we implement one for event registration. without queuing, you end up with some hidden complexity around whether a ticket in a cart counts towards the limit or not, and when it goes back into the available pool if that cart doesn't check out in time. none of it is too difficult to implement, but it is difficult to explain to users and creates experiences that frustrate people are or are perceived as unfair. for example, an event can be "sold out" while a payment is processed, and then the event becomes briefly not sold out again if the payment is declined.
a queuing system is easier for people to understand - you get in line, you have three minutes to complete your purchase when it's your turn, and everything that was available when you started your session is available until your session ends. people are still frustrated to have to queue, but at least they can form a mental model for what's happening.
IMHO a lottery system would be a better way to solve this, but event promoters tend to hate that and want a first-come first-served experience. i don't really understand why.
To your last point, I’ve always understood their sentiment to be along the lines of:
- differentially rewarding those customers willing to put in higher levels of effort
- inflating attendees’ sense of the purchase’s value, since they’ve sunk work into acquiring the right to attend/buy
- adding a sense of agency: you “could have” gotten the tickets if you’d just showed up earlier, you have only yourself to blame
- discouraging the sense that the lottery is “rigged” or inundated with scalpers
- for that matter, offering some form of social proof that “other people” (rather than bots) are buying the tickets: taking the amount of time that people take to check out, that sort of thing
- which also offers tangible social proof of the promotion’s desirability: “1,000 people in line around the block” counts for more buzz than “5% chance of being able to spend money on this thing”
- potentially more reliable gauge of the true level of demand, so we can get the right size of venue next time: a lottery rewards trying to game your number of entries, and, depending how it’s constructed, may encourage people to enter on a lark even if they don’t intend to buy
I remember first time writing a web-shop I thought things would be reasonably static. Gradually I changed my mind, it is more like a first person shooter. The new product sticks it's head around the corner and the first one to shoot it gets the kill but it only counts if you make it safely though the transaction in time. Picking customization while the evaporate is like trying to land a head shot.
Hardcore fans demand to feel they earned their spot by having more endurance, being quicker, even if it ends up being kind of luck when it opens up.
I’ve seen something through Ticketmaster that added a lottery system, giving a certain percent of users a shot at tickets a bit before it gets opened up to everyone else. And people with Amex cards or people who demonstrated devotion.
a queuing system is easier for people to understand - you get in line, you have three minutes to complete your purchase when it's your turn, and everything that was available when you started your session is available until your session ends. people are still frustrated to have to queue, but at least they can form a mental model for what's happening.
IMHO a lottery system would be a better way to solve this, but event promoters tend to hate that and want a first-come first-served experience. i don't really understand why.