How to price event tickets

Price too high and the room's empty; too low and a full room loses money. The method below produces a defensible price in half an hour — and it makes the fee decision explicit instead of accidental. (For the deeper strategy layer, see ticket pricing strategy.)

Step 1 — Compute your floor

Fixed costs ÷ realistic attendance = the net you need per ticket. A £900 night expecting 100 buyers needs £9 net per head. Full method: break-even price.

Step 2 — Find your ceiling

Your audience's alternatives set it: the comparable night out, the cinema-plus-pizza, the rival event. List three real alternatives with prices; your ceiling sits at or just under the one you most resemble.

Step 3 — Adjust for fees before you print anything

A £12 ticket on a 6.95% + 59p platform nets you £10.58 — below a £11 floor you thought you'd cleared. Either the price moves, the platform moves, or the loss is chosen knowingly.

Step 4 — Structure tiers, don't discount

• Early bird 20–25% below standard, capped by quantity, gone fast and publicly.
• Standard = the price you did the maths on.
• Door 15–20% above — the anchor that sells advance tickets all month.

Step 5 — The £1 test

Before locking, ask: would 10% fewer people come at £1 more? For most under-priced independent events the honest answer is no — and £1 × attendance is often the margin between paying acts properly or not. Price upward until that answer flips.