Anatomy of a Ticket Fee: Deconstructing the System
Ticketing platforms like Ticketmaster and Eventbrite have long dominated the event industry, but beneath their glossy interfaces lie fee structures that disproportionately impact both event-goers and organisers. The issue extends beyond high costs; it revolves around the opaque methodologies used to calculate these fees and the restrictive contracts that keep organisers tethered to platforms that may no longer serve their best interests. At Ticketr, we aim to dissect these practices, unveiling the inefficiencies and inequities that have persisted unchecked.
The Illusion of Percentage-Based Fees
Consider the standard fee structures: Ticketmaster imposes charges around 12.5%, while Eventbrite levies 5.9% + €0.79 per ticket. For a high-value ticket priced at €500, this translates to exorbitant fees of €62.50 and €30.29, respectively. This raises critical questions:
- Does processing a €500 ticket incur more operational costs than a €10 ticket?
- Is there increased computational demand on servers for higher-priced transactions?
The straightforward answer is no.
Beyond the marginally variable payment processor fees, the technical infrastructure cost remains constant. Platforms like Stripe or Adyen handle transactions with consistent backend operations, irrespective of the ticket's face value. So why do these fees scale with ticket price? The answer is simple: because the platforms can enforce it.
In contrast, most Software as a Service (SaaS) models charge based on tangible resource consumption, such as data storage or user licenses. This reflects actual usage costs. However, the ticketing industry clings to a percentage-based model that bears no relation to the actual cost of service delivery. This outdated structure is not just inefficient—it’s fundamentally exploitative.
An Illustrative Example
For Eventbrite, even though they advertise their fees at around 5.9%, they can sometimes exceed that. For the scale of payments that Eventbrite is processing, it is more than likely that they are using a platform like Adyen that offer very low fees for large volume.
Taking a very popular festival in Ireland using Eventbrite, a €75.00 ticket incurs a €5.08 fee. That's 6.7%. Stripe advertise their payment fees at 1.5% + €0.25, so using them here would result in a fee of €1.37. Chances are Eventbrite aren't using Stripe and are taking advantage of volume discounts from platforms like Adyen. Assuming a fee of around €0.50, and a constant infrastructure cost of €0.25 for one payment (this can vary, but for illustrative purposes we are keeping it the same) you can see the breakdown below.
If we scale this up to an even more expensive ticket at the same festival of €220.00, Eventbrite's cut increases while their costs for facilitating the transaction stay the same. Payment processor fees are scaled accordingly. Surely if the cost of facilitating the transaction from their side stayed the same, their cut should also stay the same?
So as you can see, as the ticket price scales, outside of the payment processor fee, so too does Eventbrite's fee, even though the costs they incurred for both are the same. It doesn't require more infrastructure to process a payment for more money. This is why Eventbrite makes so much money off service fees—it’s mostly profit.
The Economic Rationale Behind Scaling Fees
- Justification via Payment Processing Fees: While payment processors like Stripe typically charge 1.5% + €0.25 per transaction, large enterprises with high transaction volumes negotiate significantly lower rates, sometimes as little as 0.6%. This means that a substantial portion of Ticketmaster’s 12.5% fee represents pure profit, far exceeding the operational costs necessary to process a transaction.
- Psychological Pricing Strategies: The logic here is rooted in behavioural economics. If a consumer is willing to pay €500 for a ticket, an additional €60 fee may not deter them. This strategy exploits the perceived elasticity of demand for high-value events, allowing platforms to inflate fees without substantial consumer pushback.
- Lack of Regulatory Oversight: Unlike financial services or utilities, ticketing platforms operate with minimal regulatory scrutiny regarding fee transparency. Organisers and consumers are rarely provided with detailed breakdowns of these costs, fostering an environment where arbitrary pricing structures can thrive unchecked.
The Lock-In Dilemma: How Contracts Restrict Market Mobility
Event organisers frequently report a common grievance: “We’d switch providers if we weren’t bound by multi-year contracts with platforms like Eventbrite or Resident Advisor.” Imagine applying this model to other tech services:
- A company subscribes to a project management tool.
- After a year, it becomes clear the tool is inefficient and overpriced.
- Despite dissatisfaction, the company is locked into a contract for another three years.
This scenario, though absurd in most industries, is standard practice in ticketing. Such contracts are not designed to foster loyalty through service quality but to eliminate the organiser's ability to seek better alternatives. Exclusive venue agreements further exacerbate the problem, creating de facto monopolies that suppress competition and innovation.
Research from the UK Competition and Markets Authority (2021) highlights how anti-competitive practices in ticketing limit consumer choice and artificially inflate prices. When platforms rely on contractual obligations rather than product excellence to retain customers, there is little motivation to improve services or reduce costs.
Ticketr: Redefining Fairness in Ticketing
At Ticketr, we recognise the necessity of profit for business sustainability, but we reject models built on exploitation. Our approach prioritises fairness, transparency, and value creation for both organisers and attendees.
- Transparent Pricing: Our fee structures are clear and justifiable, grounded in the actual costs of service provision with a reasonable margin—no arbitrary markups.
- Flexible Engagements: We believe in earning customer loyalty through superior service, not through restrictive contracts. Organisers stay with us because they want to, not because they have to.
- Value-Driven Ecosystem: Beyond ticket sales, we offer robust tools for accreditation, marketing, and event management—solutions designed to enhance organiser efficiency and attendee satisfaction.
Organisers deserve a platform that operates as a true partner, one that fosters growth rather than imposes constraints.
Choose Ticketr. Experience ticketing that champions fairness, transparency, and genuine value.