Oasis ‘Dynamic Pricing’ Row: ‘How a System Meant to Balance Supply and Demand is Being Used to Exploit Consumers Everywhere’

Imagine walking into a store on a hot day only to find that the price of water has spiked, exploiting you for trying to stay hydrated and cool. Now imagine the price rising again between picking it up off the shelf and reaching the till. This dystopian scenario is a looming reality thanks to surge pricing.

A new algorithm is reshaping our spending habits: surge pricing. Once limited to gig economy services like Uber and Air BnB, surge pricing—also known as dynamic pricing —is appearing in multiple sectors, including essential goods.

Variable pricing isn’t new —think hotels and flights during school holidays —but with both the rapid rate of price adjustments and the level of markups, dynamic pricing has morphed into a manipulative tool that preys on consumer desperation, creating a landscape without predictability, transparency, or fairness.

While laissez-faire proponents argue that this model is a fair response to supply and demand, the reality is far more insidious.

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Profit, Profit, Uber Alles

Surge pricing was introduced to the world by Uber. The premise was simple: during periods of high demand—such as after a concert or during inclement weather—prices would rise to attract more Uber drivers onto the road.

Theoretically, this dynamic pricing model is a brilliant solution to a logistical problem. The demand for services would efficiently translate into an increase in supply. 

In practice, however, it quickly became apparent that surge pricing was less about balancing supply and demand and more about maximising profits.

Uber’s prices skyrocketed during emergencies, natural disasters, and other crises. That’s when it wasn’t being manipulated by driver behaviour – some Uber drivers reportedly were coordinating to make themselves unavailable to fake scarcity and drive up pricing.

This practice raises an important ethical question: how far should companies be allowed to capitalise on human desperation? Uber’s success has encouraged other industries to adopt similar practices, leading to a broader, more concerning trend.

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Look Back in Anger: A New Low in Entertainment Pricing

The current outrage over Oasis concert tickets shows how surge pricing has infiltrated the entertainment industry.

Dynamic pricing led to ticket prices soaring within minutes of being released, leaving thousands of fans out in the cold—quite literally, as many were unable to afford the inflated costs. Fans reported queuing online for hours to find tickets, increasing by hundreds of pounds. 

The backlash has been swift from fans, bands, and commentators, with calls for a Government enquiry.

Yet there has still been enough demand for the tickets to sell out quickly. Unlike Uber, where raised pricing can attract more supply, the total number of tickets remains fixed, while online ticket sellers retain an effective monopoly.

If the concert doesn’t bankrupt you, the cost of accommodation might. Triggered by the date and location of the Oasis gigs, overnight accommodation prices rose, in some cases, by thousands per night. 

This is not just an inconvenience; it is economic exclusion that prevents all but the wealthiest from fully participating in cultural life.

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Supermarket Surge – Qui Bono?

Supermarkets, always on the cutting edge of profit maximisation, are now experimenting with digital/e-paper shelf labels.

These labels allow them to adjust prices in real-time—every 10 seconds—based on factors like demand, scarcity, stock, expiry date, and even weather conditions.

And who benefits? Any profit increases are not passed on to either suppliers or workers; the only beneficiaries are the shareholders. 

The implications are chilling. Being unable to predict spending makes it harder to budget. When the rapid price volatility previously reserved for day traders of stocks is on basic necessities like groceries, that becomes a humanitarian issue—and a social order one. More than one riot in history has been over the price of bread. 

Supermarket surge pricing adds another layer of complexity and stress to the lives of those already struggling. It’s a cruel irony that a system designed to respond to scarcity is now being used to reward it.

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Reining in the invisible hand

The logic of supply and demand is often invoked to justify these practices. That might be defendable for luxuries like entertainment, but the reality is that surge pricing on limited commodities exploits scarcity rather than raising supply to meet demand.

It preys on consumers when they are most vulnerable—whether they’re trying to get home during a storm, buy tickets to a once-in-a-lifetime concert, or simply stay hydrated on a hot day. 

When we buy a product or service, we expect the price to be fair and transparent. Surge pricing shatters that expectation, replacing it with uncertainty and suspicion. It changes the supermarket model to one that rewards scarcity rather than affordable reliability.

For the most vulnerable, consumer choice is often an unobtainable luxury.

What began as an online tool for increasing supply to meet demand has morphed into a mechanism for profiting from scarcity. 

People pay surge prices not because they value the product or service more but because they have no other choice: supply is monopolised or finite and does not rise to meet demand.

This is not efficiency; it’s exploitation. When consumers have a choice, it will damage brand loyalty and trust long-term.