Let's begin with the basic analysis. It's Tuesday, and you have something on offer for Saturday night. You might be a hotel owner and you have vacancies for that night, your airline might have a scheduled flight from Tulsa to Kansas City with some seats still available, or you might be putting on a show that has not yet sold out. In each of these cases, you are certainly charging a current price well above marginal cost (the cost to you of putting a family in the otherwise empty hotel room, or getting a extra passenger on the flight, or … [Read more...]
Why Is Dynamic Pricing So Rarely Used?
As technology has come available that allows performing arts organizations to adjust prices in light of demand, the question has arisen: is it appropriate for nonprofit theaters to employ dynamic pricing? See here and here for example. Let's consider the issue from a different angle: why is dynamic pricing so rarely used in the for-profit sector? For example, at my local multiplex cinema, I will pay $5 for a weekday matinee, $7.50 for weekday evening or weekend matinee, and $10 for a weekend evening. It doesn't matter whether the film I … [Read more...]