Dear Cindy, This is a topic that really interests me right now - I asked some similar questions about experiences with dynamic responses on MUSEUM-L a few weeks ago and sadly only got a couple of replies! To answer your questions, we don't tend to discount advance bookings but we do offer a discount of UKP 1.00 off the gate price for our admissions for internet bookings - and we do get people booking quite a long time in advance for those - but that may well be because it's convenient to book that way rather than the discount: I'll check if we have done any research on that... I don't see how in theory higher at-the-door prices would be a disincentive - I think that the message to convey is that the at the door price is the "normal" price and you get a discount if you book in advance: that gives the visitor a cash incentive and also your institution some cash flow benefit in having the money up front, although from the sound of it you aren't getting many advance bookings! The kind of questions I was looking for answers to was whether other museums had any success with dynamic pricing in the sense of any of the following: Reduction in price for early or late entry Fast track pricing ( you pay more to skip the queue) Season pricing i.e. reduced prices in the "low season" or shoulder periods. Segmenting the price of tickets e.g. the first 100 at, say, $7.00, the next 100 at $8.00 and any remaining tickets at $10.00 (being normal price). Successful promotional models e.g. "Buy One, Get One free", "Kids go free". etc. Repeat visit allowed within a period of X days at a reduced rate for either the person buying the ticket or a friend/relative. True dynamic pricing where the price points respond to the volume of business on the day. If anyone wants to talk some more on the above, do e-mail me on/off list! Regards, Jerry Symonds - Senior Internal Auditor Historic Royal Palaces England ---- Original Message ----- From: Cindy Boyer To: [log in to unmask] Sent: Thursday, October 22, 2009 6:51 PM Subject: [MUSEUM-L] advance sale event prices? For years, we have offered a discount to people purchasing advance tickets to our house tours or other special events. The discount can be anywhere from $3 to $8 depending on the event. We have noticed, over the past 3 years, an increasingly shorter time frame between the majority of purchases and the actual event. It appears that people are waiting longer to get their tickets, or even make the decision to attend. I’ve heard the same from other institutions in the area. Now I’m wondering if the higher at-the-door price might be more of a disincentive to attend if you’ve put it off until the event day, rather than an incentive to purchase in advance – especially for our young adult demographic. Do you offer discounted advance purchase? Are you seeing a change in the purchase time frame? Thoughts, opinions? Cindy Boyer Director of Museums and Education The Landmark Society of Western New York 133 S. Fitzhugh St. Rochester NY 14608 (585) 546-7029 ext. 12 [log in to unmask] The Landmark Society: Revitalizing Yesterday, Protecting Today, and Planning for Tomorrow www.landmarksociety.org Confessions of a Preservationist: The Landmark Society blog Facebook / MySpace ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.423 / Virus Database: 270.14.32/2460 - Release Date: 10/26/09 08:10:00 ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).