the feeling of luxury where there is none.

There are ways to protect yourself from excessively high prices in general, but they require energy and time. One of the cures is the above-mentioned competition.Capitalism brought along the idea that pricing is an absolutely free process and that prices depend merely on an agreement between the shop assistant and the customer. This, however, is a very simplistic view. In time-tested market economies, there are at least two tools that affect prices: Different bureaucratic…