Fans report buyers remorse, call on Taylor Swift to stop dynamic pricing

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Taylor Swift fans also known as Swifties have "Bad Blood" over a recent ticket fiasco for the artist's upcoming "Eras Tour."

Millions of fans failed to snag a ticket Tuesday to Swift's first tour in five years because of system issues. Now fans are calling out the music icon for reportedly using "dynamic pricing."

Ticket prices were supposed to cost between $49 and $449, with VIP packages priced at $199 to $899, according to Forbes. Some fans said they didn't see those prices and ended up dishing out more than expected. Now some Swifties have buyer's remorse and no longer want the tickets. So why were tickets going for thousands of dollars more and who's to blame?

What is dynamic pricing?

This is when ticket prices adjust up or down based on demand.

"In some instances, events on our platform may have tickets that are “market-priced,” so ticket and fee prices may adjust over time based on demand. This is similar to how airline tickets and hotel rooms are sold and is commonly referred to as 'Dynamic Pricing,'" according to Ticketmaster's FAQ webpage.

Some ticket pages will post a notice saying prices may vary.

Who decides how tickets are sold?

This is up to the artist's camp. "Ticketmaster does not determine pricing. Promoters and artist representatives set pricing strategy and price range parameters on all tickets, including fixed and market-based price points," as stated by Ticketmaster.

The ticketing site said it only helps execute the process but it's up to the event organizers to decide how they want the tickets to be sold.

Why is dynamic pricing used?

It's basically used to limit the sales of resell tickets on other ticketing services, while also getting the highest value for the artist, Ticketmaster said.

This doesn't mean the artists get all the money. The money is divided between the venue, ticket vendor and artist.

At the end of the day, a fan will find a way to get a ticket, just like a seller will find a way to get rid of one. It's unclear how soon this will happen because buying tickets has been halted. Ticketmaster announced Thursday in a social media post the public ticket sale scheduled for Friday has been canceled due to "extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory."

Swift and her team have yet to make a statement regarding this week's ticket problem.