What is dynamic pricing and how does it work?
It was evident that there was a huge demand for the band's reunion for the first time since they broke up in 2009.
More than 500,000 people joined the queues on Saturday morning to buy tickets for Oasis' concerts in Dublin's Croke Park next August.
It was evident that there was a huge demand for the band's reunion for the first time since they broke up in 2009.
A three-hour pre-sale on Friday night also saw a portion of tickets being snapped up in advance of the general sale.
Ahead of ticket sales after the tour was announced this week, promoter MCD on its website said that the tickets for both of the gigs would start at €86.50 without booking fees.
However, according to social media users and snapshots from the Ticketmaster Ireland website on Saturday morning, these lower-priced tickets were unavailable for those waiting in queues. Instead, they were offered demand standing tickets which cost €415.60 each.
This is not the first time the prices of tickets have been raised to match the demand. The concept, often known as demand pricing, dynamic pricing, or surge pricing, has been present with many big-name artists embarking on large-scale tours, including the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Harry Styles, Taylor Swift and Coldplay.
Demand pricing or surge pricing is when the price change of a product or service, for example, concert tickets, is dependent on the demand that is present.
Now, this practice is fairly common when it comes to booking flights or hotels.
In hotels, the price of a room would be much lower if there were many available. However, it goes up as bookings increase. This also includes periods of high demand.
In airlines, it is similar enough. Tickets for the last available seat on a flight would be much more expensive than if you were trying to buy a seat on an empty plane.
So-called 'platinum' or in-demand ticket prices are determined by market demand, according to Ticketmaster. "Promoters and artists set ticket prices. Prices can either be fixed or market-based,” it said. "Market-based tickets are labelled as ‘platinum’ or ‘in demand’.”
But why do big artists do this for concerts?
While Ticketmaster, which is owned by Live Nation - an American entertainment company - usually gets the flak for increasing the prices, these pricing structures are usually only possible with the approval of the artists.
In the US for example, Bruce Springsteen gave Live Nation the green light to introduce dynamic pricing for his tour dates last year.
This saw some of the best tickets for the gig being marketed for $5,000 (€4,500).
And Springsteen defended it, saying he was essentially looking for the best deal for himself.
“What I do is a very simple thing,” Springsteen told Rolling Stone.
“I tell my guys, ‘Go out and see what everybody else is doing. Let’s charge a little less.’ That’s generally the directions. They go out and set it up.
"For the past 49 years, or however long we’ve been playing, we’ve pretty much been out there under market value. I’ve enjoyed that. It’s been great for the fans."
On the other end of the spectrum, Ed Sheeran's management went to court against a secondary ticketing market for raising the price of his concert tickets due to demand.
Sheeran's manager Stuart Camp explained how the concert tours had a strict ticket pricing policy aimed at “keeping ticket prices accessible for as many people as possible”.
He told Leeds Crown Court in January this year that the demand for tickets was extremely high, and they could be sold at very high prices but, “we don’t want our tickets to be beyond some people”.
