How gig tickets should be priced is an interesting theoretical question.
The pure capitalist answer is to auction the tickets off, everyone enters the max price they will pay and then the price is set as high as possible to maximise profit for the band and venues.
However the bands don’t love that as they want to connect with fans and be accessible.
Unfortunately if you create a tranche of cheap tickets to try to make them more open than the market price then you get resellers who just buy them up and sell them on at what would have been the market price which defeats the point.
Imo probably the best answer is:
Sell 80% of the tickets at open auction where the price is set by supply and demand.
Sell 20% of tickets to a fan club, where people have to register and actively participate to be eligible for the draw for cheap tickets. And then these tickets are non-transferrable.
That’s probably the best theoretical system that can exist.
vonscharpling2 on
This sort of reminds me of when fans think agents are entirely to blame for their favourite player leaving for money.
In that, yes, agents are probably part of it. But also you don’t want to think your favourite player/band wants lots of money and so it’s easier to displace that disappointment onto another party
JosephRohrbach on
Always worth saying this: ticket resellers (“scalpers”) are the ones selling tickets at market value. Bands *cause* scalping by selling at sub-market rates. There are some solutions to this, but they always cause trade-offs. For instance, if you make tickets un-resellable *and* price them below market value, you will have to use a random system to allocate tickets. This may result in superfans and so on missing out versus casual fans out of sheer bad luck. That might be an acceptable trade-off to you – it is for many people! – but don’t forget that it’s being made.
It’s nobody’s human right to see Oasis live. Nobody’s rights are being violated by having to buy tickets at market value. The way people treat ticket prices is fascinating, and often weirdly entitled. If you want a different system with different trade-offs, that’s cool. As long as you accept the corollaries, you’re fine. Don’t make out as if you’re somehow being attacked by businesses because it’s a bit pricey to see a reunion of a really popular band.
squad92 on
Ticketmaster doesn’t set the dynamic pricing range, the artist does.
Skirting0nTheSurface on
digital ticketing system, tickets cant be resold by customers directly, only back to the app who will give it to whoever is top of the waiting list then you’ll be refunded. All tickets have account holders name, and should be verified at the door to prevent them being sold on. There, problem solved.
Cueball61 on
It’s been interesting to watch this go down, because a whole new demographic has just discovered the bullshit that people have been putting up with for years…
ghost-bagel on
Supply and demand has always been about fleecing customers as much as possible until they say no. Until people stop buying the stupidly priced tickets, there is no way to stop this kind of thing. It really is as simple as that.
This Oasis gig demonstrated once again that even with outrageous ticketing practices, “in demand” price surges and the rest of it, the tickets will sell out in no time.
This was the public telling the promoters and artists “this is actually fine, in fact we will probably pay even more next time”.
alfienoakes on
I don’t imagine the Gallagher’s are getting into the weeds about prices. Their management however might like to explain pricing to the fans.
idontlikemondays321 on
Dynamic pricing is bs.
It’s like seeing a coat online for £60, going instore to buy it (still with £60 then attached) then getting to the till and they tell you it’s £300 now because ten people looked at it before you. Absolute mugs
Brok3nMonkey on
“In demand” standing, £350 …. Band of the working class people
Only_Quote_Simpsons on
Oasis and the management team are to blame, Ticketmaster (who are also rip off merchants with their fees) outright said that ‘flexible’ pricing is the artists choice, or it can be a fixed price that won’t increase.
Oasis knew it would be a sellout, Oasis knew everyone wanted tickets, Oasis chose the flexible pricing option regardless.
How much fucking money do you need? Greedy bastards.
KrypoKnight on
Everyone acts like we don’t have a fool proof system for airplane tickets. Why aren’t these treated the same? You sign up, send id, buy tickets assigned to your id and if they don’t match when you turn up you’re turned away. If you genuinely can’t go, refund from ticketmaster and resold at face value. It’s not that hard.
NotMyIssue99 on
I read that the Oasis management stated that if tickets are sold on a secondary market at more than face value they will be cancelled. They stated that you should only use Ticketmaster or Twickets.
EfficientTitle9779 on
Fuck Oasis and fuck Ticketmaster. Both to blame, oasis issued a strongly worded warning against resellers no way anything will actually be done. They made their bag and so did ticketmaster and the 3rd party resellers.
As long as they don’t pretend to care anymore I actually don’t mind, it’s the faux “band of the people” pretend nonsense that does my head in.
MyChemicalBarndance on
Somehow everyone I know was 502310nd in the queue and couldn’t get a ticket, yet Viagogo and other Ticketmaster approved (and sometimes owned) resellers are able to re-sell tickets instantly for an insane mark-up no problem.
discographyA on
Considering the price gouging on tickets and hotel rooms around this event I wonder how much coke dealers are going to jack up the price.
jbstans on
Surge pricing plus only allowing resells from the reseller that you own is such a fucking scam. They can burn in fucking fire and disappear and nothing of value will be lost.
OtherwiseInflation on
What’s the most efficient price setting mechanism here? I’d have thought a reverse auction. Start with prices at £1,000 or something, after a minute they go down to £999, and so on until all tickets are sold.
18 Comments
How gig tickets should be priced is an interesting theoretical question.
The pure capitalist answer is to auction the tickets off, everyone enters the max price they will pay and then the price is set as high as possible to maximise profit for the band and venues.
However the bands don’t love that as they want to connect with fans and be accessible.
Unfortunately if you create a tranche of cheap tickets to try to make them more open than the market price then you get resellers who just buy them up and sell them on at what would have been the market price which defeats the point.
Imo probably the best answer is:
Sell 80% of the tickets at open auction where the price is set by supply and demand.
Sell 20% of tickets to a fan club, where people have to register and actively participate to be eligible for the draw for cheap tickets. And then these tickets are non-transferrable.
That’s probably the best theoretical system that can exist.
This sort of reminds me of when fans think agents are entirely to blame for their favourite player leaving for money.
In that, yes, agents are probably part of it. But also you don’t want to think your favourite player/band wants lots of money and so it’s easier to displace that disappointment onto another party
Always worth saying this: ticket resellers (“scalpers”) are the ones selling tickets at market value. Bands *cause* scalping by selling at sub-market rates. There are some solutions to this, but they always cause trade-offs. For instance, if you make tickets un-resellable *and* price them below market value, you will have to use a random system to allocate tickets. This may result in superfans and so on missing out versus casual fans out of sheer bad luck. That might be an acceptable trade-off to you – it is for many people! – but don’t forget that it’s being made.
It’s nobody’s human right to see Oasis live. Nobody’s rights are being violated by having to buy tickets at market value. The way people treat ticket prices is fascinating, and often weirdly entitled. If you want a different system with different trade-offs, that’s cool. As long as you accept the corollaries, you’re fine. Don’t make out as if you’re somehow being attacked by businesses because it’s a bit pricey to see a reunion of a really popular band.
Ticketmaster doesn’t set the dynamic pricing range, the artist does.
digital ticketing system, tickets cant be resold by customers directly, only back to the app who will give it to whoever is top of the waiting list then you’ll be refunded. All tickets have account holders name, and should be verified at the door to prevent them being sold on. There, problem solved.
It’s been interesting to watch this go down, because a whole new demographic has just discovered the bullshit that people have been putting up with for years…
Supply and demand has always been about fleecing customers as much as possible until they say no. Until people stop buying the stupidly priced tickets, there is no way to stop this kind of thing. It really is as simple as that.
This Oasis gig demonstrated once again that even with outrageous ticketing practices, “in demand” price surges and the rest of it, the tickets will sell out in no time.
This was the public telling the promoters and artists “this is actually fine, in fact we will probably pay even more next time”.
I don’t imagine the Gallagher’s are getting into the weeds about prices. Their management however might like to explain pricing to the fans.
Dynamic pricing is bs.
It’s like seeing a coat online for £60, going instore to buy it (still with £60 then attached) then getting to the till and they tell you it’s £300 now because ten people looked at it before you. Absolute mugs
“In demand” standing, £350 …. Band of the working class people
Oasis and the management team are to blame, Ticketmaster (who are also rip off merchants with their fees) outright said that ‘flexible’ pricing is the artists choice, or it can be a fixed price that won’t increase.
Oasis knew it would be a sellout, Oasis knew everyone wanted tickets, Oasis chose the flexible pricing option regardless.
How much fucking money do you need? Greedy bastards.
Everyone acts like we don’t have a fool proof system for airplane tickets. Why aren’t these treated the same? You sign up, send id, buy tickets assigned to your id and if they don’t match when you turn up you’re turned away. If you genuinely can’t go, refund from ticketmaster and resold at face value. It’s not that hard.
I read that the Oasis management stated that if tickets are sold on a secondary market at more than face value they will be cancelled. They stated that you should only use Ticketmaster or Twickets.
Fuck Oasis and fuck Ticketmaster. Both to blame, oasis issued a strongly worded warning against resellers no way anything will actually be done. They made their bag and so did ticketmaster and the 3rd party resellers.
As long as they don’t pretend to care anymore I actually don’t mind, it’s the faux “band of the people” pretend nonsense that does my head in.
Somehow everyone I know was 502310nd in the queue and couldn’t get a ticket, yet Viagogo and other Ticketmaster approved (and sometimes owned) resellers are able to re-sell tickets instantly for an insane mark-up no problem.
Considering the price gouging on tickets and hotel rooms around this event I wonder how much coke dealers are going to jack up the price.
Surge pricing plus only allowing resells from the reseller that you own is such a fucking scam. They can burn in fucking fire and disappear and nothing of value will be lost.
What’s the most efficient price setting mechanism here? I’d have thought a reverse auction. Start with prices at £1,000 or something, after a minute they go down to £999, and so on until all tickets are sold.