What Ticketmaster Hell Taught Me About Pricing

Hi Reader,

I got up at 7 am last Saturday to buy Oasis reunion tickets.

Me and the rest of Ireland and the UK.

For my American friends, Oasis was one of the biggest bands from the 1990s on this side of the Atlantic.

Over coffee, I logged in to see 251,325 people ahead of me.

Welcome to the fresh hellscape that is a virtual Ticketmaster queue.

The music gurus on X rated my chances of getting a ticket at 5%.

Ticketmaster booted me out of the queue several times, claiming I was a bot.

Around noon, I gave up.

Some other music friends got ‘lucky’.

Ticketmaster offered them standing tickets with a 400%+ markup on the advertised price (€86.50 to over €400).

They justified this surprising markup as “Dynamic pricing”.

And all for the privilege of standing in a field for two hours next Summer.

The deputy leader in Ireland, Michael Martin, even criticized Ticketmaster for price gouging.

And yet, the Oasis reunion concerts sold out in a few hours. And the band is reportedly coining up to £400m for the reunion.

I’d a similar experience when trying to buy Taylor Swift tickets a few months ago for my daughter’s birthday.

The point here?

Yes, Ticketmaster has a virtual monopoly over live events on both sides of the Atlantic. And they can charge what they want because they’ve no competition.

The rest of us don’t have a monopoly.

Price gouging isn’t a good look.

And yet, you must convince potential clients and customers to work with you over ALL the other options.

Cutting prices can convince a few, but it’s a race to the bottom.

I prefer using the power of perceived demand.

For example, if you're running a coaching or consulting business, consider capping the number of monthly spots you offer.

You can avoid overworking yourself after a sudden influx of clients. And you’ll have more time to help a select group of higher-paying clients.

These types of clients are less work than those with little money to spend on their business.

Capping the number of spots communicates to an audience that you can only work with so many people each month.

So, if they want to work with YOU, they act now or miss out.

People need a reason to buy from you if you’re selling online, whether a digital product or a service.

It could be a deadline, a price increase, or a cap on the number of spots on offer.

Give them one.

I’m accepting 10 new coaching clients who want to add $10k to their businesses. I’ve 7 spots open right now. If you want the details, reply with the word “DEMAND”.

Write on,
Bryan Collins