“Pay What You Want” Model at Museums | August 20 2024, 18:19

I’m heading to the Folger, it’s a museum. In Washington, almost all museums are free, but this one has an interesting “Pay What You Want” concept. When purchasing a ticket, there is a field for the amount and the quantity. The suggested amount is $15. You can pay nothing. The Metropolitan Museum in New York used this model for a long time, now it only applies to locals and students.

It’s worth mentioning that many other museums operate differently. There, you need to buy tickets, but there’s no coercion. For example, at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, you can enter and immediately go to the gallery. There is no one checking tickets. But in the most conspicuous place, there is a spot where tickets are sold, for a high price — $23. Interestingly, many such places have a cunning method — you first go to the shop (obviously, no ticket needed for the shop), and then from the shop, you move to the museum (the shop is so far from the ticket booth that often no one sees it). I once used this method (although, I had actually bought a ticket the day before; the ticket is only valid for one day).