Tickets this year selling very slow?

[mike99]

I'm thinking tickets must be selling really slow. The presale has been extended and it normally marched of march when they go on normal sale. Does anyone have any idea how many have been sold?

[kev1664]

I don't think they'll be selling any slower than normal, I just think they want to give the festivals as much time as possible to sell out this year by never actually taking the tickets down from sale.

What with both sites not selling out since 2009 I think they will be tring to maximise the sales. I think they will be taken down a day or two before the main announcement and relaunched at a little bit more cost.

[jump]

Tixs have been selling slowly for the last couple of years but for all we know tixs may have been selling better than previous years.

[Luke Routledge]

Most people will be waiting for the full lineup. Everyone I know who plans on going waits until March

[Bisque]

Most people will be waiting for the full lineup. Everyone I know who plans on going waits until March

[LondonTom]

Most people will be waiting for the full lineup. Everyone I know who plans on going waits until March

Edited February 12, 2013 by LondonTom

[Luke Routledge]

This, with it not looking an instant sellout again based on last years/reaction so far, people are going take longer and longer to snap the tickets up.

I didn't decide until the 2nd announcement last year!!!

That said, I bet its around the same levels for the presales as the last few years, maybe a few more with some acts announced and they have realised people are not fooling for the off-sale/on-sale tricks.

[Luke Routledge]

I've got a feeling most festival goers are now waiting longer to buy their tickets

1) R&L attendees are more clued up at lower down acts & NME tent, eg mates last year were dead excited for bands like Spector, Mystery Jets, Tribes

2) to see if the full line up is worth their £200 odd

3) waiting for friends to make up their minds whether they are going

4) younger generation are still in education until they get funds together over Spring break/Easter holidays

5) increased number of younger people decided to go on holiday to the increased number of cheap piss up resort holidays for a price not far off an R&L ticket (then getting a ticket after their holiday as more of their friends decide to go) (or even a mini SE-Asia trip can be done a lot cheaper & has increased in popularity)

6) deciding to go to Bestival. Most of my younger friends are

[the wonderwhy]

I've got a feeling most festival goers are now waiting longer to buy their tickets

1) R&L attendees are more clued up at lower down acts & NME tent, eg mates last year were dead excited for bands like Spector, Mystery Jets, Tribes

2) to see if the full line up is worth their £200 odd

3) waiting for friends to make up their minds whether they are going

4) younger generation are still in education until they get funds together over Spring break/Easter holidays

5) increased number of younger people decided to go on holiday to the increased number of cheap piss up resort holidays for a price not far off an R&L ticket (then getting a ticket after their holiday as more of their friends decide to go) (or even a mini SE-Asia trip can be done a lot cheaper & has increased in popularity)

6) deciding to go to Bestival. Most of my younger friends are

[mrtourette]

How would anyone know how many have been sold?

[Bisque]

Agree with all of these points until 6. For some reason I thought Bestival had a older audience. Most people I know who go are 20+

[Bisque]

That & social media allowing my Winchester friends that were previously Reading devotees, being able to see pictures of my attendance at Bestival. If one or two of them decide to do a different festival, I'm pretty sure the rest would follow just to share the experience of a festival with their friends.

[alex28]

This is the first year i have bought my ticket prior to the announcement because i think the line up is that good!

[thetime]

Well ive bought a ticket, only as second choice as my end of season festival.

I couldnt get the weekend of for end of the road.

[Yellow_Fellow]

How would anyone know how many have been sold?

[mike99]

I'm thinking they are struggling. Time will tell

[SpecialAgentKit]

Does anyone know how much the general release tickets will be? The ones in the presale are "2012 prices", implying they'll go up in price.

[mrtourette]

I'm thinking they are struggling. Time will tell

[mrtourette]

Does anyone know how much the general release tickets will be? The ones in the presale are "2012 prices", implying they'll go up in price.

[Luke Routledge]

If its the same as last year it will be March the 11th. I bet Vodafone are pissed off that tickets have been on sale for so long. No point to their but 3 days before general sale when they have been available for so long.

[eFestivals]

No offense but it should be fairly obvious to everyone that extending then 2012 price pre-sale isn't a sign of tickets selling well.

while that's more than possible, I think it's an assumption too far to believe it can only be that.

Reading has changed what it's offering this year with more/added dance stuff, it's changed its booker, it's changed when and how it makes its announcements, and it's changed its PR team - so it's exceedingly clear that it's having a big shake-up of just about every part of the fest.

So there's good reason to think that the shake-up might well extend to how it offers its tickets for sale too (even tho I know the plans for how they're sold has changed half-way thru the sale period).

Reading has gone from an instant sell out to not-selling-out, for whatever reasons. So the festival will have had to think about how it can re-create the demand that it used to have, and (for instance) a part of that might be to offer lots of cheaper tickets now to try and ensure that it sells out instantly when they make the big announcement in around a month. (If that's what it's aiming for and it succeeds in doing that, then it stands a good chance of making next year an instant sell-out again).

There's quite a few possibilities for what they're choosing to do. It doesn't have to be what you're thinking.

[mrtourette]

Very true, it probably isn't that simple, however I would be willing to bet dollars to doughnuts that if tickets were selling well and they were confident of a sellout that they would have put a stop to the 2012 ticket sales by now and sell more tickets at the 2013 prices.

There may be other reasons for them extending the pre-sale, but tickets selling well won't be one of them. They all come back to the fact that for whatever reason they need to generate more sales.

Edited February 13, 2013 by mrtourette

[eFestivals]

They all come back to the fact that for whatever reason they need to generate more sales.

not quite. It comes back to them wanting to generate more sales now.

[mrtourette]

not quite. It comes back to them wanting to generate more sales now.

[eFestivals]

Yeah, but I still maintain that if they were confident of selling out in the general sale then the higher revenue from selling more at the 2013 prices would be worth more than the various other reasons for wanting to sell more now. It's only because they know that they won't sell out in the general sale that selling more now and the advantages that come along with it are their main focus, they wouldn't (need to) give a shit about selling more now if tickets were flying off the shelves.

you could well be right, but the thinking doesn't have to be as narrow as you're using.

There is more than just this year. What happens this year has an effect on next year.