Dynamic Pricing
Dynamic pricing seems to be prevalent across many markets these days, some considered ‘hostile’. The latest Oasis row about tickets is now being debated but are there any advantages to this approach for us customers? It appears to me that if your personal circumstances do not fit the algorithm you are penalised. Is it all about reaping maximum profits?
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In the instance quoted above it certainly is all about profit and it’s always done for the benefit of the seller.
You have to admire the ‘skills’ of the PR team behind this huge push.
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When we think of dynamic pricing we tend to think about prices going up with demand. In the case of these tickets had it been the other way round would they have reduced the prices of the tickets? I suspect not as it would suggest there were too many dates and I suspect concerts would have been cancelled? Would it be reasonable to put limits on how much anything linked to dynamic pricing could go up or down?
David
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Dynamic pricing is all about how much value a commodity is to the buyer. If the price setter knows it’s got a captive market, (and one ultimately able to pay a very very high price because of how much they value that commodity), then DP will be applied, and a commodity will be sold at a much higher price than its delivery/ cost price. Ticketmaster hit the jackpot with Oasis gig tickets, a very very rare commodity, with global appeal. Hence applying DP allows them to take a much larger sales commission for selling at a greater price.
We talked about going, set our “value for money” price, based on appeal and how much we wanted to go. Well inside the original price range for some tickets, but then it all went crazy, and I didn’t want to be number five hundred thousand and one in the queue🤣 I expect more UK dates to be announced to be honest. Be interesting to see how other countries handle the ticket sales as well.
DP is mercenary and lacks a degree of morality I think. No matter who is applying it.
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Never heard of it with concert tickets before and wonder what was the point. A sell out was always on the cards so it would have been better just to set a fixed price from the start. In practice the last few tickets could have been priced at almost anything so they do seem to have limited that.
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The point is that the more people who want to buy tickets, the more the prices are pushed up. Yes, they will achieve a sell out but by using DP they’ll make an even bigger profit than if they’d stuck to a set price. The aim is to milk the public for as much as they can and they’re succeeding as people are spending £500 instead of the £100 they anticipated. After queuing online for hours, they’re not going to walk away without buying even though the price has rocketed. It’s a clever but mean strategy.
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…….a bit like site fees? 🤔
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I noticed that there is a bit of a kerfuffle about the prices charged to see the fourth day of the Test match at Lords yesterday. The ground was barely half full and I'm not surprised as the MCC were charging £90+ to see the finale of a one-sided match. No customer benefit from DP here.
There are instances of customer benefits in the tourist industry but CAMC do not seem to have cottoned on to it. Just looked at a cottage rental site to check something for an upcoming holiday and the actual cottage has its prices slashed by 30% for October lets, probably more the nearer you get to the date.
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It’s like Tulip Mania 😁
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Dynamic pricing is happening with our site fees, which I think is rediculous. When you book a pitch it should make no difference to the price and not penalise those who do a last minute booking. It does make me feel the club is taking the micky and manipulating us. This does not seem to happen on private/commercial sites so why are CMC doing it to us? What are they gaining from it, except my annoyance?
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But being "dynamic" prices could go either way? So if a site is not very busy the price could go down. I suspect the difference between what the Club do and the sale of Oasis tickets is that prices go up and down within a certain percentage. For example I never seen anyone post that the price of a pitch at Chatsworth has gone from £50 to £150 which seems to be the price progression of the concert tickets? We also don't know whether the Club made a decision to have dynamic pricing or whether it was part and parcel of the software they purchased? Whilst many sites do have a published price lists there are lots of others where the only way you establish the price is by entering the details of your stay into the website which then produces a price. You have no indication whether the next person to book gets the same price. If there were to be Government intervention I suppose it could be considered reasonable to put in place limitations on how far the price could vary. But unlike concert tickets Club campsites don't really have a fixed price as they vary according to season and demand.
David
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Slightly late to this discussion, but for what it’s worth a 4 night trip to Broadway site would have been 7% more expensive if we had booked it the day before we arrived rather than a month before.
You only have to bring up the availability checker to see the daily pricing.
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I thought the club price list was what you paid. I have seen plenty offers of reduced prices for sites with book before dates which might look like dynamic pricing. You also get the option of booking up to a year ahead, which means some early bookers could miss the annual increases.
What evidence have members got of dynamic pricing. Our last outing was a fairly short notice and there was no increase in the published prices, or for that matter any decrease.
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I didn’t think there was a price list any more as the prices are fluid🤷🏻♂️
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Seems prices are only on the availability calendar Wildwood. Have you not noticed that often Fridays and Saturdays are sometimes more expensive than other days? Often only 20p, sometimes more.
If you book well ahead, you may not see differences when you book, but as weekends get booked up, those days become more expensive.
Other than the special offers, which have many strings attached, I have not seen decreases, as in last minute bookings being less expensive.
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Sometimes it can seem counter intuitive. After working in the Airline industry, where complex dynamic pricing is widespread (and has been for many years) and will depend on multiple points such as the departure location date and load factors, organisations such as the Club would benefit from publicising the reasons behind implementing it. Ultimately if it was about profit, then using it in the Club wouldn't make sense as there are no shareholders apart from the membership, so there must be another reason involved.
As an aside, my understanding is that Dynamic Pricing we see now evolved from models that were implemented in the Healthcare industry in the US to ensure that hospital beds were allocated to the most profitable operations or ensured that beds were always kept occupied by paying customers.
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Ultimately if it was about profit, then using it in the Club wouldn't make sense as there are no shareholders apart from the membership, so there must be another reason involved.
The Club has to make a "profit" if it's to maintain, upgrade and/or purchase new sites. It's also a good idea to keep a surplus for rainy days.
Just as long as they try to be fair to the members at the same time and there lies the crux of the matter.
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