‘Shameful and elitist’: Green Day fans slam Ticketmaster over controversial dynamic pricing in pre-sale

Entertainment giant Ticketmaster has been slammed as “shameful” and “elitist” after seated tickets for Green Day were listed as high as $500 as a controversial pricing system was put in play. The punk rock band last week announced they would head down under with AFI for their Saviors Tour, playing the entirety of iconic albums Dookie and American Idiot. Pre-sale for the highly anticipated event kicked off on Monday, however fans received an unwelcome shock when they discovered “In Demand Tickets” — known as dynamic pricing — was in play. The controversial ticketing method allows the giant to adjust prices in line with supply and demand, according to the Ticketmaster website. “In Demand Tickets are tickets to concerts and other events made available by artists and Event Organisers through Ticketmaster. They give fans fair and safe access to sought after seats at market driven prices,” the Ticketmaster website states, emphasising they are not resale tickets. “In Demand Tickets are tickets offering sought after views and seats from Ticketmaster. The prices are adjusted according to supply and demand. The goal is to give fans fair and safe access to the best tickets while enabling artists and other people involved in staging live events to price tickets closer to their true market value.” Fans have slammed the move, claiming it should be “illegal”. “Ticketmaster in demand tickets shouldn’t be allowed it should be illegal!!” one person commented on X (formerly Twitter). “I find it interesting that @GreenDay have built a whole career on a ‘f***the system’ image, they very much give me anti capitalist vibes … and yet their Aussie tour has dynamic pricing turned on and at one point yesterday the cheap nosebleeds jumped over $500. Do they KNOW?” another fan demanded. “Using ‘in demand pricing’ or ‘dynamic pricing’ or whatever BS fancy term you want to use for @GreenDay’s Australian tour is disgusting, shameful, and elitist. It’s price gouging. And it shouldn’t be legal,” another claimed. Others flocked to X to call the pricing a “complete rort”. NewsWire has contacted Ticketmaster’s parent company, Live Nation, for comment. Ticketmaster fell under similar scrutiny over dynamic pricing during the sale of Oasis tickets in the UK, The Guardian reported. The UK competition regulator has since launched an investigation, while the European Commission is reportedly looking into the controversial practice. A spokesperson for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said some sectors use dynamic pricing in some form, including ridesharing, airfares and accommodation. “Businesses can generally set, raise, and lower the prices they charge for the products and services they supply,” the spokesperson said. “Businesses decide the prices of their goods and services based on a variety of factors, including supply and demand issues. If a business uses dynamic pricing when advertising, marketing, and selling goods or services, they need to ensure that they do not mislead consumers, and consumers are aware throughout the transaction process about the costs.” The spokesperson said there is “potential for consumers to be misled by dynamic pricing”. “Whether or not a business’ use of dynamic pricing may be misleading will depend on the circumstances involved in each case, including what representations a business may have made to consumers about their pricing in promoting the event and when selling tickets to the event,” the spokesperson said. Green Day’s tour is set to kick off at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne on March 1 next year before the group head to Engie Stadium in Sydney and Cbus Super Stadium in the Gold Coast.