129 replies to this topic

[pdac]

Well, it's 0% finance, and as such, a reasonable offer - many folk can't afford £345 in a oner, but can afford £41 per month - quite a few folk will pay for tickets on a credit card, and they have approx 11-30% APR values (a brief doodle in excel gives a figure of about £390 paid this way), so I'm not quite so scathing...

 

If you can't afford £345 in a oner, then you ought not to be spending that amount at all.

[Sash1]

Well, it's 0% finance, and as such, a reasonable offer - many folk can't afford £345 in a oner, but can afford £41 per month - quite a few folk will pay for tickets on a credit card, and they have approx 11-30% APR values (a brief doodle in excel gives a figure of about £390 paid this way), so I'm not quite so scathing...

 

41 GBP or 52 euro is exactly what I would pay for a race visit, parking included. I know F1 is expensive, but 440 euro (345GBP) is ridiculous. It is one month worth of groceries for a family of four. Are they totally effin insane!?

[Kristian]

If you can't afford £345 in a oner, then you ought not to be spending that amount at all.

 

If you are good with your finances, then there's no reason why not. Why should someone who has a spare £50 a month not be able to put it towards a purchase they cannot afford in one go? 

[Fastcake]

If you can't afford £345 in a oner, then you ought not to be spending that amount at all.

Why not? There is nothing wrong with spreading a payment out if you've properly budgeted for it. And that's just the cost for one(!) ticket. If you're taking a family, and adding in the costs for accommodation/camping and transport, which may need to be paid at the time of booking your tickets, you're looking at a far greater amount than most people have in hand. It's pretty sensible to take advantage of 0% finance in those circumstances.


Of course, the biggest issue here is a single grandstand seat at Silverstone costing £345. That is plainly not sustainable.

[pdac]

If you are good with your finances, then there's no reason why not. Why should someone who has a spare £50 a month not be able to put it towards a purchase they cannot afford in one go? 

 

 

Why not? There is nothing wrong with spreading a payment out if you've properly budgeted for it. And that's just the cost for one(!) ticket. If you're taking a family, and adding in the costs for accommodation/camping and transport, which may need to be paid at the time of booking your tickets, you're looking at a far greater amount than most people have in hand. It's pretty sensible to take advantage of 0% finance in those circumstances.


Of course, the biggest issue here is a single grandstand seat at Silverstone costing £345. That is plainly not sustainable.

 

If you have a spare few pennies then you should save them up first. In my experience someone who is "good with their finances" does have the full amount available when it's required.

[Lotus53B]

If you can't afford £345 in a oner, then you ought not to be spending that amount at all.

 

Let's be honest - most folk couldn't pay their utility bills in a lump sum, and pay it monthly - should you not have utilities?  A year's subscription to Sky is £400+ - let's get rid of that too.  Car insurance?  You can't drive if you can't afford to pay your insurance in a lump...

 

Paying monthly is not an issue, we get paid monthly, don't we?

[Clatter]

Let's be honest - most folk couldn't pay their utility bills in a lump sum, and pay it monthly - should you not have utilities?  A year's subscription to Sky is £400+ - let's get rid of that too.  Car insurance?  You can't drive if you can't afford to pay your insurance in a lump...

 

Paying monthly is not an issue, we get paid monthly, don't we?

Incorrect assumption. There are plenty of people who get paid weekly.

 

Whilst it is a free loan and therefore not a bad deal, the fact they have gone down this route does show that there is a problem with the cost and that people are being put off by it. 

[Lotus53B]

Fair point - but equally, we don't get paid annually, and should view all expenses thusly

[Tsarwash]

If you have a spare few pennies then you should save them up first. In my experience someone who is "good with their finances" does have the full amount available when it's required.

What you are saying there is, 'my way is best, your way is worse. I am better than you.'

[pdac]

What you are saying there is, 'my way is best, your way is worse. I am better than you.'

 

Yes, I probably am. But I think if you have your finances in order then you will already have a better way to get credit, if you need it (and so will be able to stump up the required amount in one). If you need to take credit on the fly, as it were, then I would contest the "my finances are in order" tag.

[Alfisti]

Bullsh*t...  Americans can buy a very zippy Civic SI for around $21-22k...  Economy model!?  It has a blind spot camera for crying out loud, how fancy is that!

 

They are not popular so are discounted heavily, Australians pay around $36-40k+ for similar cars (Golf GTI, focus st etc)... Americans may want their BMW M3 for $55k, but they don't need it (it's more like $130k here in Aussie land! ).

 

But being Australian you thin the price advertised IS THE PRICE. 5 minute sin North America tells you to add 50% to the listed price of everything to get the true price. They are MASTERS at hiding prices over here. 

 

There's an add right now for a Caddy ATS, $328 a month leased. Looked into it and it's a tickle under $600. 

[yasushi888]

Let's be honest - most folk couldn't pay their utility bills in a lump sum, and pay it monthly - should you not have utilities?  A year's subscription to Sky is £400+ - let's get rid of that too.  Car insurance?  You can't drive if you can't afford to pay your insurance in a lump...

 

Paying monthly is not an issue, we get paid monthly, don't we?

Of course thats correct, but the main issue isn't the finance plan itself, it's the price of the tickets that means people need a finance plan to buy them.

At the end of the day the Grand Prix is a 2 hour sporting event, all the things you mentioned above are for the year,. You shouldn't really need a finance plan to buy a ticket for a sports event.

[bushgold]

If you are good with your finances, then there's no reason why not. Why should someone who has a spare £50 a month not be able to put it towards a purchase they cannot afford in one go? 

There's no reason other than it isn't worth it. Whatever your personal financial situation. It's the price of a holiday.

[markeimas27]

Perception is reality and Silverstone have just shot themselves in the foot. Blithering idiots. 

[F1ultimate]

This says everything about the state of this sport

2015 Formula 1 British Grand Prix Zebra Finance Instalment Plan

 

I just saw that email in my inbox and instantly palmed my face and went digging for this thread. It really says it all about ticket prices - they need to come down or else attendance will and race organizers won't generate enough revenue to host races. 

[ardbeg]

Less people can afford the tickets. Bernie look at the numbers and think "we must improve the show", then he accuses the teams and the organizers to not put on a good enough show and demands more of the revenue for himself. Bernie have enough friends to make it impossible for both the organizers and the teams to organize some kind of "or else" situation that they can put in front of Bernie so nothing will change.

Out of curiosity - how much did a grandstand ticket cost 10 years ago?

[Supertourer]

Staggered at the prices, fell over at the cost of the hospitality and as for charging to park..... I'm amazed they get anyone to turn up at all, which is credit to the fans.

 

I'll stick to the comfort of my armchair and free parking...

[chunder27]

As I have mentioned countless times before and been shouted at endlessly.

 

If people are stupid enough to pay these prices then F1, Silverstone and anywhere else will continue to do things like this.

 

This must have cost money to set up, and therefore there must be a demand.

 

Demand drives the prices, nothing else. Absolutely nothing. They clearly think people will do this either based on feedback or something else. So have put this plan in place.

 

The fact that people refuse to walk away and say No, means the prices get ever higher. It is a vicious circle that those who continue to contribute to are clearly quite happy to ignore. So let them keep the circuits and promoters wealthy while the rest of us watch on telly.

[Clatter]

Of course thats correct, but the main issue isn't the finance plan itself, it's the price of the tickets that means people need a finance plan to buy them.

At the end of the day the Grand Prix is a 2 hour sporting event, all the things you mentioned above are for the year,. You shouldn't really need a finance plan to buy a ticket for a sports event.

The race is up to 2 hours, but the ticket price as quoted is for 3 days.

[Clatter]

There's no reason other than it isn't worth it. Whatever your personal financial situation. It's the price of a holiday.

You can only judge the value for yourself. What others may decide is their own business.

[Buttoneer]

As I have mentioned countless times before and been shouted at endlessly.

 

If people are stupid enough to pay these prices then F1, Silverstone and anywhere else will continue to do things like this.

 

This must have cost money to set up, and therefore there must be a demand.

 

Demand drives the prices, nothing else. Absolutely nothing. They clearly think people will do this either based on feedback or something else. So have put this plan in place.

 

The fact that people refuse to walk away and say No, means the prices get ever higher. It is a vicious circle that those who continue to contribute to are clearly quite happy to ignore. So let them keep the circuits and promoters wealthy while the rest of us watch on telly.

I see that you're struggling with the concept of market forces.  It's not a vicious circle if Bernie can fill the seats.  That just means he needs to adjust the pricing a little for those circuits where the audience needs to go up or just be happy that the organisers pay him enough that he doesn't care.

[bushgold]

You can only judge the value for yourself. What others may decide is their own business.

Agreed. My opinion is based on going to the British Grand Prix the last two years. Not worth the asking price. Spa early bird 3-day GA for £82 sounds bloody tempting though.

[Maustinsj]

Agreed. My opinion is based on going to the British Grand Prix the last two years. Not worth the asking price. Spa early bird 3-day GA for £82 sounds bloody tempting though.

 

From where?

 

Sounds tempting to me too!

[Jamiednm]

I've never been to the British GP and I don't plan to with the current ticket prices. I went to the Singapore GP a couple of weeks ago partly because the ticket prices are so good - £140 for 3 days, grandstand seats and concerts from the likes of Robbie Williams and J-Lo as part of the ticket price. Excellent value. You wouldn't get anywhere near that value at Silverstone. I've been to 3 foreign GPs and not my home GP - bit of a sad state of affairs when it comes to ticket prices really.

[bushgold]

From where?

 

Sounds tempting to me too!

bookf1. already up to £87 + £15 handling = £102. on spagrandprix.com it's 130EUR. 25EUR is delivery charges. UPS must make a fortune. 

 

BTW that's almost exactly half the price Silverstone is asking.

Edited by bushgold, 03 October 2014 - 09:56.

[Clatter]

Agreed. My opinion is based on going to the British Grand Prix the last two years. Not worth the asking price. Spa early bird 3-day GA for £82 sounds bloody tempting though.

I've been going for far longer, and won't be going next year for that reason, but I won't judge anyone who believes it represents good value for them.

[king_crud]

I've never been to the British GP and I don't plan to with the current ticket prices. I went to the Singapore GP a couple of weeks ago partly because the ticket prices are so good - £140 for 3 days, grandstand seats and concerts from the likes of Robbie Williams and J-Lo as part of the ticket price. Excellent value. You wouldn't get anywhere near that value at Silverstone. I've been to 3 foreign GPs and not my home GP - bit of a sad state of affairs when it comes to ticket prices really.

 

you'd have to pay me £140 to sit through that

[chunder27]

Just a very odd situation

 

Struggling with market forces yes.

 

Struggling with any sane minded individual who pays that much to watch any sport really.

 

I can understand the temptation if your team gets to a Word Cup or FA Cup final, or events like top draw boxing bouts or Olympics. And can understand why those prices are considerably higher than this.

 

But for an event that offers very little over the tv viewer other than the ability to be there, it just seems odd that all over the world countless hundreds of thousands of people seem to think this is worth the money.

 

I have little problem with anyone making money from folk that do it, as in reality if you weigh up cost/entertainment/facilities. Most other sports events similarly proced are a total bargain for the same price. So, why not ask more every year and offer less, if that many fans will happily fork out.

[Buttoneer]

chunder27,

 

Repeating again and again (and again) that you think people who can afford this or have different spending priorities are stupid really doesn't make the argument any more compelling, especially coming from someone who now admits that he doesn't understand market forces.

 

It is not an odd situation.

 

Bernie has 20 calendar slots to sell and more buyers than slots.  Some circuits he favours because he likes them but the others need to pay big to be chosen.  If the circuits can make up the fee in sales or local tourism, or both, then that is as it should be.  If they can't do either, they won't last.

[chunder27]

It is an odd conondrum that paying a lot of money to watch races at tracks like Spa, Silverstone, Monza and the like might actually be dealing them a blow in the future, as you are in fact making it harder and harder for them to make money.

 

Surely the circle decreases the more you increase the price, it gets harder to convince people to attend, as has been shown by this discussion.

 

And surely, fans have to accept a modicum of blame for continuing to pay regardless of the costs in the future?