system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Why are online/virtual conferences so expensive?

For context, I am not in academia but my work and interests rely heavily on information that comes from the academic community. In other words, I am not eligible for funding or discounted fees for attending conferences. There are several conferences I've been interested in attending this year, especially given that they've been designed for a virtual audience and don't involve travel.

What's surprised me is how many have registration fees similar to that of an in-person conference. I find it hard to believe that the running costs of an online event come close to the in-person costs, so is this money just going into the pockets of the organisers?
gpt
I could have accepted this in the beginning of the pandemic, when localities may have been booked and paid for in advance. These days it is utter BS.

I have arranged a couple of international conferences, and we never got paid. The bulk of the fees went to localities, food, airfare for keynotes, etcetera. A tiny amount was spent on web services, registration admin etc.

To pay serious money for a two-day Zoom meeting is ridiculous.