Green Day presale tickets for Australia tour as high as $500 under Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing

Tickets to Green Day’s Saviors tour in Australia were as high as $500 in the initial presale after Ticketmaster revealed dynamic pricing was in effect for the rock band’s upcoming shows.

The first presale for the March 2025 leg of the tour went on sale Monday for three locations – the Gold Coast, Sydney and Melbourne. The cheapest general admission tickets were capped at $200 plus booking fee, but those wanting seated tickets were informed at purchase point that the price was as high as $500 due to what Ticketmaster calls “In Demand” pricing.

Fans on social media called for explanations for the prices, with one user on X calling the ticket scheme “a joke”.

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Another user asked : “ticketmaster explain why ur seats for green day at $400-500 ? what in the dynamic pricing is going on here ?? i got a golden circle collector ticket for $280 but my mum cant get seats because theyre literally pushing $500?”

Others said they would give the concert a miss due to the high pricing.

Ticketmaster’s parent company, Live Nation, was approached for comment. The company states on its website that In Demand tickets “give fans fair and safe access to sought-after seats at market-driven prices”.

Related: The WA government wants to bring Oasis to Australia. Dynamic ticket pricing will probably come with them

Live Nation came under fire in the UK earlier this month when fans who had queued up for hours for tickets for the Oasis reunion tour found prices had skyrocketed from a price of a £135 ticket (standing only) to £355 while they had been queuing due to the same dynamic pricing scheme.

The backlash led to an investigation from the UK competition regulator , while the EU Commission flagged it was looking at dynamic pricing, including ways to potentially ban the practice.

Guardian Australia asked the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission whether it had fielded any complaints about the pricing related to Green Day. A spokesperson indicated that the practice of dynamic pricing is legal and said dynamic pricing was common in some sectors such as ridesharing, airfare and accomodation.

The spokesperson said businesses can generally set, raise and lower the prices they charge.

“Businesses decide the prices of their goods and services based on a variety of factors, including supply and demand issues,” the spokesperson said.

“If a business uses dynamic pricing when advertising, marketing and selling goods or services, they need to ensure that they do not mislead consumers and consumers are aware throughout the transaction process about the costs.”

Dynamic pricing could be misleading, the spokesperson said, but it would depend on the circumstances involved and what representations a business made to consumers about their pricing in promoting the event and when selling tickets to the event.