Time to change the deposit scheme?

[Rufus Gwertigan]

8 hours ago, The Nal said:

Im not good managing money so I want a music festival to sort it out for me klaxon

This

Many of the festivals that have schemes in place of installments or tiers have had to do so to survive or to put bums on seats. Glastonbury will not suffer from that again hopefully so just leave things as they are. That seems more egalitarian to me

 

[gfa]

1 hour ago, a6l6e6x said:

I think they should increase it to £100 deposit so clearing the balance isn't as painful

But I'm terrible at money management 

Would require everyone in a 6 person group to have £600 in their account when they book their tickets (unless using a shared bank account, but i don't think the festival should/could nor will encourage that) which is quite a lot!

[gooner1990]

22 minutes ago, gfa said:

Would require everyone in a 6 person group to have £600 in their account when they book their tickets (unless using a shared bank account, but i don't think the festival should/could nor will encourage that) which is quite a lot!

We all put £100 each (deposit plus coach ticket price) into a nominated account which gets put back to the individuals if we don’t get tickets.

Luckily we are a long standing group of friends who’ve known each other over 20 years so trust isn’t really an issue for us. 

Edited July 6, 2022 by gooner1990

[charlie.light]

Controversial opinion - please don’t downvote

make everyone pay their full balance on ticket day. Will probably make getting tickets easier a) because people wouldn’t be able to afford it b) how are groups of people going to all have £1800 sitting around incase they get tickets. This will make it fairer for all people 

[balti-pie]

50 minutes ago, charlie.light said:

Controversial opinion - please don’t downvote

make everyone pay their full balance on ticket day. Will probably make getting tickets easier a) because people wouldn’t be able to afford it b) how are groups of people going to all have £1800 sitting around incase they get tickets. This will make it fairer for all people 

How does it make it fairer? I’m confused. Lobbing a £50 deposit down makes it far more egalitarian than lobbing down the full £300 in October; the majority of people have a spare £50 floating around, or can make steps over a month or two to get it. This seems fairer than the full amount eight months before a festival. 

[charlie.light]

Just now, balti-pie said:

How does it make it fairer? I’m confused. Lobbing a £50 deposit down makes it far more egalitarian than lobbing down the full £300 in October; the majority of people have a spare £50 floating around, or can make steps over a month or two to get it. This seems fairer than the full amount eight months before a festival. 

So I’m coming from the angle purely that it would price a lot of people out so would lover demand. Also how many organised groups of ticket buyers will all have £1800 disposable sat in their bank accounts to get tickets for 6 people, that’s £10,800 they would have to have altogether in case one gets in. 
 

I did say it was controversial, im not saying it’s the right way just a different take 

[Johnnyseven]

5 hours ago, gfa said:

This is a bit short-sighted, there's probably at least 1000 wasted tickets every year - if each person spends on average £200 over the weekend thats £200,000 less being spent on bars, food vendors etc etc. It wouldn't be hard at all to partner with twickets etc

Very little of that would end up in the festival's pockets though. The festival would be putting up the money to pay for a system that food vendors and bars would reap the profits from.

[Johnnyseven]

6 hours ago, Suprefan said:

I think they could charge the buyer an extra fee for purchasing an exchange ticket. Say £25 because its "last minute". I doubt anyone would have an issue of paying that bump. You just ensure the returner gets their money back aside from admin fees in doing so. 

Other fests do fan to fan exchange and set standards on how to price. All Glasto has to do is make it the cost and put the extra bump. And they wont even have to go to the trouble of mail and relegate it to box office ( which wont be a mess next time ) so collection is at least assured and youre not scrambling to get it via post.

The only other thing is that you have a cutoff as to when the tickets can be up for grabs. I would think the Friday before would suffice. If you got a ticket 5 days before the fest youre likely in the country and have the means to get there or had been planning. Finding a ride or just getting a coach might be the only obstacle, but people have gone to more extremes to get to the fest before

I thought this thread was about making this affordable and fair for people, it's not very fair penalising people with higher fees who weren't lucky enough to get tickets in the first sale.

People have been saying there should be a payment plan to help people spread the cost over x number of months and now you're saying people should pay the full price in one go plus a premium on top to buy a last minute ticket. If people afford to do that then why is a payment plan needed?

Edited July 6, 2022 by Johnnyseven

[Suprefan]

5 hours ago, Johnnyseven said:

I thought this thread was about making this affordable and fair for people, it's not very fair penalising people with higher fees who weren't lucky enough to get tickets in the first sale.

People have been saying there should be a payment plan to help people spread the cost over x number of months and now you're saying people should pay the full price in one go plus a premium on top to buy a last minute ticket. If people afford to do that then why is a payment plan needed?

Because life happens and if youre shit out of luck at the beginning of June and cant make the festival then getting your money back is at least something. And at that late stage somebody is very much willing to pay the barely minimum premium of an extra 25 to get a ticket to the supposed best festival in the history of the universe. Youre totally not factoring in how people would value the event themselves anyway. Like I said, if resale could actually be a thing for Glasto you would see really high prices and really low ones. Let the markets decide what its worth. This thread is about discussing all scenarios, whether theyre about giving more people a chance or to selfishly  not which seems to be how its kind of leaning. There arent really any right or wrong answers because we do not make up the ticket buying rules that have been adhered to for quite a while.

 

Re: paying all in one shot on T day. That only works if you got a poster to go with it, or at the very least all 3 headliners and the legend. Since the Eavii like to drag their feet on booking the top names despite every year there being a blurb about them having the following year already sorted, its a tough spot. I certainly would be interested in seeing how that played out if they made you pay it all at once. Getting ''priced out'' is going to happen in its own natural way at thsi stage. Let it cross the 300 mark and then slowly tick up to 350 and then its going to be seen as an even bigger elitist festival full of rich scousers.

 

If we're really gonna talk about bad prices. Then look no further than the 2023 pricing chart for Coachella. Lets have Glasto charge all this and see what happens. So yeah, maybe count your lucky stars its barely at 300.

[blutarsky]

6 hours ago, charlie.light said:

So I’m coming from the angle purely that it would price a lot of people out so would lover demand. Also how many organised groups of ticket buyers will all have £1800 disposable sat in their bank accounts to get tickets for 6 people, that’s £10,800 they would have to have altogether in case one gets in. 
 

I did say it was controversial, im not saying it’s the right way just a different take 

1 - I don’t think your maths is right. 
2 - you wouldn’t like the crowd very much. 

[brettredmayne]

On 7/5/2022 at 8:05 PM, Rose-Colored Boy said:

The issue with the deposit scheme is mainly or encourages people to do it who are not as bothered about going , and think well it’s 50 quid and if I do t end up going I get most of that back .

maybe the jeopardy should be increased as getting most of it back is the problem 

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

9 hours ago, gfa said:

Would require everyone in a 6 person group to have £600 in their account when they book their tickets (unless using a shared bank account, but i don't think the festival should/could nor will encourage that) which is quite a lot!

Usually one person would be nominated as paying and the others just send over their money a week or so beforehand. Whoever gets through uses the bank details. It should be a fairly easy case of trust between friends going to a festival together.

[kalifire]

1 hour ago, brettredmayne said:

The issue with the deposit scheme is mainly or encourages people to do it who are not as bothered about going , and think well it’s 50 quid and if I do t end up going I get most of that back .

maybe the jeopardy should be increased as getting most of it back is the problem 

They have increased the admin fee to half, to be fair. I don’t think the deposit scheme was brought in to help punters though. I’ve always thought it was a tax related convenience for the festival. 

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

8 hours ago, charlie.light said:

So I’m coming from the angle purely that it would price a lot of people out so would lover demand. Also how many organised groups of ticket buyers will all have £1800 disposable sat in their bank accounts to get tickets for 6 people, that’s £10,800 they would have to have altogether in case one gets in. 
 

I did say it was controversial, im not saying it’s the right way just a different take 

But you wouldn't need to each have 10.8k in the bank to get tickets. Surely, if you're buying with friends, you all lob the money into one account and that account gets used for the sales day?

Demand would definitely go down if you had to pay the full amount on the October sales day, I agree, but then that would actively advantage more well-off people to get tickets. After the summer, the start of the new school year, Christmas approaching, some people don't have so much cash in one go to throw down on a ticket.

The deposit system at least gives these people a chance of purchasing. I think the angle you're coming at it from is solely from minimising demand first, am I right?

[gooner1990]

6 minutes ago, MEGATRONICMEATWAGON said:

Usually one person would be nominated as paying and the others just send over their money a week or so beforehand. Whoever gets through uses the bank details. It should be a fairly easy case of trust between friends going to a festival together.

yep, that's what we do.

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

1 hour ago, blutarsky said:

1 - I don’t think your maths is right. 
2 - you wouldn’t like the crowd very much. 

I think he means, 300 quid a ticket, multiplied by the six people going = 1,800. Then each person needing that 1,800 in their account to pay for the tickets (assuming for some reason no one wants to pass their account details over to a friend) which would total 10,800 between everyone.

[gooner1990]

Article from 2009: 

Glastonbury Deposit Scheme Success | Clash Magazine Music News, Reviews & Interviews (clashmusic.com)

Speaking to US magazine Billboard Michael Eavis admitted “it’s been a huge success”.

“The deposit makes it easier because the price is £175 and that’s a lot of money to find all at once. We did figure out that during the Christmas period, parents and grandparents can pay the balance for them (deposit holders). That’s what happened funnily enough. We sold thousands of tickets just before Christmas.”

“Once people commit, then they know they have got a ticket,” says Eavis. “So they haven’t got to worry, they commit to us first so we’re home and dry.”

Eavis also promised a special line up for the 2010 event – the festival’s 40th birthday. “We are trying to go through the years a little bit. We’ve got so many headliners piling in for next year though. It’s going to be a big one.”

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

1 hour ago, brettredmayne said:

The issue with the deposit scheme is mainly or encourages people to do it who are not as bothered about going , and think well it’s 50 quid and if I do t end up going I get most of that back .

maybe the jeopardy should be increased as getting most of it back is the problem 

Tend to agree with this. Like the OP said, in 2009 it was 50 quid deposit for a 175 quid ticket. The cost of the ticket has risen x1.63. 50 quid now is not a lot for so many people and they're happy to reserve a ticket and take the chance of cashing in for 35 come Feb.

If they also increased the deposit at the same rate, the new deposit would now be €81.50.

NB - I have to write euro because my keyboard is an EU one, but I mean sterling.

NB.2 - I fucked up the prices by not adding the deposit and the final balance together originally...

Edited July 7, 2022 by MEGATRONICMEATWAGON

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

2 hours ago, Suprefan said:

Because life happens and if youre shit out of luck at the beginning of June and cant make the festival then getting your money back is at least something. And at that late stage somebody is very much willing to pay the barely minimum premium of an extra 25 to get a ticket to the supposed best festival in the history of the universe. Youre totally not factoring in how people would value the event themselves anyway. Like I said, if resale could actually be a thing for Glasto you would see really high prices and really low ones. Let the markets decide what its worth. This thread is about discussing all scenarios, whether theyre about giving more people a chance or to selfishly  not which seems to be how its kind of leaning. There arent really any right or wrong answers because we do not make up the ticket buying rules that have been adhered to for quite a while.

I like this idea in general. They'd have to make sure people weren't buying them in October to try and make a profit though. They'd have to implement something like the original ticket-holder only being allowed to get back what they paid (minus the admin fee), and the extra money being paid by the new ticket-holder (minus any admin fee), should then go to one of the festival charities.

Edited July 7, 2022 by MEGATRONICMEATWAGON

[gooner1990]

9 minutes ago, MEGATRONICMEATWAGON said:

Tend to agree with this. Like the OP said, in 2009 it was 50 quid deposit for a 125 quid ticket. The cost of the ticket has more than doubled. 50 quid now is not a lot for so many people and they're happy to reserve a ticket and take the chance of cashing in for 35 come Feb.

The cost of the ticket has risen by x2.28. 

That would make the new deposit €114. (I have to write euro because my keyboard is an EU one, but I mean sterling).

Tickets for the 2009 festival (first year of the deposit) were £175

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

1 minute ago, gooner1990 said:

Tickets for the 2009 festival (first year of the deposit) were £175

I've made the classic mistake of not adding the two together, d'oh. I'll amend my post, thanks!

[Sky_Fly]

Glasto is such a non-essential. It’s a five-day mega holiday. If you have ‘mouths to feed’ and paying for your glasto ticket would mean you can’t make rent/food payments the I’d seriously question your priorities.  Going to a field for 5 days to listen to music is hugely selfish if your family is going hungry. A payment plan isn’t going to help that, the money is still gone. 

[gooner1990]

When I was a student in the early 2000's I still wanted to go to festivals each summer so I made sure that I worked during Christmas/Easter/Summer holidays to fund it.

These days now I have a job I know when the payment is due so I tend to make sure that I'm not having to pay for something else expensive that month or the other thing I have done in the past is drop a couple of gigs or football matches in and around that time to ensure I have enough spare cash.

Personally I would prefer tickets to go on sale and not bother with a deposit scheme as such and just say you've then committed to it...pay up front or if possible an instalment plan (e.g £50 a month) until its paid off by April.  That's what I do with my Arsenal season ticket, Truck Festival and most other things in life...its just my personal preference. 

However Glastonbury don't do it like that so I have to adapt!

Edited July 7, 2022 by gooner1990

[a6l6e6x]

I think my group would be fine with paying it in full up front however we are all in our 30s with solid incomes. It would be unfair for the youth to require a bank balance with like £2k free funds in (I wouldn't have had this at 18) and would likely price them out. Not sure the crowd would be too great if it used this model

I think an increase to £100 deposit would be reasonable with £50 returned if you decide you don't want to go as it may put off those with a passing interest in the festival

[charlie.light]

3 hours ago, MEGATRONICMEATWAGON said:

But you wouldn't need to each have 10.8k in the bank to get tickets. Surely, if you're buying with friends, you all lob the money into one account and that account gets used for the sales day?

Demand would definitely go down if you had to pay the full amount on the October sales day, I agree, but then that would actively advantage more well-off people to get tickets. After the summer, the start of the new school year, Christmas approaching, some people don't have so much cash in one go to throw down on a ticket.

The deposit system at least gives these people a chance of purchasing. I think the angle you're coming at it from is solely from minimising demand first, am I right?

Yes, purely minimising demand! Not for the purpose of changing the demographic although I accept this would happen as a result