What is dynamic pricing and how does it work?
The topic of ticket prices becoming untenable for many fans due to "dynamic pricing" has been a point of contention since Oasis reunion tickets went on sale. Benjamin Jackson talks about what "dynamic pricing" is and why we, the consumer, are apparently to blame for ticket prices.
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00:00You may have found yourself on the receiving end of some pretty expensive gig tickets this year,
00:06with Oasis, Sabrina Carpenter and Catfish and the Bottlemen all receiving calls from fans regarding the cost of seeing them live.
00:14So why have gig tickets gotten so expensive in recent years?
00:19Aside from rises in inflation, costs for travel and of course hiring large venues out for the shows,
00:26a lot of the rising costs are apparently the fault of our own.
00:29No, really, it's our fault.
00:41Dynamic pricing is a business model Ticketmaster has adopted to react to the market regarding ticket prices.
00:47And much like Uber and its surge pricing, the idea of dynamic pricing is that events that are not selling as well as they should
00:55will have their prices lowered due to a lack of demand.
00:58But with that comes the pendulum swinging the other way.
01:02Now if there is a high demand for shows, say for example Oasis' long-awaited Reunion or Sabrina Carpenter's eagerly anticipated shows,
01:10then prices will increase due to the demand and the market for them.
01:14The idea was adopted by Ticketmaster after seeing Major League Baseball team the San Francisco Giants adopt a strategy to help their ailing audiences
01:23and also to avoid ticket touts buying tickets en masse to sell at an exaggerated amount.
01:31But as other commentators have asked, has it helped cut out ticket touts?
01:35Some of the prices for premium tickets through Ticketmaster are almost the same amount as general resale tickets on sites such as StubHub and Twickets.
01:45The latter the official resale market Oasis would prefer people to use.
01:50The increase in ticket prices through dynamic pricing has caused quite the controversy in recent years
01:56with acts such as Taylor Swift and The Cure being vocally against the practices employed by Ticketmaster.
02:02And this has now led the UK government taking a look at the marketplace as more and more fans find it hard to see live music,
02:09be it ticket prices or the dwindling number of venues and nightclubs in a post-pandemic Britain.
02:16So, like I said, it's our fault.
02:19And are you in favour of dynamic pricing or do you think it's become more of a problem than ticket touts?
02:24Let me know by dropping me an email or commenting on the article you're watching this video on.