Demand based pricing?

[Plymouth Gull]

I know it's a bit late now, but Derby have incorporated this for next season. As it says on the tin, if it's a massive game against Notts Forest for example, if you buy in advance you'll get it cheaper than on the day, for example. Also, it could be £5 cheaper to go see them on a cold Tuesday night rather than on a summer Saturday.

I quite like this idea personally, but I doubt we'll ever see it at Plainmoor though. Thoughts?

[happytorq]

It's a nice idea but I'd imagine it's unworkable for us; it's the old thing of the reduced cost of tickets not being recouped in extra sales. For a club that is run as tightly as we are (I'd imagine; I'm not in-the-know), having a god idea of the revenue allows the board to set budgets. messing about with that revenue could cause issues.

[DerbyGull]

Probably wouldn't be successful here. At Derby they have the advantage of good crowds normally (as there isn't really much else to do in Derby) and their ticket prices are higher. It doesn't matter how much they put up prices the Forest and probably the Leicester match will sell out, with the fans just getting the feeling they are being ripped off. Also Derby have a number of other localish teams like Sheffield Wednesday just up the M1 and teams in the west midlands. They also have fixtures like Leeds and Millwall who Derby dislike which get big crowds. So there is lots of scope for varied ticket prices. With Torquay its really only Gargoyle, the team from Sid James and the Gasheads that we could even think about raising the prices for without putting people off coming and lowering prices means that there is the possibility of running at a loss for the game.

[Gulliball]

It's complete rubbish. They can't charge less than season ticket holders pay, so it won't mean reduced pricing. It just puts pressure on people to pay as early as possible. And this market is already taken by the season ticket holders, so you're left with the floaters on the day (who the Club should be trying to attract) left with a larger pay on the day price and therefore much less likely to attend.

If pay on the gate prices at Plainmoor went up by a few pounds a head, it would hurt our attendances hugely. And the people who cared enough to get a ticket early would likely have attended anyway, so you lose money on them too, much like our disasterous £200 season tickets a few years ago.

[MidDevon]

Very interesting Gulliball.

I’ve been a season ticket holder for years and have often thought that the club is too concerned about the effect lowering match day ticket prices will have on season ticket holders....I personally could not give a hoot if they let people in for £5 for a midweek match to increase the crowd, like many other season ticket holders I do not buy a ticket to save money, but for the other benefits, granted I am in the stand, but for me it is

- Guaranteed Ticket for cup matches
- Same seat every game
- Sitting by the same people
- Never having to find cash on a match day (Mrs Middevon only gives me a fiver a week...and that's if I am good)

I know I am not alone, but also know others, especially on the pop side would disagree

[DevonYellow]

Isn't this just the same as Category based matches but under a different name? I seem to remember we did something along those lines in the past, i.e. you pay more for games against a better standard of opposition. Not entirely sure how popular/successful it was as had a season ticket for a while now.

The early purchase discount is a good way to fleece away fans though.

[Plymouth Gull]

Not quite, I don't think, DY. I'd imagine this is a more flexible sort of system. If 'x' amount of tickets have been sold a fortnight before a big game, the prices will rise. If there's still some left a week before the game they may rise again. On the day it'll be even more. I think the prices will fluctuate alot more than if it's just set category prices, but as others say I don't expect it'll work here, really.

I do agree with MidDevon though - I always assumed the reason why they don't do something like this is because of the effect on ST holders.

[Gulliball]

It would destroy our season ticket sales if it was possible to watch all 23 games for a cheaper price than the season ticket. I know the majority of these are extremely loyal fans who don't mind other discounted offers, but if it reached the point when a season ticket ended up costing more than match day tickets, they would lose most of their appeal.

A Category match system is a much better option that the system Derby have launched, which I cannot see being a success at all, and certainly wouldn't work at Torquay.

[cambgull]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned that our club would be awful at this kind of system. Could you just imagine having to ring up a couple weeks before each game and have tickets sent to you? Imagine if they had to offer you a ticket which had a certain price and stand/terrace on it? God forbid give you one with a seat number on it!

Obviously this is tongue in cheek and I know Mr Candy is working hard to sort out the previous problems with tickets but on a serious note, wouldn't you need an admin department the size of London to make this work smoothly?

[the_shredder]

I wouldn't bother suggesting ways to change pricing or increase the crowds, as i've previously discovered it seems the opinion of everyone here is that it's a stupid idea unless it's already the norm everywhere else.
Change and evolution is currently forbidden at torquay.

It would destroy our season ticket sales if it was possible to watch all 23 games for a cheaper price than the season ticket.

I'm surprised to hear you have such low expectations of a fanbase who are apparently so keen to donate £10/month for a membership scheme for no reason other than a warm feeling of knowing they're paying for a new mop for the caretaker to muck out the toilets with each month. So it's not all about money in 1 context, but in this context suddenly it is? Aren't we just arguing for the sake of it now

[Gulliball]

I'm not making any comment on our fanbase, but it is a simple fact that a large part of the attraction of a season ticket is the fact that it is the cheapest way to see every game. Sell them at £200 a pop and extra people buy them, set them above the match day ticket price and less people will. Any fanbase is the same.

[exilegull]

Torquay United ticket prices are massively inelastic - the club will get more revenue for increases in ticket prices and less revenue if ticket prices are reduced. Any ticketing offer such as the one proposed will lose TUFC revenue and given that the biggest impact on attendance will be on field success and the club constantly lives hand to mouth then ticketing offers cannot and should not be considered other than very special one off occasions.

[the_shredder]

Even though i know no-one likes new ideas, what problems do people forsee in this kind of system:

Offer everyone who attends regularly the option to register onto some list/scheme (take name n details), which gives them a bonus such as priority tickets, and other small benefits and minor privaleges, whatever the club can think up, that people who *attend regularly* would appreciate.
Then, they have the option to bring along anyone who is NOT on the list to a game, at a small discount (a few quid), the idea being to invite new people to convert them to new fans.

If you were a pikey and wanted to get in as cheap as you can every week (abusing the system) you'd a) need a willing friend who is on the list not getting discounts to 'carry' you, and b) miss out on priority tickets and other bonuses...

Obviously an ill-thought-out idea, but there might be something akin to this that might be worth pursuing....

[cambgull]

Personally, I think the idea of priority tickets is an awful idea (from the view of an exiled gull). I don't get many opportunities to come and watch my beloved gulls and usually only gets one chance to come down which is Boxing Day. The idea that my money is not worth a much as other fan's money just because they live 5 minutes from the stadium (God forbid, more expensive just because I can't get to games regularly) is an awful idea. If I ever missed out on a game because someone who booked 3 weeks after I was intending to just because he lives locally would probably put me off ever giving my money to the club again. Especially when there is a club in my local town who would be delighted to take money off me and offer plenty of incentives for new fans and look after their older fans at the same time by handing out free tickets on the odd away trip and even the Manager often buys a round when they get to the pub!