Ricky Gervais today became the latest in a long line of performers to rail in fury against the elementary workings of supply and demand. From his blog:
"Tickets for my Edinburgh show are changing hands for £200. Please don't buy them. The people selling them are scum...I
have tried to stop this happening but I can’t. I’ve tried holding
tickets back for sale on the night. I've tried putting gigs on sale at
the last minute so people don't have time to put them on eBay, but
nothing works."
And, indeed, nothing will, short of playing more nights so that the supply of performances matches the demand for them at whatever price Ricky imagines fair. Want the after-sale ticket price to fall below £200? Put on more shows. You'll know you're doing enough shows when the price on eBay falls to the face value.
More supply - exactly the suggestion I didn't have space to make on Twitter!
Posted by: Dan | 17 April 2009 at 17:42
That's shifting the supply curve. He could also eliminate scalping (at least in the long run) by shifting the demand curve by putting on lower quality shows!
Posted by: Dan Hill | 20 April 2009 at 18:58
lol at lower quality shows idea...
Better yet, they could simply auction off the tickets in rounds, so that they end up in the hands of people who value them most, and he gets the money instead of the scalpers.
Posted by: Fleeced | 21 April 2009 at 09:05
Or is it just a demonstration of price elasticity? In a similar vein, Mr Gervais could simply charge more and more for each show until he finally has empty seats - price out the touts and make even more bunce!!
Posted by: JamesA | 01 July 2009 at 15:52