Ticket KPIs · Ticket resale glossary
Ticket Price Distribution
Also known as: Tickets per price range, Price histogram
A ticket price distribution (or price histogram) groups the tickets sold for an event into price ranges and shows how many sold in each, from the cheapest range to the most expensive.
It shows where the market actually clears. A tall bar at low prices means most buyers want the cheapest seats; a wide spread means demand across every price level.
It complements single numbers like the average sale price and median ticket price, which can't show a market with two peaks — for example cheap seats and premium floor tickets.
How a ticket price distribution is built
Choose a set of price ranges (bins), for example £0–50, £50–100, £100–150 and so on, then count how many tickets sold in each. For each bar: tickets in range = tickets sold with lower bound ≤ price < upper bound. Each bar's share is tickets in range ÷ total tickets sold.
The width of the ranges changes the picture. Bins that are too wide hide detail; bins that are too narrow turn into noise when there are few sales. Equal-width bins are easiest to read, and some charts widen the top bin to collect the few very expensive tickets.
Worked example: an arena show's histogram
An arena show has sold 1,000 resale tickets. Sorted into price ranges, half of all sales happened below £100, with 42% in the £50–100 band alone, and one in ten tickets sold for £250 or more:
- £0–50: 80 tickets, 8% of sales.
- £50–100: 420 tickets, 42% of sales.
- £100–150: 260 tickets, 26% of sales.
- £150–250: 140 tickets, 14% of sales.
- £250 and above: 100 tickets, 10% of sales.
What the shape of the distribution tells you
In the example, the market clears between £50 and £100: a seller listing there is pricing where most buyers already pay. The tail of 100 tickets above £250 shows real demand for premium seats, something a single average sale price would hide. Common shapes and what they mean:
- One tall peak at the low end: a price-sensitive market where most buyers want the cheapest seats and the get-in price drives everything.
- Two peaks: separate markets for standard seats and premium floor or front sections. Price each one separately.
- Wide, flat spread: demand at every price level, typical of high-demand events heading for a sell-out.
- Peak moving right over time: buyers pay more each week and prices are rising across the board.
Price distribution vs price percentiles
A histogram and resale price percentiles describe the same data in different ways. Percentiles condense it into a few numbers that are easy to compare between events or venues. The histogram shows the full shape, including gaps and second peaks that percentiles can't. Use percentiles to compare, and the histogram to understand one event.
Pitfalls when reading a price histogram
Before drawing conclusions, check what the chart is built from:
- Few sales make jagged bars; don't read meaning into a single bar with five tickets in it.
- A distribution of listed tickets is not a distribution of sold tickets: listings show where sellers are, sales show where buyers paid.
- Timing blends together: early sales may be mostly cheap seats and later ones premium, so an all-time histogram mixes different moments of the market.
Track it with Eventory
Every event page on Eventory includes a histogram of tickets sold per price range, and monitors can alert on the lowest and highest listed prices.
Frequently asked questions
What is a ticket price histogram?
It's a bar chart that groups tickets sold into price ranges and shows how many sold in each. It reveals where most sales happen and whether the market has one price level or several.
How do you read a ticket price distribution?
Find the tallest bar: that's where the market clears. Then check the tails. A long tail of expensive sales shows premium demand; a heavy cluster at the bottom shows price-sensitive buyers. Two separate peaks usually mean two kinds of seats.
Why use a price distribution instead of the average price?
An average reduces every sale to one number, which can land where almost no tickets actually sold — for example between a cheap peak and a premium peak. The distribution shows the real structure of prices.
Where can I see the price distribution for an event?
Every Eventory event page includes a chart of tickets sold per price range on the resale tab, next to the average sale price, get-in price and highest sale price.