The Differential Charging Question

By Gareth 27/12/2005

Does charging women considerable amounts to attend a function while letting men in for free (or cheaply) amount to selling women's services to men? This seems like a vile suggestion but there are several points here worth noting. One is that for men it can amount to a cheap score. Another is that if there is a need for two different entry costs, isn't it a good question precisely what is on offer to whom?

Some types of function may attract more of one sex than the other but with a big-dollar function sold as an opportunity for people to meet members of the opposite sex, how on earth does an event organiser land in such a pickle that they need to offer free entry to men just to get them to attend? Numerous singles event organisers have done this is the past. If their charging practices are reasonable it should never come to that point. Having reached it once, it would be unforgivable to do the same thing again because the organiser knows that there is a problem.

Why would it be necessary to do such a thing as charge women heftily to attend a function while men gain free or cheap entry? The obvious answer is that there are lots of women attending the function but hardly any men. Why is that?

There are several possibilities. We know that there are more single women in Adelaide than single men, but that's only part of the story. Why aren't those men who are available willing to pay to attend the function? Perhaps they have not swallowed a suggestion that they need to pay big dollars to get a better quality of women. Perhaps they know that better value is available for a lot less money. Women, on the other hand, are more particular, especially since they are looking for something longer term. They may have erroneously bought the idea that if they pay a lot of money for the function the ticket price will have filtered out 'the undesirables'. But if the ticket price for the men turns out to be free entry, surely the women have been sold a chimera.

Of course, an operator can suggest that they only offer free entry to certain selected men. But women have no guarantee what the selection process amounts to. At times it may be an 'anyone who'll come' situation. Additionally, if women agree to be a part of such dealing, surely they will just encourage the men to sit back and wait for free offers. The only possible result of that is that is that attendance costs for women will escalate to compensate for the money being lost on the men's free entry.

The best way to get people together and the way that I have chosen is to steer clear of big profit functions, instead inviting lots of people at a very low cost. Sometimes its a good night for women, sometimes its a good night for men. Either way, nobody has to pay rip-off dollars while the person attempting to take them home for the night is bothering because they got the opportunity for nothing.